The Faith Integration Fallacy

Look at (almost) any Christian school website and its promotional materials, and you will find something about "integrating faith" into their education. That phrase today, it seems, is synonymous with Christian education. However, "integration" implies two things ... 

1. Faith is not currently a part of a subject or education.
2. In order for education to be "Christian," it is up to us to add the faith element.

This ultimately is a secular perspective, i.e., all education is secular (without a religious basis) and religious schools are the only ones who add faith to the learning. However, all education is religious. For Christians and Christian education, this is even more definitive because we believe God created all things out of nothing (ex nihilo), God actively provides and sustains all things, and God is sovereign over "every square inch" of creation. If that is true, God is integral to every subject in school, and faith is already a part of education. 

Faith Integration vs. Faith Integral

From a secular worldview, Christian teachers integrate their faith into a subject; it is something Christian teachers do to a secular subject. From a Christian worldview, all subjects are full of faith already and studying them reveals more about God; in fact, the study of individual subjects is actually theology (the study of God).

While it may seem like purely semantics, viewing Christian education from a faith integral perspective instead of a faith integration perspective can shift the work of Christian education.

In the beginning God

Presuppositions matter. When Christians affirm God created all things out of nothing, then the study of all things is essentially the study of God, uncovering what God has done and what God is doing. Modern education does not begin with God, and that actually is quite limiting. Secular education is limited to the study of natural things ... what humans can sense, measure, and experience or what humans have done.

Christian educators are free to explore all subjects without feeling the need to "integrate" faith; faith is already a part of the subject being studied. Teaching students a subject with excellence and depth of knowledge is the call of Christian educators, not faith integration.

This perspective aligns with a quote attributed to Martin Luther: "A Christian cobbler is not someone who puts crosses on shoes, but someone who just makes good shoes." Just as a Christian cobbler makes shoes with excellence because his/her neighbor needs good shoes, a Christian educator teaches with excellence because God's children need to be educated well to serve fully in God's kingdom.

Of course, this also aligns to God's command to work in Colossians 3:23-24 ... 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord .... 

It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Excellence Integration

Christian schools have emphasized "faith integration" as the way to improve Christian education, often, at the expense of excellence in teaching. Let's emphasize "excellence integration" instead because faith is already there. Through common grace, God has allowed and blessed Christian and non-Christian educators to develop the "art and science of teaching." At the risk of sounding purely pragmatic, Christian teachers need to utilize the pedagogical and assessment strategies that work. Educational psychologists and theorists have researched, developed, and studied teaching strategies that are most effective in the classroom; Classroom Instruction that Works (2001) and The Art and Science of Teaching (2007) by Robert Marzano are both excellent, research-based works that Christian teachers should study, among many other resources on the craft of teaching.

Faith Pauses

It may sound like I am against mentioning God in Christian classrooms. However, the complete opposite is true; I don't understand how a Christian teacher can go a week (or even a day) without pausing to share how God is integral to the subject that he/she is teaching.

I remember observing in a math classroom, and the teacher paused to increase student engagement, by asking "what do you notice?" (btw, a simple but great protocol for student engagement). In this class, a student raised her hand and commented, "I notice how cool it is that God has designed mathematics with organization and structure." That is a faith integral statement, and a clear indication that this teacher has paused frequently to share how God is integral to mathematics.

In both history and literature, God's storyline of creation-fall-redemption-restoration is integral to unit design and classroom discussions. When I taught Lord of the Flies to high school students, we naturally discussed what ought to be, what was fallen due to sin, how the boys were saved outside of themselves (deus ex machina), and finally how we could help "restore" brokenness for those struggling to survive in our context. God's story is integral to our stories seen in history and literature.

Some may call these examples "faith integration," but it is more accurate to say that faith is integral to every subject, and a Christian classroom uncovers the faith elements that are already present. 

If we truly believe in the sovereignty of God, we must hold to the position that God is Lord over all subjects and areas of education ... and that God is integral to every part of education. Let's stop integrating and start showing how integral God is to education.

All Education is Religious

I know we live in a world that separates religious schools and secular schools, and Americans, ever since the first amendment, have been declaring the importance of the separation of church and state. So, the statement that "all education is religious" seems counter intuitive. Obviously, parochial (church-run) schools are religious, and Christian private schools are religious, but aren't all other schools neutral in regards to being religious?

The commonly accepted educational mindset believes that all education begins neutral and only certain "church schools" make education religious; however, that is not true. While not the typical definition of "religious," all education comes from a specific belief system (a religion, if you will) that the administrators, teachers, and students of that educational system strive to follow religiously.

Logically, religious schools follow the belief systems of their specific religion. Catholic schools follow the specific "order" of the archdiocese, Jewish schools follow the teachings of Judaism and their rabbi, Islamic schools follow the beliefs of Islam, and private Christian schools follow their statement of beliefs, established by their school board.

So religious schools being religious makes sense, but what about schools that don't align itself with a religion?

Every school has a set of beliefs that come from an educational philosopher or a philosophy. Some of the more famous educational philosophers that have schools following their teaching are Maria Montessori (with early education schools), John Dewey (with progressive schools), and Aristotle (with classical schools). Proponents of these philosophers follow them with religious fervor.

Philosophies direct schools in America today and are religiously followed. Most schools are driven by three philosophies: the Greek philosophy of education, secular humanism, and the gospel of wealth.

It's Greek to Me 

The Greek model of education can be summarized simply by the Descartes quote, "I think, therefore I am." This philosophy believes that education is only for cognitive/intellectual growth. It shifted the educational system from the Hebraic model of "whole child" education, focusing on wisdom and vocational training to being solely about increasing knowledge. We are so Greek in our American system of education; every school is measured primarily and often singularly by test scores. High test scores signify an excellent school; a student who performs well on tests is an exemplary student ... it is that simple, but yet it drives everything. 

Good without a God

The second philosophy that drives most of education today is secular humanism, which is summed up by the motto of the American Humanist Association: "Good without a God." In an educational system that embraces the "separation of church and state," the assumption is that there is no choice but to also embrace secular humanism. If there is no God (or at least not allowed in schools), then the measure of schools must be tied to (and limited to) the measure of man. Humans are the sole purpose, the only actors, and the only motivation for education. Modern schools today are focused on glorifying man in academic, athletic, artistic endeavors. If there is no God, humanity is all that remains ... or as Steinbeck stated in his Nobel Prize Speech: "Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have. Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope." Humanity is all we have, and as the Greek philosopher Protagoras said, "man is the measure of all things."  

Greed is Good

The final philosophy that is religiously followed in all schools today is the gospel of wealth. While not unique to American culture, it sure is ubiquitous in America. Wealth is the ultimate goal of life, and education is the means to that end. Students are motivated to get good grades to get into a good college to get a good job to make a lot of money. For most parents, students, and schools, it is, unfortunately, that simple. Instead of thinking about a calling (vocation), students are selecting majors/careers based on salary levels, selecting colleges that will fast-track them into that career. Wealth is tied closely to comfort. Students (and parents) equate wealth with a life of ease. American cowboy philosopher, John Wayne once quipped, "Life is tough, but it's a whole lot tougher if you're stupid." While we can laugh at that quote, most of our schools are structured around that quote. The purpose of education is to make money, so you can have an easy life.

The religion of American modern education is a melting pot of Greek Philosophy, Secular Humanism, and Wealth, and it is a bad-tasting stew that has left us sick. Due to this unholy trinity that is religiously followed in schools today, our educational system preaches test scores are the measure of all things, nothing exists beyond humanity, and whoever dies with the most toys wins. What a dangerous message to preach to our students!  

Unfortunately, many religious schools with a "higher" philosophy to follow often embrace these three philosophies as enthusiastically as non-religious schools do. 

Christian educators, we still have work to do ... let's keep working!

Stay tuned ... more blogs to come in 2024.