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What the hell is a "Christian educational philosophy?
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philipjames



Joined: 03 Feb 2003
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:39 pm    Post subject: What the hell is a "Christian educational philosophy? Reply with quote
I'm applying to a public school job that requires its teaches to have relevant experience reflecting a "Christian educational philosophy." I'm not a Christian. If they ask about my experiences reflecting my Christian educational philosophy what should I say?

It is a public school job, so I really don't know how they can bring religion into the equation. And I don't want to pretend to be a Christian just to get a job. They want us to have a good education, but they also want us to believe in fairy tales. Shocked I didn't attain a graduate degree to pretend to be stupid.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.
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shantaram



Joined: 10 Apr 2007
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Maybe it's a covert way to discriminate against imagined minorities. They might think all white people are Christian and all black people aren't or something ridiculous.
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Demophobe



Joined: 17 May 2004
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:49 pm    Post subject: Re: What the hell is a "Christian educational philosoph Reply with quote
philipjames wrote:
I'm applying to a public school job that requires its teaches to have relevant experience reflecting a "Christian educational philosophy." I'm not a Christian. If they ask about my experiences reflecting my Christian educational philosophy what should I say?

It is a public school job, so I really don't know how they can bring religion into the equation. And I don't want to pretend to be a Christian just to get a job. They want us to have a good education, but they also want us to believe in fairy tales. Shocked I didn't attain a graduate degree to pretend to be stupid.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.


Here we go again. Rolling Eyes
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philipjames



Joined: 03 Feb 2003
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
True, I can't pass an opportunity to take a swipe at religion. But my question is genuine. If I get offered an interview, and this question comes up, what doth one say?

Cheers.
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icicle



Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Location: Gyeonggi do Korea
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:56 pm    Post subject: Re: What the hell is a "Christian educational philosoph Reply with quote
philipjames wrote:
I'm applying to a public school job that requires its teaches to have relevant experience reflecting a "Christian educational philosophy." I'm not a Christian. If they ask about my experiences reflecting my Christian educational philosophy what should I say?

It is a public school job, so I really don't know how they can bring religion into the equation. And I don't want to pretend to be a Christian just to get a job. They want us to have a good education, but they also want us to believe in fairy tales. Shocked I didn't attain a graduate degree to pretend to be stupid.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.


I would say that it is probably not the right job for you ... To put it in a nutshell (not easy to do) it would be asking you to explain how your Christian faith (which you have said you do not have) impacts on or influences your teaching practice. So based just on what you have said I would say that your best answer would be the truth - that your philosophy of education does not reflect your Christian faith because you do not believe it ... Including it in the application process leads me to suspect that it would form a part of every day teaching within the school and in lesson planning ... and mean that even if you did get the job ... You would need to follow it and reflect upon it ... every day ... Which from what you have said would not be easy for you to do ... or to enjoy doing.

I am assuming from your mention of public schools not including any religion that you are from the US ... Forgive me if that is wrong.. In at least some other countries religion is not excluded from public schools ... In the UK for example ... many schools are both faith (church) schools and public schools at the same time ... and teaching in that area is part of the normal school day ... When I worked for a term in the UK that was the case in the school I was teaching in ...

The fact that they have brought it up at the application stage makes me think that it is probably a school that fits into this model ie a school with a religious foundation but Public school funding ... Such things to exist in many parts of the world ...

I would say that there are probably many other jobs out there which would be better match for you than this one.

Icicle
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jkelly80



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Location: you boys like mexico?
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you were to go the less than forthright route, I think that emphasizing the words "service", "humility", and "moral code" couldn't hurt.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Public schools in the Republic of Korea cannot discriminate on the basis of religion. There may be a terminology issue, though. The OP may be British where public school does not mean government-run school as it does in the US and the ROK.
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philipjames



Joined: 03 Feb 2003
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Icicle, thank you for your response. You may well be right. However, in the past I was still offered a position at a Christian university after I had informed the interviewer that I was most definitely not a Christian. So one never knows in Korea. Nothing ever seems to be transparent here. It could be the same thing as before, with me being offered a position. Or, they could be pretty hardcore about it. If I'm offered an interview I don't want to waste my time going if the interview begins with a prayer, and / or they expect me to begin each class with one.
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philipjames



Joined: 03 Feb 2003
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jkelly, you might be onto something there also. Cheers.
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seoulsucker



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: The Land of the Hesitant Cutoff
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I paraphrased the first few lines of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" when asked a similar question during an interview, and knocked it out of the park.
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Bingo



Joined: 22 Jun 2006
PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Must resist temptation to comment on yet another Christian-related thread....Must be strong.....too easy.....all been said before...must not be drawn in......

Okay, how about this? Just phone the dude and ask him what it means. Ask him straight up if you would be wasting your time applying. I think that's the simplest way to go about it.
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