Date of Award

3-2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Graduate Education

First Advisor

John Van Dyk

Abstract

In present times, Christian schools struggle to maintain a distinctive alternative to public education. Recently, many veterans of Christian education have been pointing the way to a more Christ-centered education- one that calls for explicitly Christian ways of teaching and learning. As a result, there has been great deal of rhetoric as to how people should/would define a truly Christ-Centered curriculum (CCC). Yet, many reputable Christian educators would argue that they already have a CCC while others would say that the curriculum is merely a public school curriculum with a Christian "coating". In order to bring some resolve to the issue, I thought it would be wise to survey people from around the world to find out what elements they hold to be essential in a CCC. After reviewing current literature, I developed a set of open-ended interview questions- a pilot study. I interviewed a group of people that have been involved in a CCC to flesh out what they deemed essential. From those responses, I then created a more comprehensive and quantifiable survey. This survey was both mailed and posted on the Internet. More than 500 respondents from around the world took 20-30 minutes to fill out the questionnaire. By means of a quantitative data analysis, four major "isms" emerge- individualism, conformism, authoritarianism, and intellectualism. These "isms" continue to permeate the curricula and thus hinder them from being truly Christcentered. If we are to truly develop and maintain a CCC, we should adopt a dynamic philosophical model that realizes there is an appropriate time for everything. Furthermore, we should consider adopting the highest ranked perspective statements.

Comments

Action Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education

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