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Convention Issue“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth forever” (Psalm 146: 4, 5). Our God is a faithful God. He has given us the desire and the means to start our own covenant high school, a place where our young people might continue their education permeated with the truths He has given to us in our generations. Our Father has given us the beginnings of this school. And now He has brought us into the school year with our first graduating class! A milestone for our glory? Certainly not. Through weak means, and trials, our faithful God has given us this school, and already two successful years of education. Are we not very grateful? And do we not have much more work to do? Let us be faithful to learn and uphold the truth, and to trust and hope in God, and not the strength of men. And let us maintain and build our school. Part of the work we do as teachers is to continue to learn. This edition of the Defender is primarily devoted to reporting on the learning that we do when we attend the annual PRTI (Protestant Reformed Teachers’ Institute) Convention. Laborers Made Steadfast in the Lord Each year, the highlight of the teachers’ convention is the keynote address. This year, we also had a speech after the banquet, which has been the practice when the convention is hosted by our Iowa schools. The keynote address Thursday morning was given by Rev. Daniel Kleyn, pastor of Edgerton Protestant Reformed Church, who spoke on our convention theme, “Laborers Made Steadfast in the Lord.” After the banquet Thursday evening, Rev. Richard Smit, pastor of Doon Protestant Reformed Church, encouraged us with the admonition, “Be Ye Steadfast in Watching.” These two speeches complemented each other, and as Rev. Smit pointed out, gave our convention an international flavor, since one speech was given by an “Aussie” and the other by a “Canuck.” Our theme for the 49th PRTI Convention was taken from I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Rev. Kleyn reminded us that we are to be steadfast in the word of God—in the Reformed faith. We must know, love, defend and live the truth, with the goal of instilling that truth in covenant children. And we must be always abounding, or overflowing, in that work. But we must remember that this is not work that we do for the Lord, but it is the work of the Lord. It is not our work for the Lord, but it is God’s work. The Lord is doing it. He works in and through us to do the work He gives us the work, the desire, the place, the abilities. He also works in the students their desire and ability. We can’t take credit for the work; we are only Christ’s servants. We give glory to God—“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). This word of God is encouragement for teachers as we prepare each lesson, and as we teach and discipline God’s children. God gives us the abilities to do this, and our labor is not in vain in the Lord. God has promised to bless this work. It will bear fruit because it is the Lord’s work. The fruit is that God does a spiritual work through our work—our children believe and confess the truth, trust in God, and live by His word. This work has eternal value—that gives joy to the work. This is also very applicable to parents and students. We all need this encouragement from God’s word as we perform our labors, whether we are teachers, parents or students. We must be steadfast in the work of the Lord, and “be not weary in well doing” (II Thess. 3:13). Rev. Smit’s speech was taken from Matthew 24:37-39, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Rev. Smit pointed out three ways in which Christ’s return will be as in Noah’s day. First, God told Noah he was coming, and we know from God’s word that Christ is coming. Second, wickedness increased in the world in the days before the flood; we also have been given this sign of Christ’s return. Third, Noah experience a decrease in the church in the days before the flood until there were only eight souls left. We also have been told that there will be a great falling away as a sign of Christ’s coming. Rev. Smit pointed out that our calling then is to watch in the same way as Noah was called to watch. We must first of all believe the word of God and be busy in our work, as Noah was “moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (Heb. 11:7). In our instruction in our schools and in our homes, we work for the saving of our households. God certainly is sovereign in salvation, yet he gives us this most important work to be busy with, as we read in Deuteronomy 6:7, and he uses this work to the saving of our households. Noah experienced the mocking of the wicked as he prepared the ark. We, too, must expect increased ridicule, both subtle and hostile. The world becomes bolder in mocking the idea of an end. But the church world also rejects it, focusing instead on the continuation of this world. The world mocks those who would live godly and pressures us to be tolerant of sin. Much of the church world has rejected the truth of the doctrines of the Reformation, and tries to get church unity not on the basis of the truth, but unity in seeking a global kingdom on earth. Noah did not join with the world to prepare the ark, but rather labored with his children. Our calling is also to be separate and not unequally yoked as we labor in the instruction of our children in our schools. We must remain steadfast in watching. We must be ready for Christ’s coming, and we must teach our children to be ready. What comfort then we have, knowing that the work is the Lord’s work, and we will abound because God is faithful—our labor is not in vain in the Lord. RV The Human Body—A Picture of the Body of Christ The human body is an extraordinary example of God’s handiwork. On the sixth day of creation, God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. As we study the human body in all its marvelous complexity, we are filled with wonder and praise for our mighty God. God has revealed to us in His Word that not only has He created us, but He also sustains and cares for us as His people. Psalm 139:13 tells us that God has known us and cared for us before we were born. “Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” God’s protection continues also as we live our lives as pilgrims and strangers here on this earth. We receive a beautiful promise in Deuteronomy 33:12 where it says, “The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.” We do not fear evil, for in Psalm 121:7-8 we read, “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” God promises His people in Isaiah 43:1-2 that we are His redeemed people who will be preserved through any earthly trial or danger. “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.” We even sleep in comfort and peace for God assures us that, “When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24). God has also made our bodies to be glorious illustrations of His Kingdom. We are told in I Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are God’s temples. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” Because our bodies are the very temples of God, we are then commanded to take care of the bodies we have been given. I Corinthians 3:17 tells us that, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” The human body is also used as a picture of the body of Christ. Christ is the head of His Church and those who belong to that Church by faith are the many members that make up Christ’s body. In his sectional at the 2003 Teachers’ Convention, Joel Minderhoud presented a few of the ways that the human body serves as a picture of the body of Christ. Mr. Minderhoud used specific examples from the body’s nervous system and endocrine system to illustrate that just as our bodies are made of many members, yet united into one body, so is the Church of God. Also seen through these examples is that each member of the body, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, has a place and a specific purpose, just as every member of the body of Christ also has a place and a purpose to serve. We read in I Corinthians 12:12, 13, and 18: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” We clearly see, therefore, that every member of the body of Christ has been placed there by God Himself to serve a specific function, just as every hormone of the endocrine system, no matter how tiny, has a certain role to fill for the healthy functioning of the whole body. Since the body of Christ is one, when one member suffers, the whole body suffers. We see in the human body that if one member of the nervous system fails to do its job properly, the whole body suffers. For example, if our immune system begins to attack the myelin sheath that surrounds the axon of a neuron (a nerve cell), the electrical impulses which stimulate muscle movement becomes sporadic. This condition is known as multiple sclerosis. Here we can see a clear example of how the entire body suffers when one member does not fulfill its proper function, just as the whole body of believers suffer when one of its members does not fulfill his calling. There are many other examples of how our bodies are pictures of the body of Christ. Mr. Minderhoud gave the example of the cascade of hormones needed in a woman’s body during the time of labor and delivery. Each specific hormone has a definite role in a sequence of events which leads to the birth of a child. We again see the beautiful harmony of the members working together as a whole. This is a wonderful illustration of the body of believers, each with his or her own place to occupy and role to fill. As we study the human body, we are filled with awe and thanksgiving that God has given us such a wonderful picture. CH Challenges I had found my way into Mr. Ron Koole’s sectional at this year’s teachers’ convention. My eyes caught a verse projected onto the whiteboard in the front of the room. It was a verse from Psalm 94: “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity” (vs. 11). The verse was humbling, and the sectional was encouraging. As a Christian teacher facing a slew of challenges both inside and outside of the classroom, I knew that I had found the right place. The title of the sectional was “Teaching Children to Think Biblically.” Mr. Koole explored his topic in an organized and thoroughly biblical manner. He emphasized the profound importance of his topic. He spoke of the necessity and goals of teaching children to think biblically. He stressed the need for Reformed educators to teach in the light of the Scriptures and the Confessions. Mr. Koole went on to demonstrate several practical applications. But what struck me most was his insight into the challenges of teaching children to think biblically. Mr. Koole illustrated three major obstacles that relentlessly beset Christian schoolteachers: sinful natures, perilous times, and a lonely road. Sinful human nature, first of all, wreaks havoc in every area of life. The Christian school environment is no exception. That “old man of sin” haunts teachers, administrators, school boards, and parents. It drives students to rebel against authority. It attempts to rob God of His glory. It lurks in every schoolteacher and drives him to boast in his own rationalism, crave the admiration of students, and seek answers apart from the Word of God. Rather than attempting to teach children to think in a biblical way, sinful natures tempt teachers to teach in a worldly way. In addition to sinful human natures, the wicked times in which we live pose a second challenge to Christian schoolteachers. As Christ’s return approaches, this depraved world sinks deeper and deeper into the mire of sin. We live in perilous times. The Devil and his minions attack the Christian school from within and without. As Christian teachers attempt to teach children to think biblically, another school brings another message. The school of this world lectures teachers and students from television sets, radios, billboards, and books. Its classes are always alluring. Its homework is never dull. Its teachers are carnally minded. As if the challenges of sinful human natures and the perilous times in which we live were not challenging enough, a third challenge blocks the road to teaching students to think biblically: teaching biblically is not popular. It is a lonely way. The enrollment at the school of biblical thinking is so low! Everyone else, it seems, has jumped another bandwagon. When such a small number think biblically, it’s a temptation for teachers and students to join the mainstream and follow the path of the masses. The world moves boldly in another direction. The biblical perspective is unpopular. Sinful human nature! Perilous times! Such a lonely way! How can a Christian teach biblically despite these challenges? How can a teacher take the next step and teach others to think biblically? Can these challenges be faced with self-help books? Can they be overcome through rationalism? Or maybe, can they be ignored? Psalm 94:11 states that the thoughts of man are vanity! How can we possibly tackle these challenges? Mr. Ron Koole had another verse on the board, underneath the first: Psalm 94:19. It is a beautiful verse, and it states, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.” The thoughts, strategies, and efforts of man are futile without the Lord. Without our Heavenly Father, our work is vanity. The Lord strengthens us in the face of such challenges. The Lord is our comfort and our strength. A teacher’s calling is to teach students to think biblically. In a confusing world of temptation, sin, and challenges, God is our comforter. He faces these challenges for us. He assures us in our work and gives us hope. The words of this year’s convention theme relate nicely: we are “Laborers Made Steadfast in the Lord.” DVU Information Age This year’s PRTI convention included a sectional led by Dennis De Jong, assistant professor of computer science at Dordt College. Mr. De Jong also works with prospective math teachers in their preparations for teaching. His stated goals for the sectional were to outline some principles for computers in the Christian school classroom and to share with his audience some computer activities using examples from commercial educational software and spreadsheet programs. I believed it to be a very fair presentation. Before going through some simulated examples for enhancing mathematics learning in such areas as graphing and working with formulas to create tables of solutions, Mr. De Jong laid out some basic principles for computer use in schools and in the classroom. He made statements such as the following:
It was interesting to hear these things from an educator in the computer science field. That he would start with statements such as these implies that there has been a great overemphasis on computer use in the schools, and it is for good reason that we ought to consider critically our goals for computers in the classroom. The software and applications Mr. De Jong demonstrated can be learned by the typical teacher—it just takes time to familiarize oneself with the programs. These applications may save some time in generating examples of graphs and charts; however, these applications all swallow up a very large amount of classroom time to execute. The overall value of these canned applications is greatly diminished if one considers that direct instruction from teacher to student, most appropriate in the context of covenantal instruction, is the proven and time-tested method. I would rue the day that such enhancements and extras would replace direct instruction as the primary method used in the classroom. These extras, like any other special activities a teacher might employ, are to be viewed and used as just that, extras. The push to get to higher level thinking is valid, but has been overemphasized at the expense of students learning the basic, foundational principles and skills in reading, writing and arithmetic. A dramatic expansion of computer use in this way would undoubtedly not widen but narrow the scope of topics studied, as a few topics take more time. In
short, I see an ominous trend common in educational thought today
in the push for more computer use in the classroom: diversifying
topics and getting kids to the next level. This at the expense
of time, time that needs to be spent at each grade level insuring
that students learn the basic facts, concepts, and life skills
of our Western culture, knowledge that is a must for a Christian At a sectional I attended a few years ago, a prominent businessman in our Grand Rapids area churches gave a presentation in which he stated that he was not interested in having students come to him with a number of computer courses in their high school experience, because he would train them to use the software applications that his factory and office used. What he wanted were young people trained in the fundamentals, with an eagerness to learn and a willingness to be taught, students who had the proper respect for authority and a basic knowledge of concepts and facts. My conclusion, after a few years in education—years in which there has been a rapid growth of emphasis on computer use—is that the present-day technology push is not how we ought to be defining our curriculum. Computers are tools to be used just as any other tool in the classroom, nothing more. A push for many computer classes in the high school, which then, like other trends, trickles down to even the primary grades, is not only not necessary, but is wasteful in that when our young people enter the job market they will be trained for particular computer applications used by their employers. (In many cases, this is nothing more than following directions by touching the screen.) This overemphasis on computer use is damaging to the core curriculum, taking away valuable time from the very necessary. This computer age is often called the “Information Age.” It comes after the Renaissance and the humanist movement, when God was removed and the thoughtful man was replaced by the active man. We are being defined as a people who have information at our fingertips in our fastpaced world. This is not what we want, is it? Aren’t we commanded to get knowledge, and understanding, and wisdom? To “be still, and know that I am God?” Isn’t the chief end of man to know God and enjoy him forever? And the way to learn this is through contemplation—through taking the time to go through the process, through showing your work, as the math teacher says, through reflecting on what has been read and discussed, and writing lucid and logical thoughts in complete sentences as a response. I presently see a large proportion of students who have been harmed by an overdependence on the calculator, to the point that they couldn’t even step into a grocery store and tell you what a bargain is without packing the little machine along. And I am afraid for the day we see this on an even grander scale, when reliance on the computer’s editing programs leads to the majority of our people not being able to write a complete and logical sentence. T.S. Eliot saw it this way:
Let us be certain that whatever the inventions of man, we as Christians—educators and parents and students—use them wisely if at all, and ensure our emphasis is in the Word. RM Assessing Assessment Are grades of A, B, C, D, and F relevant to the lives of our children in Protestant Reformed schools, or should this venerable grading system handed down from generations past be scrapped in favor of some of the new ways of assessing learning? The answer to this question will depend upon the expectations that parents have, that teachers who stand in loco parentis have, and that school boards have with regard to the meaning of grades. According to American standards, today’s effective parent is a well-informed, involved, and assertive advocate for his/her child’s education. In our consumer-oriented era, increasing pressure is being placed upon school administrators and school boards for the best and the latest in everything from athletics to zero tolerance policies. Parents expect the product of their child’s education to be a well-rounded, “techno-wise,” capable, independent, well-socialized, physically fit, drug-free graduate, ready to step into college or into the work force and succeed, and they are willing to pay for it in both time and money. They have been told that every child is “lovable and capable” and many believe, that with a little extra effort on the teachers’ part, their child can be motivated to become an “A” student. Parents of children of the covenant can begin to think along the same lines as parents in the culture around them. Instead of looking at school as a place in which the training we have begun as parents continues, with a teacher now standing in our place continuing that nurture and discipline, we like to think our tuition is purchasing a service that we can readily expect to coincide with our definition of the end product we want to receive. Of course, many times what we would like to have as our “end product” is not the child God has given to us. Instead of looking at school as a place of nurture and discipline in the ways of the Lord, and of learning more about him through observing His created works with the eyeglasses of Scripture, we may tend to think in terms of intellectual achievement and athletic achievement, and socialization: things that will assure our children a “place in the sun” at some point in their lives. The truth of the matter is that God has not created all children equal as many school systems of our day assume. God has given them their individual abilities to fit them for the places he has designed for them as servants in His Kingdom. A teacher can readily see the diversity of gifts that God has given operating within the classroom, just as parents see that diversity among their own children. Plainly, not all of the qualities we see in God’s covenant children are those that will ensure scholarships or certificates, or athletic letters. Inside every child, there isn’t an A student “just waiting to emerge” with just the right amount of resources, time, and effort on the part of teacher, parent, or child himself. The teacher is often confronted with the dilemma of the diligent student who earns Ds and Es, while the unmotivated child capable of excellence merely “slides by” with Bs and Cs. Often, teachers must grade objectively while they see subjective evidence of students not using their time and talents wisely. They must leave it to the wise and loving Judge of the heart to reward the diligent who cannot achieve great things in the subject areas taught in school. So what exactly is it that we want our school’s grading scale to measure? Traditionally, schools have measured attainment of a standard in learning. The normal attainment of concepts and skills of the average child on the grading curve was represented by a “C.” Theoretically, most children would fall into this category of average ability. A grade of “B” represented, then, mastery of skills and concepts at a level of above the average. Fewer students attained this level. “A” signified excellence—outstanding achievement far above the norm. Not many As were given out at all in the past. They were difficult to achieve, and usually represented a good deal of talent as well as effort and creativity evident in the student’ work. Students who came short of demonstrating average competence in skills and concepts in the classroom received a “D” grade, and those who demonstrated little or no competence received a failing grade of “E” or “F” for their coursework. At
some point along the way, grades have come to signify much more
than the achievement of necessary skills and concepts in subject
areas, however. For some parents and children, an “F” no longer
means that the student has not mastered the skills and concepts
that his or her peers have mastered. It represents that the child
himself / herself is a failure. Similarly, though, a grade of
“A” does not represent demonstration of outstanding competence
in the required skills and content areas; instead it may say,
“This is a diligent child who tries hard to reach competence.”
Parents whose child would usually show mastery at an average level,
the level at which most children are Admittedly, there is often a great desire on the teacher’s part to reward the diligent and penalize the slothful. Sometimes there are ways in which this can be done apart from grading that denotes mastery of skills and concepts. In all honesty, though, a Christian teacher cannot in good conscience give a child with low mastery a grade that reflects more than he /she is capable of doing in high school or in college. How cruel it is to encourage a child who fancies himself an “A” student, capable of the work demanded at a higher level of learning, to enroll himself at an institution that demands an ability for excellence of which that student is utterly incapable! Not only this, the fact that this student, sent to an institution bearing a transcript with high grades, has not proved competence necessary for those grades shows unreliability, and perhaps even dishonesty in the teacher and school that has assigned them to his work. A Christian school should never find itself in this predicament. Maybe it is time that school boards, parents and teachers together discuss the wisdom of implementing a grading system that honestly reflects attainment of a level of competency necessary in skills and concepts, but also rewards the children of lower ability who use their time and talents wisely and penalizes slothful stewards of their God-given time and talents. Sometimes assessment itself needs assessment. SL
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