Book Review: Smith, J.K.A.: Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation

What if education was not first and foremost about what we know, but about what we love? (Smith, 2009, p.18) This is one of the driving questions that frames Smith’s book; a question worthy of educational reflection. Smith organizes his argument around the ideas of the dichotomy between thinking and doing; work and worship [liturgy]. His argument is that worldview must not be merely cognitive and intellectual, but must include a robust ‘social imaginary’ (flowing from the work of Charles Taylor) that is grounded in the practices of Christian worship. So far so good

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

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

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

Book Review: Bible Shaped Teaching

Lately, I have been contemplating the act of remembering. Not just as this regards to memory, but as it applies to metaphorically putting the members or attributes of our physical, mental and spiritual holistic self into the act of teaching and learning; re-assembling the “members” of being human into a coherent and flourishing wholeness. In many ways, this aligns well with the essence of John Shortt’s small but powerful text. It needs to be read more than once. It returns the mind and heart to the entire landscape of teaching

Book Review: Metaphors We Teach By: How Metaphors Shape What We Do In Classrooms

As I sit to write this review, I find myself musing over the sub-title to this text, How Metaphors Shape What we do in Classrooms. Worthy of a place in educational texts, this context of shaping targets a consideration for everyone working educationally with students. In this context, this book provides readers with much to think about. In my perspective, it is this consideration toward what I will call the heart and dispositional sensibility of education, a Christian sense of place, so to speak, that makes this book valuable

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

Book Review: To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World

In reflecting on James Davison Hunter’s thesis To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, I must admit experiencing rising tension as to whether this book is to be a harbinger of hope, or another postmodern harbinger of doubt regarding the possibility of Christianity in our current environment. In unpacking such deliberations, I begin by outlining the form, content, and intent of Hunter as to his purpose, his theology for faithful presence and shalom, and my final musings. As with any review, the hope is to have the reader read the book him/herself. Instead of writing a review on this book from its obvious theological perspective, as an educator, I will comment on its equipping aspects of inspiring a faithful presence