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Why does it matter what teachers believe?
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It matters what a teacher believes because we are often very trusted people in the life of our students. What we share can have a lasting impact positively or negatively. As a Christian educator, I have a responsibility to pass down to my students the truth of God’s Word. It matters that my actions and behavior towards my students lines up with what I say I believe. Students spend so much time with us each day and we have so many opportunities to share our life with them. My desire is to love them well by showing them Jesus and filling them with encouragement. We can all think back to a teacher who had influence on our lives. It was usually because they were relational with us and didn’t just concern themselves with only academics. It was the teachers that demonstrated they did actually care about us that made a difference and are remembered. Wouldn’t it be great for being remembered for loving Jesus and sharing his love with kids!
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It matters because our worldview, philosophy, and behavior are all based on what we believe. For the Christian educator this influences everything. In our particular situation, if we are not rooted in God, we are not fulfilling our purpose. It matters what teachers believe because we are leaving a legacy that will trickle down to further generations. When we are following Christ, we serve as a role model for him. This influences how we daily interact with and teach our students, and it also will ultimately influence what students believe about our great God.
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What teachers believe affects how they teach and relate with the students, parents, and colleagues day in and day out. If teachers believe that our students are capable of hardwork and learning, we will push them to learn more than they ever believed was possible. Also, if God is the center of our being and our purpose for all that we do, we will also share that with our students through our words, attitudes and actions.
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I believe you can tell if a teacher doesn’t care and believe in their students and that is a shame. I want my students to know God and love others and to learn that through me in the art room.
I don’t really know if my high school art teacher was a Christian or not, but I believe she wanted the best for me and my future. God used her greatly to motivate me. Years later when she found out I had went into teaching art, she supplied me with boxes of lesson plans from her classroom. This was such an encouragement to me. -
It matters what teachers believe, because it affects their everyday actions. If they believe that a student isn’t valuable then they will treat the student in a way that communicates they are not valuable. Inversely if they value their students and who they are becoming spiritually then they will invest in them and offer them encouragement. They will also seek to have a well rounded understanding of their students. Helping them to better serve their students. Everyone has a belief system. And it gets expressed everyday of their lives. If Christian educators aren’t willing to evaluate their own beliefs then they are doing a disservice to their students.