Volume 13 Issue 2

Hemingway said that the ‘hardest thing about the writing endeavour is ‘getting the words right’. But ‘right’ can mean different things to each writer and reader. It is understandable how writing may be received as positive prophecy by some or critiqued in the extreme as apocalyptic poison by others. Our cultures and conventions are often confusing in life as in writing and our readers come from such diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

A good title is a potential bait to hook a reader! Such is the case in Trevor Cairney’s use of significant terms in his title to entice and engage his audience – Pedagogy and Education for Life: A Christian Reframing of Teaching, Learning, and Formation. Over time, terms like pedagogy may have lost their essential meaning through casual overuse. And formation in some circles appears to have become a popular buzzword without the deep understandings associated with its conceptual, seminal origins in such a context. Cairney’s book serves as a powerful corrective to this possibility as it seeks to challenge, clarify, reframe and reform many existing conceptions of what it means to teach Christianly. Thus, it is not just ‘another book’ on Christian education. It is also significant that the author’s apparent focus is on pedagogy, and not curriculum. This sends a subtle signal of the essence of his thesis.

From Steve Munby’s perspective, “Imperfect leaders know that they don’t have all the answers they - ask for help” (p. 7). Munby’s book, however, in spite of its title – Imperfect Leadership – presents a series of reader actions that will result in what Mundy labels as effective school leadership. These suggested actions, though, are not derived from a research study or from reviews of research studies. They are derived from observation and personal experience of, and reflections on, school leadership.

This book is about worldviews and how a worldview affects a person’s decision making. Humans have free will and are therefore able to choose a worldview. In life, although there are factors beyond a person’s control, for example, their birth or their parents, among other things, but there are factors that can be controlled. This book focuses on what a person can choose to do and the decisions that a person can make.

No touch policies in schools have created a dilemma for teachers. To investigate student, teacher, and parent attitudes to touch at school, ten Pre-Kindy students, seven K-6 students, four teachers and four parents at a small faith-based school were interviewed using a semi-structured interview style. Analysis of the responses indicated the majority of the participants in this study supported the use of ‘healthy’ physical contact, between teachers and students. Students, parents and teachers were mindful of appropriate ways to touch, arena of safety issues, and that touch may not be for everyone, all concepts which informed a proposition for policy review in schools to optimise student development and wellbeing.

Is a Clinical Teaching Model, characterised by a school-embedded, employment-integrated, alternative mode (SEAM), an opportune path for initial teacher education? A SWOT Analysis is used to address this question and engender discussion, as it relates to Christian faith-based schools.

Questioning what it might mean to be a ‘classroom ready’ teacher is prompted by the process of developing a Master of Teaching program for submission to TEQSA on behalf of a Christian tertiary provider. A challenge to compliance is understood as emerging from within a worldview derived from the story of the Bible, a perspective which creates space to observe difference, particularly in relation to teacher identity and the purpose of schooling.

Ancient questions

It seems entirely logical that human beings might seek out a fulfilling life that produces positive relationships, good health and a deep sense of meaning. Indeed, ancient cultures the word over have a history of enquiry related to the examination of ‘the good life’ (Seligman, 1998, p.1). During the 4th Century BC Plato outlined “a general theory of well-ordered human life” (Allot, 2011, p.1165) in his work Republic. From within the Hebrew tradition, Solomon urged his people to turn their “ear to wisdom” and apply their “heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2 NIV). This consistent call to wisdom is more relevant than ever in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world that seeks to understand and facilitate wellbeing for staff and students in an educational context.

Short-term international mission trips (STIMTs) are increasing in popularity. Likewise, educators and health care workers are increasingly concerned with obtaining an understanding that improves culturally competent care. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of participants of a Christian college who travelled on a short-term international mission trip (STIMT). One openended inquiry guided the interviews: How would you describe your experience as a participant who travelled on a STIMT? An in-depth, oneon- one interview of participants occurred until data saturation was reached. Colaizzi’s strategy was used to analyze and organize the data. Leininger’s sunrise model was used to guide this study. Themes that emerged from this study included cultural adaptation, relationships, spiritual factors, and personal gain.

This ‘living memory’ study (Smith, 2018, p. 78) investigated the perceived psychoemotional experiences of four senior high school students at one Christian school during and after the February 22, 2011, Christchurch New Zealand earthquake. The literature revealed that children and adolescents might be impacted socially, emotionally and academically by earthquakes, resulting in mental health issues ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to post- traumatic growth in the victims. Using a qualitative case study and narrative inquiry approach, participants were interviewed seven years after the earthquake. Responses were qualitatively analysed, and coded allowing for the emergence of an Earthquake Impact Profile (EIP) for each respondent. These profiles revealed several mitigating factors that helped the participants personally cope with the stress immediately after the earthquake struck, and in the following months and years.

Dianne Hillsdon is an experienced classroom teacher and administrator who has noticed a decline in children’s wellbeing during the last 30 years. Most children live a highly managed life, full of structured activities organised and supervised by adults and while these activities may develop specific skills, they do not necessarily build confidence and resilience that transfer to new situations. Dianne notes that we live in a risk adverse society and so children are often not open to taking acceptable risk.

We live in a world of social change. Within that world, Christian teachers are used to thinking of all people as made in the Image of God. That assumption has often meant practising a deep respect for all people. This respect has similarly extended to how Christians understand relationships in the classroom. Yet there are competing narratives about the design and purpose of life within our Western world. Part of this competition of ideas is caught up in implications that come from how we view human beings as persons. This article proposes that one of these new Australian alternatives to Christian ways of viewing life is creating an unstated but real caste system amongst so-called different kinds of persons.