Beyond Academics

By Dr. Sandra Jenkins Cook

Could you use a handbook explaining every aspect of creating Christian vocational educational choices for students in your school or ministry? You will find this book an invaluable source of guidance to attain this goal.

Christian school leaders are encouraged to reassess traditional course offerings of solely academics to discover how vocational educational options can be offered to their students. This book will not only challenge Christian school administrators and ministry leaders to explore vocational career and technical training programs, but also guide them in all aspects of the addition and development of the programs, including academic and biblical integration.

Uniquely talented vocational students have been overlooked and abandoned in Christian education for far too long. The vocational educational field is white unto harvest!

Think about it: If access to discipleship had been limited to only the academically inclined, the fishermen, the tentmakers, and the carpenters would have been excluded!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639616770

Book preview

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Beyond Academics

Dr. Sandra Jenkins Cook

Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Sandra Jenkins Cook

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Why Should Christian Schools Offer Vocational Education?

How to Get Started

Who Will Attend?

How to Select the Programs to Offer

How to Hire Vocational Instructors

Student Admission and Appropriate Placement

Curriculum Development

Are You Following Your Own Mission Statement?

You Want to Do This, but You Need More Help

To all individuals devoted to serving God by carrying His light into educational institutions throughout this nation and the world.

Introduction

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for most of us to reassess the basics and traditions in our lives, particularly the everyday things we take for granted and the everyday means by which we live. It has caused many of us to refocus on what is important and what is necessary and what we must change or add to prepare for the future.

This reality of required transformation is revolutionizing many of our businesses and institutions as well, producing new means of service and new ways of production and deliverance. The shutting down of school facilities with restrictions on group instruction has required immediate emergency modifications to most educational systems—public and private. Educators, in particular, have been forced to face the immediate reality of procedural and technological change, with the instantaneous requirement to creatively adapt.

Christian schools, many already facing challenges of sustainability, are realizing that they must reassess their traditional way of deliverance, offerings, and operation in order to ensure that Christian education will survive and move forward into the future. We believe we have a key message to share with these schools.

The ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) ran an article in their Spring 2020 publication entitled "Advancing, Access, Advocacy: ACSI Looks to the Future." In this article, they identified three pillars for delivering their mission of strengthening Christian schools and equipping Christian educators into the future—advancing, access, and advocacy.

In addressing the access pillar, ACSI pledges commitment to making Christ-centered education available and obtainable to as many children and families as desired. But have they overlooked the vocational student?

Christian schools must reevaluate their long-established educational offerings of solely academics and consider incorporating vocational training for their students, alleviating a true barrier of access to those who traditionally have not benefited from Christian school—the vocational high school students.

Most Jacks and Jills, gifted with vocational talents, are not being offered a Christian-based educational choice they need and desire. Families often decide to enroll these students in a Christian school for biblical integration. These students become inappropriately placed educationally and are forced to compete in the academic realm. They often become the underachievers academically and ultimately are even labeled as the discipline problems.

Most Christian schools focus on and excel in high academics and college preparatory courses, omitting the option for Christian vocational training for high school students. The result—vocationally gifted students, with God-given hands-on skills and talents, are forced to seek vocational training in the public high school system or wait until after graduation to pursue expensive post-secondary training.

As a result, many of these high school students often withdraw from the Christian school and pursue high school vocational training offered by public education. These students find a new home in public vocational education and love it because it fulfills their desires, highlights their talents, and gives them the educational success that they did not experience competing in the Christian school high academic realm.

Unfortunately, some of these students not only leave Christian education but also turn away spiritually from the Church and God because of their despondence over their academic failure and personal discouragement experienced at the Christian school—so Jack falls down and breaks his crown and Jill comes tumbling after!

We need to look beyond our level of comfort and address the needs of all of our students, including Jack and Jill. With rare exceptions, people are generally resistant to change. They embrace that which is familiar, despite the potential for something greater. Sadly, this attitude is prevalent among educators as well. Once an administrator has a school running like a well-oiled machine, their desire to tinker with the traditional system diminishes.

Reinventing Christian high schools to meet the needs of students requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to adopt new practices in order to benefit students, families, and the community. Inclusion of vocational education does not mean abandoning all current practices or resources. Current best practices are to be maintained while adding vocational education and support systems, resulting in Christian educational opportunities available to all students.

The purpose of this book is to encourage Christian schools to reassess their traditional course offering of solely academics and consider including choices for vocational education for their students. It is our fervent prayer that this book will stimulate this desire and guide school administrators in exploring and developing vocational career and technical training programs.

This great and talented mission field has been overlooked and abandoned in Christian education for far too long. The fields are white unto harvest! Think about it: If access to discipleship had been limited to only the academically inclined, the fishermen, the tentmakers, and the carpenters would have been excluded!

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Why Should Christian Schools Offer Vocational Education?

All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded.

—Exodus 35:10 NIV

The Need for Vocational Education

The NEA (National Education Association) did a research study in March of 2012 and reported the following key