Jesus in the Classroom

I’m a teacher.

I’m a Christian.

I’m not a Christian teacher.

What I mean by that is this: I don’t work in a Christian school. I don’t teach Christian theology or curriculum. I am not in conjunction with a church or religious institution. I do not outwardly “teach” my faith. 

However, my faith is a constant in my classroom. It’s reflected in what I tell my students about me. It shines in the way I talk to my students – the first conversation we have every year centers around the word “dignity” and how this is the foundational value of my classroom. Jesus is reflected in how I advocate for my students, how I care about and love them, and how I empower them to be leaders and positive change makers. My faith is present when I tell my students how they need to value the unique voices, stories, and experiences of others; how they need to humble themselves to not believe they are above anybody, and that nobody is above them. It abounds when I engage in interfaith dialogue with my students. For context, I currently work in an American international school in the Middle East, with students from all different cultures and religions. Talking to my students about our different religions, and recognizing how much more connected our faiths are than we thought, than we’re told, than we’re made to believe, is one of my favorite parts of teaching here. I love sharing how similarly our religions teach us to treat others. It’s been an eye-opening experience that I wasn’t prepared for prior to my move – I’d been filled with the narrow, monocultural view of America that I would never be able to have peaceful dialogue in this part of the world. 

It’s been such an incredible learning journey to realize that these talks aren’t dangerous and that they don’t divide us – they bring us closer and help us see the beauty in each other’s beliefs, as well as remind us of the beauty in ours.

In everything I do in my classroom, I attempt to represent the incredible character of Jesus, whether it’s part of my curriculum or not. Often I fail and fall flat on my face, but as I teach my students, and as Jesus teaches me, it’s the journey of learning and discovery that makes us grow and become better than we were. I pray I can keep this momentum going for a long time.