Bible-Shaped Teaching

The Bible can and should be an environment in which we live and move and have our being, an environment in which we are shaped by God in different and interrelated ways. As with aspects of our physical environment, we may have never noticed many elements of this spiritual environment before or may have only the vaguest sense of their influence. While we may be more familiar with certain elements, we may not realize the full extent of their influence or be too preoccupied to see how they relate to form the larger whole of how we are shaped. This book looks one-by-one at several ways in which the Bible's environment influences us as people and, in particular, shapes our beliefs, attitudes, and practices as teachers in the classroom. It is concerned with helping readers to be, at one and the same time, faithful to our common calling as educators and faithful to the Scriptures as Christians.

""Towards the end of his book, John Shortt quotes Samuel Rutherford: 'Grace groweth best in winter,' then remarking 'the classroom at times can be a very wintry place.' For those who desire to be faithful servants of Jesus even in 'the wintery places,' this book offers a deeply Christian, deeply spiritual, and deeply personal reflection. This is an inspirational read for those who aspire to be 'Bible-shaped' in their ministry of teaching.""
--Trevor Cooling, Professor of Christian Education, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

""This is a book unlike any other. It's intended for Christian teachers no matter what age. It's full of practical ideas and the distillation of biblical wisdom and a grandfather's lifetime of experience. John's conversational style is engaging. The chapters are short. They contain thought-provoking questions for personal reflection and corporate discussion. The book explores in a fresh, relevant, and creative way what it means to be shaped by God through the Bible. It debunks the trivial and inappropriate ways in which some educators misuse the Bible in their lives and in their classrooms. It is truly an inspirational book for our times.""
--Bryan Cowling, Executive Director, Anglican Education Commission, Diocese of Sydney, Australia

""John Shortt is a humble, thoughtful, and expert educator who has thought long and hard about the calling of the Christian in the classroom. He offers us here an accessible, warm account of how Scripture can bring life to the work of the present-day teacher. Anyone seeking to teach more wisely and faithfully will find welcome food for thought and a winsome guide in these pages.""
--David I. Smith, Director, Graduate Studies in Teacher Education, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

""In this book, John Shortt gives a convincing explanation of how to teach Christianly with integrity. Informed by experiences with Christian teaching all over the world, the author tells about teaching practice in an engaging manner and gives many useful suggestions. This book will be a valuable guide for Christian classroom teachers worldwide and can be recommended for use in post-initial teacher training.""
--Bram de Muynck, Associate Professor of Christian Teaching, Driestar Christian University, Gouda, the Netherlands

""Readers will delight in how Shortt uses stories to invite his readers to allow the Bible to shape all aspects of our lives.""
--Ken Badley, Professor, George Fox University, Newberg, OR


John Shortt is Senior Adviser to the European Educators' Christian Association and Professorial Fellow in Christian Education at the National Centre for Christian Education, Liverpool Hope University, England. He is co-author with Calvin College's David Smith of The Bible and the Task of Teaching (2000). He was the founding editor of Journal of Education and Christian Belief a