By Dan Steinfield, Head of School

May is a celebratory time in the life of a school as we enjoy spring concerts, pioneer days, trips to the Zoo and Camp Calvary, sports activities, and fine arts shows. Our Celebration of Learning in each division showcases how students’ academic work connects to God’s Story, inviting families and community members to witness their growth. Students present projects, reflections on "Throughlines," and evidence of their "Deep Hope," turning learning into a shared, joyous experience. The Lower School Celebration of Learning on May 7th was lively and dynamic; the Middle and Upper School Celebration of Learning will take place on Thursday, May 21.

Celebration of Learning falls into the category of experiential learning. Teaching for Transformation (TFT) also incorporates Formational Learning Experiences (FLEx), a form of experiential learning where students are invited to apply classroom learning to do real work that forms themselves and shapes the world. As I enter the final year of my Ed.D at Baylor University, I will complete my dissertation focused on experiential learning. The following piece provides a motive for FLEx at Delaware County Christian School.

Specifically, service-learning (a variant of experiential learning) is a transformative educational approach that equips students with the knowledge, skills, and values essential for thriving in the complexities of the 21st century. To help students develop the essential competencies and skills needed to adapt to Industry 4.0, which includes advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, effective teaching and learning practices in high school settings are crucial. Yet, service-learning remains underutilized in high schools (Farber & Bishop, 2018; Swaner & Erdvig, 2018), as fewer than 36% of private high schools offer these programs (Youth Service America, 2023). 

Christian deeper learning is defined as the people of God’s story doing real work that forms self and shapes the world. Service-learning enables students to apply classroom curriculum to real-world scenarios, thereby increasing learning and contributing to their communities (Do et al., 2024; Song et al., 2017; Udoewa, 2023). Service-learning increases student academic outcomes, including motivation, academic achievement, and critical thinking (Kielsmeier, 2011; Knight-McKenna et al., 2018; Wei Li et al., 2023). Service-learning develops critical vocational skills, including communication, collaboration, multicultural awareness, and leadership (Collins et al., 2020; Knight-McKenna, 2018). Service-learning models civic responsibility and fosters faith formation (Bodell, 2022; Bonati & Dymond, 2019; Dirksen, 2020). All these components prepare students for a life of Kingdom impact through an innovative and exemplary education rooted in Christ.

What if education is not primarily about the absorption of ideas and information, but about the formation of hearts and desires? What if we began by appreciating how education not only gets into our heads but also (and more fundamentally) grabs us by the gut—what the New Testament refers to as kardia, "the heart"? What if education were primarily concerned with shaping our hopes and passions—our visions of the good life—and not merely about the dissemination of data and information as inputs to our thinking? What if the primary work of education was the transformation of our imagination rather than the saturation of our intellect (Deeper Learning in Christian Schools | CDL; https://www.christiandeeperlearning.org/deeper-learning-in-christian-schools). 

In experiential learning, our knowledge, our calling, and our identity in Christ all converge. Teaching for Transformation reminds us that we are story-formed people. Our lives are first shaped by narrative, not information. We do not learn how to live the Christian life by memorizing facts, rules, precepts, morals, imports, exports, and governments. We begin to see our lives as part of a pattern within the larger story of redemption, and we long to live a life worthy of that story. To make sense of our lives and to make our most important decisions, we depend on the story that provides the broader framework of meaning. Our lives, and the questions and events that fill them, take their meaning from within some larger story (Teaching for Transformation, TFT). As Cardinal John Dearden stated, “We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own” (Untener, 1979).
 

Bibliography