Driestar Christian University for Teacher Education offers the short course ‘Christian Perspective on Education: A Practices Approach’. In this course we deepen our understanding of Christian education worldwide by reflecting on which views on educational practices are effective and how they can be evaluated from a Christian perspective.
The short course is part of the Master’s programme on Christian education. As a participant in the short course you will join the international learning community of Master’s students and Professors. The short course is a blended learning programme.
Course Content
Within an international community of students and expert (guest) lecturers you will extend your theoretical and practical understanding of Christian education. Starting from your own observations of current practices of Christian education, you will be introduced to various views on Christian education worldwide and philosophical perspectives on Christian education today. The so-called practice-oriented approach (inspired by, amongst others, Smith & Smith, 2009; Smith, 2018), will be shown as applicable in various contexts. You will be invited to formulate the vision for your own school or educational organization. This will help you to envision and to enrich future practices.
By studying theory and reflection on their own practices, this course helps participants to enrich their practice (or the practices they serve) with insights into Christian pedagogy.
For Dutch participants, this short course is especially interesting because the mirror of Christian education worldwide is a concrete source of inspiration for teaching in your classroom and school.
The course objectives of the short course 'Christian Perspective on Education: A Practices Approach'.
Knowing
At the end of the course the participant:
Knows the background of the practices approach.
Knows the differences from the ‘worldview’ approach.
Knows the background and influence of neo-liberal thinking in education.
Understanding
At the end of the course the participant:
Understands the reasons and justification of differences in Christian Education practices.
Is able to answer the question: can a teacher make his/her teaching specifically Christian?
Is able to distinguish influences of current philosophies in practices of education in his/her own cultural context.
Is able to critically reflect on current philosophies and is able to formulate his/her own opinion.
Application
At the end of the course the participant:
Is able to summarize the history of the school.
Is able to mirror relevant information from articles and from a self-chosen studied book to their own context.
is able to mirror observations in another context to their own context.
is able to apply the insights of historical educators to their own vision of education.
Is able to explore the current context of their school with help of frameworks offered during the course and with help of the gathered sources in formative assignments.
Is able to initiate a small project as application of the practices approach.
Is able to formulate an educational vision for their own school.
Short courses help to deepen your understanding of themes concerning education improvement from a Christian perspective. These courses will help you look at your own educational practice in a different way. We offer four different short courses: Christian Education: a Practices Approach (semester 1); Developing organisations and people: The intersection of leadership, ethos, and curriculum (semester 2); Religious Education: Formation of Christian Committed Character (semester 3); and Transforming Society: Education for Justice and Shalom (semester 4). For these courses, you will join the modules of the content strand in the Master's Programme. If you pass the module(s), you can get exemptions if you register for the complete Master's Programme at a later time (subject to the conditions).
The courses involve regular online meetings on Tuesdays, independent learning tasks, group assignments, online lessons and one week on-campus seminar in Gouda, The Netherlands. During this on-campus seminar you will have meetings with your fellow students and the Professor(s), and you will have the opportunity to visit schools and, if possible, gain teaching practice in Dutch schools.
We offer credits for the course according to the Bologna system (the European Credits Transfer System, ECTS). After completing the short course, you will receive a Driestar Christian University Certificate, indicating that you have completed the 5 ECTS credit course (on average, one credit requires 28 hours of study).
The course is offered to experienced teachers, principals, school leaders and people who work in educational aid organisations.
Admission requirements:
You require a bachelor’s degree in the field of Education to be admitted to the short course. If you work in education and you have obtained a bachelor's degree in a different field, you can still apply and you can gain access to the programme on the basis of a positive outcome of the admission interview.
You work in education or a related workplace.
All students must prove that they have good writing and conversation skills in English.
The short course programme consists of regular online meetings on Tuesdays, independent learning tasks, group assignments and online lessons. You should expect 140 hours of study for the short course, spread over the full duration of this course. That means that you will need to spend around 8 hours a week on individual study or online meetings.
The short course will be offered in 2026-2028.
Tuition fee: approx. € 2.000,-
The on campus week will incur additional costs. Please contact the International Office for more information.
