Calvary teachers take an intentionally different approach in how they work with students.

How Discipleship Goes Beyond ‘Classroom Management’

By Ben Sytsma

Principal
Calvary Schools of Holland

If you look at any Christian school website, they have listed as a part of their vision that they exist in part to disciple students towards a life as a follower of Christ — and they should! This is something that is of vital importance to any Christian school, family, or educator.

While we can all agree that this is important, a question still remains. How do we do this? How do we disciple students in a way that is more likely to lead to a flourishing life in Christ?

In order to understand how we answer these questions, let’s consider how other schools address behavior and personal growth in students.

During my undergraduate studies at a Christian college, one course I was required to take was Classroom Management. This is a normal course that all education majors are required to take whether they go to a Christian or public university.

Even the name of the course gives insight into how future teachers are taught to view children. “Classroom management” implies that children are to be managed or controlled, and the assumption is that children couldn’t possibly want to grow and behave well on their own.

What does this look like in practice?

• Teachers create games in hopes to make work more fun, or to try to make being well behaved the more fun thing to do.
• Teachers give rewards or punishments in hopes to manipulate or control students into behaving well.
• Teachers offer candy to students who successfully memorize a Bible verse.
• Teachers create activities to entertain students in hopes they will better enjoy the book, or they give external rewards for reading a book.

In these examples, what are we really inspiring in children? What we inspire them with, we inspire them to. If we motivate children to behave well by competing with other students, we are in danger of inspiring them towards unhealthy competition. If we create a game for students to hopefully better understand the Great Depression, we risk inspiring them towards the game more than towards enjoyment in learning.

This is the norm for the modern educational system.

But what other ways are there to help children grow not only in mature behavior, but in wanting to be people of maturity? How do we inspire children towards kindness, joy, humility, diligence, perseverance, and peace through difficult circumstances?

.

At Calvary Schools of Holland, we purposefully and intentionally disciple our students each and every day. Instead of focusing on managing children, we work to inspire children towards a new or better way of living.

For example, “What would it look like to be kind to others in all circumstances? Why would this be an important habit to learn throughout our lives? How does unkindness or pride sometimes hurt our friendships with others?”

All of these questions inspire an idea in the child that it is good to be kind. It is a better way of living. This is not to say that students never receive consequences or that teachers do not sometimes need to manage circumstances or classroom routines well — they do! It is important for teachers to have structure and routines, to be in and under authority, and for students to also peacefully live under authority.

However, the focus and end goal is not to control children, but to inspire them towards growth in maturity and character.

Forming a new maturity habit takes work and practice, but thanks to modern brain science, we know that the work and practice can pay off. After months of practice, we have created a new neural network, and our habit is changed. When a habit is trained, character is formed.

Another way we disciple students is through the selection of the books students read. We choose living books that are inspirational and full of meaningful ideas for reflection, whose characters and ideas inspire children towards a better way of living. We do this in all classes.

In high school, students read Band of Brothers, which inspires them towards perseverance, camaraderie, and courage. They also read a biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which inspires them towards finding joy in the most difficult of circumstances and how to live a life for Christ when things are not as they should be.

In Class 6, students read stories from the Titanic which inspire them towards sacrificial love and courage in the midst of extraordinary circumstances. In Class 2 students read Little House in the Big Woods which inspires them towards doing hard work well and living well as a family.

These are just a few examples. Our curriculum is always inspiring students towards virtues of a good life.

Another way we ensure discipleship instead of classroom management at Calvary is through intentionally keeping our class sizes smaller than most schools. Our ideal class size is sixteen students.

As the amount of students in a class increases, it can become more difficult for the teacher to stay relational and intentional about discipling students, and naturally, it can turn into managing children instead of inspiring children if the class is too large.

Discipleship and character formation is hard work. It takes much time and effort on the part of both teacher and student.

However, as a staff, we all view this as the most important part of our work. Our hope for all children at Calvary is that they would grow into men and women of high character and a flourishing life in Christ.

This is work truly worth doing. Supporting our children in the habits of a disciplined life will help them grow into people that better reflect Jesus Christ.

To learn more about this and other elements that inspire a Charlotte Mason classroom, sign up for our upcoming Parent Internship. Fellowship with parents, visit classes, watch videos, learn about our Charlotte Mason model in-depth and how to explain it to others.

Email ben.sytsma@cshk12.org to register.

Ben Sytsma is Principal of Calvary Schools of Holland. He formerly taught 5th grade at Calvary and also held the role of Assistant Principal of the elementary campus. Mr. Sytsma completed his Bachelors in Education and is currently pursuing his Masters in Education at Dordt University. He is a graduate of the Ambleside Master Teacher Training Program and has been on staff at Calvary Schools of Holland since 2014.