For this week of training, we had missionaries come from different parts of the world to learn about three separate but connected topics: spiritual formation, cultural adaptation, and faith integration. Big topics (especially for a brain hesitant to emerge from summer vacation), but I'll unpack each of them in a minute. :)
Having been here for one year now, it was so helpful to have another week of training. I had a chance to look over this past year and find areas of my ministry that I feel went well, but also areas that could use some improvement, and how to go about making those necessary changes in the year(s) to come.
1. Spiritual Formation (growing and developing in your personal spiritual life)
The main thing I was reminded of during this session was that how I'm doing in my personal spiritual walk affects every aspect of what I'm doing here. Of course this is true for the interactions I have with my peers, colleagues, and the parents of my students, etc. But most importantly this affects my students. As an elementary teacher, my job isn't just to teach academic content, but to help mold and form my students morally and spiritually as well. It's a big job, and at times it can seem daunting. I don't have kids...who am I to shape and teach these children? It's something I take seriously, and honestly, don't always feel qualified to do. If I'm not putting daily effort into my walk with Christ, it begins to show in the ways I handle situations and interact with students.
Goals: I need to be intentional about spending quality quiet times with God and remaining constantly in prayer. I'm looking into a Bible study group with women in this community, and hope that we can learn and grow together.
2. Cultural Adaptation
We discussed the ABCs of acculturation, which is the process that occurs, both physiologically and behaviorally, when 2 or more cultural groups and their members interact. Basically it points out the main areas that need to be considered when interacting with a culture other than your own. We touched on this last year, but now I can more fully appreciate and understand the points.
A: Affect (Stress and Coping Approach)
How do you handle stress? Are you a problem solver or do you focus on your emotions?
Do you have realistic or unrealistic expectations?
Where does your support come from? Is it from people living with you who can identify with your experiences or is it from people back home that cannot always understand?
B: Behavior (Culture Learning Approach)
Make sure to pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal communication.
Be able to manage your anxiety and uncertainty about new situations. Be willing to make mistakes because that's how you grow and learn.
Be willing to learn the language, essential social skills, and basic values of the culture.
C: Cognition (Social Identification Approach)
This is your identity in the culture. We took a test called the "Intercultural Development Inventory" which, through a variety of questions, pins down your progress on the process of becoming culturally adapted. I was pleased to find out that I'm somewhere in the middle. It's a slow process, and movement only occurs by spending quality time with the people.
Goals: Continue spending quality time with my German friends, my students, and their families. Be willing to practice speaking German more, even if I'm unsure and nervous. Find an outlet to continue learning and progressing in the language.
3. Faith Integration
This was the biggest session for me personally, in regards to how applicable and practical it was. Normally this is called "Biblical Integration", but our presenter decided to call it "Faith Integration" because we're not just integrating the Bible into our teaching.
One of the things we talked about was the Sacred Secular Divide, and how Christians often separate their faith from the rest of their activities. We read an interesting pamphlet called "The Great Divide" by Mark Greene and I would recommend it. "The Sacred Secular Divide is the pervasive belief that life is an orange not a peach, that some segments of our life are really important to God-prayer, church services, church-based activities-but that others aren't-work, school, university, sport, the arts, music, rest, sleep, hobbies. SSD is like a virus." But we need to remind ourselves that God wants to be a part of every aspect of our lives, and we need to include Him in them. "The gospel is holistic. It affects all of life and it affects every aspect of who we are. The light is intended to shine through every pane of glass in the stained glass window. It affects our minds, our hearts, and our bodies because God calls on us to love Him thus, with our minds and our hearts and our bodies. And so our testimony and our service to the watching, listening world will be holistic-'Taste and see that the Lord is good, in all His ways.'"
Another thing that we discussed was how to integrate faith into our classrooms. It's not about attaching a Bible verse to every lesson. We have to be intentional about discussing our faith with our students, and opening class time up to conversation and questions. We have to love our students, and strive to meet them where they are. We need to be willing to be lifelong learners. We need to accept that we will make mistakes; many mistakes.
Goals: Be more intentional about finding ways to integrate faith into all the subject areas that I teach, in natural ways.
As a member of TeachBeyond, I am here to do transformational education.
You can watch this clip to learn more about what that means.
It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-dayness of my job and my life here. It's been a year now, and things that were once new and overwhelming have become normal to me. My roommate, Rachel Nicholson, wrote a wonderful blog post about this and I couldn't say it better myself. Here's a link to her blog: http://rachelteachingingermany.blogspot.de/2013/08/starting-year-2.html?spref=fb
One thing that I've really enjoyed has been getting to know the new people joining our community. I love their enthusiasm and the different gifts and talents that they bring with them. I'm looking forward to getting to know many of them better! I have to say though that I love that I'm no longer new here! It's great to be on the other side of things, and be able to answer questions and help with finding things.
I may not be new anymore, but I remain enthusiastic about this upcoming year. I have so many ideas for my classroom, and I am excited to work with my partner teacher, Hanna, again. The summer was refreshing, I had a lovely time with my family, and I'm excited for the changes that this year is going to bring!
