Conferences for Christian teachers in India

Why do we have conferences for the teachers in the Christian schools of India? Conferences are expensive to organize and to run. Teachers and school administrators must leave their work and, in many cases, their families in order to attend. Speakers have their own busy schedules. We must be clear about our reasons for having the conferences and what it is we expect the conferences to do.

Most approaches to formal education among all cultures around the world grow out of a need to perpetuate what already is. Children and young people must come to know how people within their cultural group function and this forms the backdrop or stage for their educational programs. This is true in Russia, in the United States, in India, and it is true everywhere.

Christians concerned with education begin with a different premise. They build education programs with the understanding that all things exist to glorify God. God created the universe and sustains it by His power and authority. All subject matter, every classroom activity, each relationship, and the entire learning environment must reflect this understanding. This understanding undergirds the belief that all life is sacred. And it shapes all educational programs.

It seems right that at the end of children’s formal education, they ought to possess an orientation to life that pronounces "the heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). Their lives should reflect the truth that "the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart" (Psalm 19:8). We hold conferences in order to help teachers better understand how to teach toward these goals.

In the coming days I will tell you about the topics we address at these conferences.