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TCS is a community of believers that welcomes the unique God given gifts and talents of every child.
Core Practice 3: FLEx
Every Christian school classroom must provide authentic (real work, real people, real need) opportunities for students to practice living the Kingdom story. This practice then becomes a habit, with habits shaping who we are and what we do.
“It is nothing but a pious wish and a grossly unwarranted hope that students trained to be passive and non-creative in school will suddenly, upon graduation, actively contribute to the formation of Christian culture.”
Nicholas Wolterstorff
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that he can learn no other way.”
Mark Twain
Wolterstorff suggests, strongly, that students must be given the opportunity to do God’s work NOW – to be active and creative in God’s story. Meaningful work creates a sense of purpose in their lives, and draws students more powerfully to God’s story. As the name suggests, Formational Learning Experiences are designed to form the students’ hearts and actions as well as their minds, equipping students to become people who live and breathe God’s story. Research and experience suggest that formational learning best emerges from experiences that get at our gut and touch our heart. James K. A. Smith writes in Desiring the Kingdom that “Education is not primarily . . . concerned with providing information; rather, education most fundamentally is a matter of formation, a task of shaping and creating a certain kind of people. These people are distinct because of what they love and desire – the kingdom of God.”
We promise to design formational learning experiences that:
- Invite every student to explore their role in the Kingdom story
- Nurture every student to desire to be a peculiar people
- Empower every student to practice their life’s expression
