Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the summer issue of the ICCTE Journal. Recently, your ICCTE Leadership Council met at Azusa Pacific University in preparation for the 2012 Biennial Conference. While there, we contemplated what it meant to implement ’emphatic listening’, as expressed in the book Messengers of God: The sensuous side of spirituality by Arthur Roberts as an act of worship to God and out of respect to each other. In this beneficial devotional within community, we were able to fellowship, plan, eat and laugh as a team who would return with something to share with you all. I invite you to send your manuscripts, and I (and our reviewers) will listen emphatically to your words

ICCTE Spotlight: Dr. James Swezey

As Editor of the ICCTE journal, I am so blessed to work with many other souls in our community of Christian Higher Education. In addition to our other tasks and interests in the service of teaching and learning, your Editorial Committee seeks to not only serve you, but know you and make ourselves known to you as peers, colleagues, and interdisciplinary collaborators. To assist you in knowing us as real people and not just names on a website, I shall be ‘spotlighting’ my appreciation for people in upcoming issues of the journal. For this issue, I would like to spotlight my capable colleague and Associate and Copy Editor, Dr. James Swezey, who has recently began a new position at Liberty University

Is the Heart of Education the Education of the Heart?

If a Christian Institution is to do more than expand the mind or ‘head’ of adherents (which is the reason given from a biblical worldview perspective for a Christian institute’s existence), then how does education become an education of the heart, leading to a transforming world and life view? It is of note that even though Christian institutions are no strangers to the subject of worldview, sparse research has been done concerning worldview as it relates to long term educational impact. This paper is a case for the importance of looking at heart and worldview and a review of some of the literature that points the reader in that direction. Forthcoming research in progress will highlight ways in which one specific Christian institution does or does not live up to the metaphor that the heart of education is the education of the heart

Factors Affecting the Probability that a NFL Head Coach Will Be Fired

This study uses a logit model to analyze the factors affecting the probability that an NFL head coach will be fired. Our dataset is composed of fifty, randomly selected head coaches from the years 2004 to 2014. Explanatory variables included career experience, tenure, the previous year’s winning percentage, career playoff wins, whether or not the coach was in the playoffs the prior year, and race. The previous year’s winning percentage was found to significantly affect the probability a coach would be fired. The model’s correct prediction rate is 80%

A Letter from Our New Associate Editor

Christina Belcher is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada and an adjunct of the Education Department at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. She is passionate about children’s literature and is interested in how narratives provoke hope, reveal cultural dispositions, and shape the soul. Her broad interests and areas of writing include literacy, worldview, and interdisciplinary study. She has previously served in teacher education in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Christina is currently a Doctoral Candidate at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia

Letter from the Editor

In the act of pondering the majesty of God’s Creation, I never tire of observing the slide of Autumn as it nestles into Winter and the beauty of the snow that follows. It is good to reflect on the comforting flow of God’s grace, beauty and consistency. The ICCTE journal, in its rhythm of bi-annual publication, has seasons as well. As I end this year and prepare to enter the next one, I have the task not only of introducing what is in this issue, but what you can look forward to in the coming months

Using Visual Journals as a Reflective Worldview Window into Educator Identity

This ethnographic case study research and content analysis presents the conclusion of a three-year study involving 37 teacher candidate participants across a three-year study within a two year (2 semester program) Bachelor of Education program at a university in Ontario, Canada. Each academic year participants were intentionally given time over two semesters of literacy courses to engage in literacy practices and knowledge of self through the use of multimodal visual journals. Candidates reflect on their conceptions of literacy, teaching, identity and worldview within an institution grounded in the Christian faith. Findings, philosophical ponderings and content analysis suggest that the identity of the teacher candidate filters learning through visual and multimodal ways. The findings raise questions about the place of multimodal learning, self-reflection, faith and worldview in the learning process, and in identity formation of educators. We suggest that this study may inform current multimodal and visual literacy research while generating enriching discussions on how multimodal forms of literacy instruction may assist in acknowledgement of worldview recognition and self-identity awareness. Keywords: Multiliteracies, visual journals, self-knowledge, worldview, identity, visual literacy, multimodal literacy, teacher educatio

Teachers’ Understanding of Imago Dei

Often education is viewed pragmatically as that of preparing students for life as employees. Another view is that education is about enabling human beings to flourish. The pragmatic and flourishing paradox has consequences for national citizenship. For Christian teachers, critical to such an approach would be the manner in which their teaching practice is informed and shaped by a Christian worldview. Such shaping involves an applied knowledge with reference to understanding people, and particularly students as “Imago Dei.” This research presents a pilot study in which 120 teachers in Christian schools in New Zealand and Canada were invited, via an online survey, to respond to three questions on what it means to be made in the image of God, and how that understanding informed their practice. In appropriating the work of Dorothy Smith (2005) on the significance of “voices in the everyday” within a profession, coupled with Charteris’s (2014) “epistemological shudders,” the research engages in a discourse analysis for probing unquestioned assumptions which open up possibilities for meaning-making and, consequently, increased intentionality of practice. Following grounded methodology, the literature review was not undertaken until after the data analysis. Discussion explores the degree of fit with approaches to Imago Dei found in the literature. Data analysis identifies four approaches to participants’ meaning making of Imago Dei. Preliminary findings suggest that how teachers understand Imago Dei does make a difference to how they view themselves as teacher, view students as image bearers, and craft their teaching

The Convention on Biological Diversity: Opportunities and Constraints for Agricultural Systems in Canada

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, refers to the diversity of life at all levels and the linkages between these different levels (Wilson, 1992). Biodiversity is commonly interpreted at three levels: 1) genetic diversity – the genetic variation provided by species; 2) species diversity – the variety of species within a given area; and 3) ecosystem diversity – the variety of biotic communities and habitats and the diversity within ecosystems at the landscape or regional level. An extensive body of research has shown that biodiversity has intrinsic, ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic value, and that it is essential for the adaptation and evolution of systems and species and for maintaining the life-sustaining systems of the biosphere (Holling et al., 1995). Concerns over biodiversity loss stimulated the initiation of a formal global response, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD), in 1992. In December of that year, Canada became the first industrialized country to ratify the CBD, which entered into force on December 29th, 1993. It should be noted that while, to date, 187 countries are parties to the CBD, the United States has not ratified and is not a party to the convention. Subsequent to ratifying the CBD, Canada has developed, and continues to develop, a policy framework to help it meet its goals within the CBD. This article evaluates the potential for opportunity and/or constraints for Canadian agricultural systems as parties to the CBD develop programs and policies to meet their biodiversity objectives. The article begins by introducing those parts of the CBD that are relevant for agricultural systems and discusses, in general terms, the Canadian response to the CBD. The article then presents the specific biodiversity initiatives that have been developed by the Canadian government and discusses the potential impact of these initiatives on Canadian agriculture.Environmental Economics and Policy,