Cultivating inclusive classrooms: Faith expressions field trips for teacher candidates

Cultivating inclusive classrooms: Faith expressions field trips for teacher candidates

By Heather J. S. Birch, Kristen Goodman

View profile for Dr. Heather Birch

As a Christian teacher education program, Tyndale’s bachelor of education includes a focus on faith and beliefs and how these impact who we are. This means we encourage all candidates to think about their faith and beliefs and how these impact us as people and as educators, and in turn, how this impacts learners. In courses, we facilitate discussions regarding matters of faith. As our program is open to anyone, regardless of faith background, and approximately half of our enrolled teacher candidates do not identify as Christian, this means that conversations about faith involve many perspectives and traditions. The Faith Expressions Field Trips, which take place as part of a course called Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, are a means for us to emphasize the importance of faith, and ultimately honor the faith of K–12 learners in classrooms that our teacher candidates will end up teaching, especially when that faith may be different than their own. 

Read or Buy Online

Issue #: 3

Pages: 27-31

Volume #: 64

Article in: Christian Educators Journal

Published in: 2025

Publisher: Christian Educators Journal