Every now and then, I get a random idea that doesn’t leave my brain for weeks. Almost 2 months ago, I wrote two blogs on the gospel, Christian parenting, & education options. I received a lot of positive feedback on both of them, and it led me to continue thinking through how certain models of education that parts of the church pursue could be moved toward improving education amongst the poor.
Poor areas of the city are notorious for poor education scores and in great need of investment that goes beyond what government can provide. Only the church has the long-lasting motivation of the never-changing God and His gospel of hope and salvation that can sustain long-term transformation.
There are quite a few families in the church that are pursuing homeschooling alternatives and classical Christian education. This has led me to wonder how the benefits of these can be leveraged to improve the quality of education in our cities. While I believe the church must engage in the public schools and assist students in need, I also wonder how these families and Christian education providers could partner together to serve their city.
The TOMS Model
TOMS Shoes was founded by Blake Mycoskie in 2006 after he traveled and connected with children in Argentina that had no shoes to protect their feet. The company matches every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes for a child in need. According to their website they have “given over 1,000,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need around the world.”
Whatever your view of TOMS shoes, it’s obvious that they are a business created to bless people around the world. In the same way they have blessed kids with shoes, they are now seeking to bless the world by improving eyesight through selling sunglasses.
Why not for Christian education?
This has me wondering if the same idea could be applied to Christian education, whether it is private schools, homeschooling, or classical Christian education options, similar to Veritas.
Christian families that seek to embody the gospel of Jesus Christ desire that their children know God, have a great education, and share Jesus with the world through declaring the gospel and demonstrating it through mercy and justice. Many of them pursue these education opportunities to do just that.
What if these curriculum providers partnered with local families to provide curriculum and resources at a different cost to provide a better alternative to schooling? Much of the content has already been created and the information technology today provides an opportunity to distribute this content in innovative ways that reduce cost.
Could parents pay a little more than usual and curriculum providers partner for merciful engagement of one of the biggest needs in our day? Each homeschooling or classical Christian educating family could participate in the education of another child in their area. This invites Christian families to take ownership of the education of those around them, seeking to extend the benefits they receive from education to others.
I know that Christian private schools provide a limited number of discounted tuition and scholarships, but what if the pricing structure changed for these schools, co-ops, and classical Christian schools to seek renewal of a city through education? The church’s mission is to participate in the gospel of Jesus Christ as it renews broken systems, structures, and institutions just as it addresses personal needs.
Education is one of these systems and institutions in need of innovation and investment from the church.
Bob Lupton in his book, Theirs is The Kingdom, writes about how his family and church’s investment in a local public school transformed the grades in that school.
Four years later, when the children of Slaton Elementary School took the California Achievement Test, a national standardized test, parents and teachers alike were overwhelmed at the result. The average test score was in the seventy-second percentile, an increase of more than forty percentage points!
I genuinely believe that the church is a powerful force in addressing injustice and can do so especially well in education. My hope is that churches invest in public schools as well, but I also know that the gospel of Jesus Christ can be displayed through every schooling option.
This is a great time of opportunity for the church to think innovatively in how they can meet the needs of their neighborhood.
I wonder if the TOMS model could be an opportunity for Christian education in seeking to improve the quality of education that the poor and marginalized receive. It could be a great partnership between the church, Christian families, and Christian schooling providers to renew a broken area of our society that is in desperate need.
Christian education – perhaps. Classical education – no. Classical education (as I understand it from being in education myself) “works” only because it helps those who are economically and socially marginalized cope/ thrive in a world that is ruled by a certain dominant socio-economic group. For example, much of the literature and history is Eurocentric and the ways of being/ interacting that are inculcated in its students are those favored by the dominant people group in society. Further, it is a very top-down, “banking” model of education, which may improve test scores, but doesn’t really encourage inquiry, self-motivation and risk-taking, amongst other things. I think the model you’re suggesting is indeed well-intentioned and necessary, especially those partnerships, but we need to be careful not to further oppress while trying to help.
I like your idea very much. If there was a way to pass on used materials or give a percentage so that we knew things were going where it was needed it would be wonderful.
Who would be teaching the kids? Would your plan use Churches? I know the curriculum I use wouldn’t be very acceptable in a public (read godless) school setting.
Classical isn’t for me, either. My kids won’t be speaking to business partners in Latin and ancient Greek! But I’ve heard it has a large voice in the home schooling world.
TOM’s is not sustainable development so I don’t think it would transfer well to education. If TOM’s really wanted to impact the communities they “serve,” they wouldn’t give crap shoes to kids who will wear them out in a month. They would create a way for higher quality shoes to be made in those countries, give their workers a sustainable wage, and therefore contribute to the overall development of the community rather than provide charity. Don’t get me wrong, I love TOMS as shoes, just not as a social enterprise.
I see where you’re going with the “one for one” idea, but I think the church could (and should) give WAY more than that. Education is a huge part of the broken social fabric. Unlike other social entities (healthcare, social services, etc.), education has the unique ability to bring communities together as a meeting place that is multigenerational. Education in America is fundamentally broken and in deep need of restoration. If the church is to get serious about this issue, it must take a more systemic and, dare I say, missional approach. I think International Justice Mission is the closest example to what I’m talking about. Take the BEST Christians already in the field of education (teachers, principals, social workers, etc.) and bring them together on this issue. Then work on a ground level (turning around individual schools) as well as a systemic level (policy) to infiltrate the education system. Organizations like Teach for America attempt to do this, but with people who have no experience in the field of education and therefore don’t do a lot of long-term change. Not to mention so many of TFA corps members are in it for different reasons and have differing views on the issues in education, therefore stifling TFAs ability to truly bring everyone together on mission. Most experienced and highly-effective veteran teachers don’t want to work in failing schools because of the administrators and school culture rather than the students. This is where gospel leadership could really flourish. Use the gospel to unite the best people in the field, put them in the most needed places, and give them the support of local churches and gospel communities. That’s how the church could impact education.
Have I mentioned I really miss sitting on your couch with you, Amber, and a cup of coffee to talk about these things? Because I do.
Jackie,
I certainly agree with you that the church could do WAY more. You are speaking to the need to address the brokenness in education more systemically and that is extremely necessary.
My main thought was geared towards assisting the homeschool, private Christian homeschool, classical education crowd to think innovatively about blessing the poor and marginalized as they seek to bless their children.
A larger conversation could be the value of consolidating the efforts of a number of gospel-centered parents, teachers, administrators to attack brokenness systemically as opposed to seeking our own ways.
I think attacking it both systemically and individually is the only way to get everyone on board in dealing with the systemic issue. This would require the non-public school crowd to expand their efforts in helping others achieve educational advances like they are at home and also require the public school Christian families to be more proactive and passionate about collaboration and seeking help.
Love your thoughts and the Gentry’s also miss dreaming about changing the world with you. Come to NYC!
TOM’s is not a sustainable option for development in my opinion so I don’t think it would transfer well to education. If TOM’s really wanted to impact the communities they “serve,” they wouldn’t give crap shoes to kids who will wear them out in a month. They would create a way for those shoes to be made in those countries, give their workers a sustainable wage, and therefore contribute to the overall development of the community rather than provide charity. Don’t get me wrong, I love TOMS as shoes, just not as a social enterprise.
I see where you’re going with the “one for one” idea, but I think the church could (and should) give WAY more than that. Education is a huge part of the broken social fabric. Unlike other social entities (healthcare, social services, etc.), education has the unique ability to bring communities together as a meeting place that is multigenerational. Education in America is fundamentally broken and in deep need of restoration. If the church is to get serious about this issue, it must take a more systemic and, dare I say, missional approach. I think International Justice Mission is the closest example to what I’m talking about. Take the BEST Christians already in the field of education (teachers, principals, social workers, etc.) and bring them together on this issue. Then work on a ground level (turning around individual schools) as well as a systemic level (policy) to infiltrate the education system. Organizations like Teach for America attempt to do this, but with people who have no experience in the field of education and therefore don’t do a lot of long-term change. Not to mention so many of TFA corps members are in it for different reasons and have differing views on the issues in education, therefore stifling TFAs ability to truly bring everyone together on mission. Most experienced and highly-effective veteran teachers don’t want to work in failing schools because of the administrators and school culture rather than the students. This is where gospel leadership could really flourish. Use the gospel to unite the best people in the field, put them in the most needed places, and give them the support of local churches and gospel communities. That’s how the church could impact education.
Have I mentioned I really miss sitting on your couch with you, Amber, and a cup of coffee to talk about these things? Because I do.