Integration

of Faith and Leaning

The worldview that developed and shaped this unit is the Christian
perspective on appreciation of diversity and the greatness of God reflected through
the diversity in this world. One of the ways to experience this is by learning more
about each other, who is not only created in the image of God but also unique.
Furthermore, this aspect of faith and learning plays a crucial role, especially in a
Spanish class, since this provides a purpose for learning a foreign language in
addition to the language and culture that the students are immersed.
Hence, this unit will aim to depict the diversity in Christ by focusing on the
two main aspects: first of all, learning of a foreign language, Spanish, and get
exposed to another culture; secondly, by getting to know more about other people.
The lesson plans from this unit will offer space and opportunity for the students to
introduce themselves to others, listen to each other, and discover the similarities
and differences among them while also learning and practicing Spanish. With the
integration of Christian faith, these two aspects of learning can complement each
other very well.
The historical timeline of foreign language instruction and the spectrum of its
position in many of the schoolsespecially in lower grade levelsclearly shows
how the perspective on foreign language has changed. In the past, learning a foreign
language had not been valued much as it is present in education, and this is shown
mainly in the following areas. First of all, the amount of time that students spend in
a foreign language classroom has increased. For instance, even in Forest Hills
District, students had Spanish once a week until few years ago; yet now, the

studentseven those in kindergartenhave Spanish twice a week. Secondly, not

only the age that begins a foreign language class has lowered but also more
institutions have started to add foreign language as a requirement. Thirdly, the
popularity among foreign languages has shifted from one to another. In the past,
many schools offered French as a foreign language course; now, more schools have
turned towards Spanish and Chinese classes in response to the growing population
(Banks).
Considering all this, it is very appropriate to not only teach the foreign
language but, most importantly, integrate Christian faith, so that students can learn
the actual purpose and reason for their learning. Furthermore, in response to the
increasing number of immigrants, students now have more opportunities to gain
cross-cultural experiences. As part of this unit, the class can also visit a local Spanish
church so that the students can experience different ways of worshipping God.
The pedagogy will incorporate more of group learning and foster the
interaction among the students. Based on the research on the effectiveness of
sharing time as a way to empower the students and develop community, each
class will begin with a short sharing time of the students (DeNicolo). One of the most
important components of both the Christian faith and school is the community, and
by experiencing together and sharing from the life, students as well as the teacher
can foster a community in Christ.


Resources

Banks, H. F. (February 2008). By the numbers: Most popular foreign languages.
Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/22/popular-
foreign-languages-tech-language_sp08-cx_rr_0222foreign_slide.html


DeNicolo, C. (2014). Fantstico! Valuing student knowledge through the morning
message. The Reading Teacher, 68.