Agreement Will Help Children Worldwide

Christian Reformed World Missions and Worldwide Christian Schools signed an agreement on Thursday that creates a distribution network that promises to revolutionize training for Christian teachers in needy places around the world.

Already complete are three of six modules in what is called the "Educational Care: Caring for God's Children" program. The training modules have been written and field-tested by CRWM and now the first modules will be distributed by Worldwide Christian Schools that has a network of Christian schools with which it works around the world.

"A lot of very good effort has gone into this. We are signing an agreement today that is about caring for God’s children," said Gary Bekker, director of CRWM.

"We want to compliment World Missions," said Scott Vander Kooy, director of WWCS, at the signing. "There are a lot of other things they could have done to contribute to Christian education. This really fills a void globally and will have a considerable impact."

Founded in 1986, WWCS had been interested in finding a curriculum that it could use in the training of teachers, in areas that lack adequate teacher training programs, and found the answer in the curriculum CRWM has been creating.

"We were looking for a series we could use that was well-coordinated and thought out and presented a biblical worldview," said Dale Dieleman, who will be in charge of setting up the training networks and distributing the modules for WWCS.

First off, he said, WWCS will set up regional training events, then country-wide sessions, and finally local training programs that use the modules to teach trainers to teach teachers in Christian schools to adapt their courses to the specific learning styles of students.

WWCS is a non-denominational ministry that does not own or operate schools but instead works with them through building projects, mentoring, and other means in order to "to establish, maintain, and expand Christ-centered schools wherever they are needed most."

The first module is titled "Biblical Worldview." It helps teachers to understand their role in teaching the children the subjects and skills they will need to participate as informed, mature Christians in many areas of society. The initial module also helps the trainer and then the teacher to better grasp and renew their own calling as educators in often difficult situations.

The idea for a training program developed out of a conversation Albert Hamstra, CRWM’s director of special projects, had with Mwaya Wa Kitavi, CRWM’s East and South Africa regional director.

"Mwaya mentioned [that] it would be a good idea to have a Timothy Leadership Training [TLT] program for teachers," says Hamstra.

Based at Calvin Theological Seminary, TLT works with church leaders in areas where educational opportunities are scarce. They have developed a program in which they train pastors to train pastors, often pastors who serve churches without a great deal of formal education. TLT adapts theological beliefs and concepts and pastoral training into sessions that are easy to grasp and fairly simple for trainers to pass on.

CRWM started talking to the TLT leaders and others and interest grew, says Hamstra.

"The curriculum is made for underserved areas where teachers are undertrained, where there are few opportunities for teacher training, and next to no opportunities for Christian training," says Hamstra.

Educational Care will have six modules: biblical worldview, student learning styles, developing student gifts, discipline, leadership in a Christian school, and the purpose and value of one’s school. Each module involves a five-day workshop. Like TLT, each workshop starts with broad principles and ends with participants making action plans to use what they’ve learned.

"Right now we are raising resources so that we can finish translating the modules into Spanish, and then we will move on to French and then to other languages," said Dieleman.

CWRM received a grant from one of its donors to help fund the creation of the modules, which focus on inductive, hands-on learning.

"I’m really happy about this approach [based on TLT materials]," said Dieleman. "I've seen it work with preachers. The methodology works."