This essay is a collective effort by seven administrators of conservative Anabaptist schools. This group of administrators believes that our schools are poised to aid our churches and homes in the call to be the hands and feet of...
Telling Stories to Nurture God Love (Steven Brubaker)
The Bible and Jesus elevate storytelling to a critical practice in developing love for God. Following this lead, my goal is to equip listeners with the resources necessary for pursuing a vision of students immersed in living...
Who we are (being), what we think (beliefs), and what we do (behaviors) are interrelated and inseparable. The life of Jesus will anchor our wrestling with the kind of being, beliefs, and behaviors that cultivate God-love in our...
Regular and repeated activities imbed knowledge in the body, values in the heart, and beliefs in the mind. We will build on the example of Jesus to catalog practices that nurture love for God in the heart, mind, and body. We will...
The Great Commandment and Education (Steven Brubaker)
Sinkholes are disconcerting because we assume substantial foundations. We will consider how Jesus' use of the Shema points to lived answers that adequately support the life of the teacher and school.
Steven Brubaker reflects on the critical role of godly, competent, and visionary administrators in conservative Mennonite schools. He emphasizes the need for effective school leadership, identifying a lack of competent and...
Curiosity is a desire to know, an eagerness to learn. Mr. Brubaker gives ideas and examples about how to create a classroom atmosphere that moves away from boring to one where students experience the thrill of learning.
Conviction: Godly, passionate belief. Conviction is cultivated in our classrooms when the search for truth is understood. Mr. Brubaker gives practical advice in guiding junior high and high school students toward personal...
Each person is hard-wired by their Creator to be creative. Creativity will look different in different people. Schools do not do so well with growing creativity. Mr. Brubaker gives suggestions for creating conditions that nurture...
As teachers, our work is to create an environment in in our classroom where growth happens. Mr. Brubaker talks about some conditions that hinder and some conditions that nurture growth in character in our students.
To be worthwhile, most meetings need as much time in preparation and in follow-up as the meeting itself. Steven explores the factors that enable productive, efficient meetings.
Steven chronicles the progression of naturalism as it has removed the thought of God from many minds. In contrast, Christians value science as they see God's presence in all creation.
In an intense session, Steven discusses the importance of teaching the facts of the Scriptures as well as their implications for living. Students must be challenged, says Steven, to master the essentials as well as to think well....
The ideological assumptions we make guide our lives and shape our work. After highlighting the ruinous effects of wrong ideas of the 20th century, Steven introduces several important areas of philosophy.
