Abstract
To prepare pre-service teachers to be high-quality educators, Christian teacher educators have the responsibility of integrating professional frameworks of teaching effectiveness and reflective practice into their programs. However, the most commonly used frameworks in the United States have inherent limitations when the specific aims of a Christian teacher education program are considered, such as their isolated construction of teacher identity, their prioritization of behavioral changes over attitudinal changes, and their conceptualization of spatial and relational boundaries. Although these tools promote professional growth, they do not adequately support pre-service teachers’ integration of professional and faith development. The goal of this essay is to provide a supplemental framework for pre-service Christian teachers’ growth and reflective practice that, not only incorporates faith as an explicit dimension of teacher identity but frames the act of teaching as a potential self-guided, scaffolded pedagogical landscape for faith development. In the final section of this essay, practical considerations for how this tool might be used within the context of a teacher education program at a Christian college or university are proposed.
Recommended Citation
Fischer, S.
(2025).
Teaching as a Pedagogy for Christian Faith Development: A Faith-Based Framework for Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflective Practice.
International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal, 20(1).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/1932-7846.1354