Christian Education in the 21st Century: Renewing a Transformational Vision

Abstract

The findings of this research include educational concepts synthesized from interviews with several contemporary Christian school leaders including, D. Bruce Lockerbie, Jeff Woodcock, Janet Lowrie Nason, Barret Mossbacker, Bob Gresh, Rick Bernhardt, Randy Ross, Chirs Cleveland, Dr. Jane Duffey, Dr. John Foreman, and Dr. Marck Eckel. The voices of these educators are combined with literary points made by foundational Christian school leaders in years past, such as Frank E. Gaebelein, Roy W. Lowrie, Roussas J. Rushdoony, Cornelius Van Til, and Gene Garrick, to renew a transformational vision for Christian education in the 21st century. Research findings promote a call to create true community between teachers, administrators and students in the modern Christian school. The promotion of a more relational approach to learning and discipleship is emphasized. An appeal for critical thinking is tied to the idea that modern Christian educators must embrace the age of information technology available to their students. A qualitative data analysis was performed on the transcription of the interviews conducted to bring out several of the similarities in response by those Christian educators interviewed. The research conducted was done in partial fulfillment of a Masters level degree program.