Resources

Articles

A New York Times column on the more subversive education that taps into our loves, desires, and imaginations.

NYT columnist David Brooks distinguishes between "resume virtues" and "eulogy virtues." You can also watch a short 5 minute TED talk on the same topic here.

L. Gregory Jones, "The Grace of Daily Obligation: Shaping Christian Life"

From the website description: Jones "lifts up the power of caring mentors forming young people in Christian faith. ... He encourages us to instill in youth the importance of cultivating habits oriented toward the grace we find in Jesus Christ."

Books

Badley, Ken and Harro Van Brummelen, ed. Metaphors We Teach By. Eugene, OR: WIPF&Stock, 2012.

This short work reflects on the power of language in teaching. "Top of the class." "Dropouts." "Struggling students." The way we talk about our profession and our students shapes the way that we engage in it.

*Bass, Dorothy, C. Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life of a Searching People. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

A collection of essays written on some of the main Christian practices that have been identified. Could serve as a helpful backdrop to your thinking about a particular practice. See the accompanying website for great ideas and resources.

Dean, Kenda Creasy. Almost Christian.

Not specifically about education but deals with faith development of adolescents. In part, her thesis is that a lack of faith in today's youth is not because they have not learned the faith well; it is because they have learned the faith of their parents and mentors very well. Youth often serve as a mirror to the faith of the adults in there life.

*Dykstra, Craig. Growing in the Life of Faith: Education and Christian Practices. 2nd ed. Louisville: WJK, 2005.

Probably the classic text on education and Christian practices. Everyone else, it seems, is quoting it and working from it.

Hill, Jonathan P. Hill. Emerging Adulthood and Faith. Grand Rapids: Calvin College Press, 2015.

A short (1oo page?) book that examines some of the recent research on the religious trends of emerging adults. It is optimistically critical of some of the statistics that predict the demise of faith for future generations. A key insight that the work makes is that Christian practices are integral in faith formation.

Shortt, John. Bible-Shaped Teaching. Eugene, OR: WIPF&Stock, 2014.

Another short read (115 pages?) written from a UK perspective. I found it to be very accessible and helpful.

*Smith, David I. & Susan F. Felch, Teaching and Christian Imagination. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.

Reading this book, I found myself continually saying, "Yes! That is why I am in Christian education. The book begins with the proposition that "a teacher's imagination is a serious matter" (5) meaning that how we imagine our work deeply shapes the way we do our work. Written by master teachers, this is a book to re-inspire and re-imagine our work. It is to be read slowly and with a glass of wine!

Smith, David I. & James K.A. Smith, Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith and Learning. GR: Eerdmans, 2011.

A collection of essays/chapters written by various Calvin College professors - ranging a number of academic disciplines. Each chapter is a reflection on how the professor tried to implement a Christian practice into his or her pedagogy. The introduction by David Smith and Jamie Smith alone sets up the idea of teaching Christianly, not just Christian content.

Smith, James K.A. Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation. Grand Rapids: BakerAcademic, 2009.

The book that got a lot of this discussion going. Smith argues that we have overemphasized the power of information to the neglect of the extreme power of formation. He argues that our lives are shaped much more by what we instinctively love than by what we intellectually know.

________. You are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2016.

A more popular level version of Desiring the Kingdom (above). He has a chapter of education as well as home and church.

________. Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works. Grand Rapids: BakerAcademic, 2013.

Wright, N.T. After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.

Not specifically about education, but about the importance of the development of virtues as faith formation. Check out this 9-minute video that connects NT Wright's work with Christian education.

Yust, Karen Marie and E. Byron Anderson. Taught by God: Teaching and Spiritual Formation. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2006.