Climate Emergency and Educational Standards

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink

Monday 7th December, 2020

The purpose of this weekly ‘Gospel and Culture’ blog is to assist pastors and Christian leaders to quickly understand ‘key’ issues of the day and how they might intersect with the Gospel, Church and with Christianity generally. It is essentially a ‘curated’ blog that raises 2-3 current issues and directs you the reader to a reliable article, podcast and/or a website for further reading. It is my contribution to help us ‘think Christianly’ and to develop a Christian world-view. Jesus prayed for us in John 17, “I’m not asking you, Father, to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one………make them holy by your truth”.

Climate Emergency

POV. There is no doubt that something is going on with our climate world-wide and it is hurting us. Last week our Government declared a climate emergency and with it has come a set of new targets to boot. You can read the declaration in full here. The first sections of it are essentially about formally recognising the science of climate change, and the emissions reductions needed to limit warming. It also notes the public support for more climate action, highlights the effects if global action isn't taken, and makes mentions of what the government has done so far.

As Christians we are called to ‘steward’ the earth and all the wonderful natural resources we have been given, yes given. So how should we do this? Do you pastor have a well thought through position on this issue? Do you agree with our PM that this is our ‘nuclear-free’ moment? Have you considered a teaching series on this subject? What about running a seminar on this subject ideally facilitated by a climate scientist?

Educational Standards

POV. As a former Secondary School Teacher I still hold a very basic belief. Teaching should be ‘teacher driven’ and focus on the 3R’s (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) particularly in Years 1-8. Things are not good in our Educational system We continue to drop in international rankings as we debate child centre-ed or teacher lead education.

The NZ Initiative has done some helpful research called ‘The New Zealand’s Education Delusion-How bad ideas ruined a once world-leading school system’.

“By appealing to the inarguable idea that children should be at the centre of decisions about their learning, children-centred orthodoxy has undermined subject knowledge. It has told teachers they are at their most professional when they let their students lead. Consequently, educational standards have plummeted. Despite a 32% real rise in per-pupil spending since 2001, students have gone from world-leading to decidedly average”. The NZ Initiative Report

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Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.