Westpark uses a framework called Teaching for Transformation to integrate biblical principles into our educational practice. There are three core practices within this methodology:
Storylines,
Throughlines and
Formational Learning Experiences
Using this method, students connect concepts they are learning in the classroom to the bible, and they learn how those concepts reflect facets of God’s design.
These ten Throughlines are central to who God created us to be, and are foundational to this biblical approach:
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We actively pursue community in our classrooms, neighbourhoods and world. We look to partner with God to bring our communities to a place where they should be.
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We are agents of restoration partnering with God to restore the world so it is as it should be by identifying and responding to injustices.
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We actively work to heal brokenness and bring joy. We offer hope, and healing to the people around us and our world.
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We worship God by celebrating who God is, what God has done, what God is doing and what God has made. We stand in awe and wonder of God and his promises.
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We learn to read our worldview by asking questions about what our cultures value. We test these worldviews against the transformational worldview of the Bible and become modern day prophets.
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We create beauty that praises God and enriches our world. Creation shouts that our God loves diversity, complexity and creativity.
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We see God’s fingerprints all over creation, understanding that God creates order out of chaos. There is purpose to God’s creation and we can discover amazing order within it. We can see that God has a plan for all the things he made.
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We respond to God’s call to be stewards of all creation. We reclaim and relearn how to respectfully treat the world/universe and all things contained in it. This is a matter of respecting God and it is our responsibility.
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We bear the image of God in our daily lives. It isn’t something we do it is something we are. We learn to see God’s image in others. The more Christ-like our actions the more clearly Christ’s light shines in the world.
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We celebrate God’s beautiful creation and give witness to the presence of God in creation. Ordinary things become extraordinary when we see all of creation as a gift from Creator given to us to enjoy.