Hello fellow educators welcome to podcast #82. We have a great podcast today with Mark Daley and Eric Vanee as we talk about what transformative education is all about in an online context. If you have been following our podcasts from the beginning of the school year you will note that we spent allot of time talking about the three major educational reforms we are involved with at Heritage Christian Schools. The first being our complete reforming of school curriculum from a secular agenda to content and educational experiences seen through a Christian worldview. We spent allot of time on this in our first year of podcasting, particularly episodes 15-24. The last several podcasts have been about the third reform of technological innovation. We are pioneering whole vista's of education into the future. We are continually asking the question, 'What will education look like in 2023 (the year our kindergarten students, we have 128 of them this year, graduate) and what should we be doing today so that Christian Schools don't get left behind.'  Today we will begin a series of interviews with some educators who understand the second area of reform: transformative educational programs and experiences.

Before we jump into this I want to read a comment from Bruce Hildebrandt, a very experienced Christian educator who just started with our Online School this year:

"I thoroughly enjoyed podcasts 79 & 80.  There truly is a huge need for Christian education.  I loved your rebuttal points for people's excuses for not sending their kids to a Christian school.  Many parents don't realize how much public schools have changed since they went to school.  When we grew up, you said the Lord's prayer, teachers were allowed to speak about God in positive ways, social issues were far fewer.  Today's schools are not as safe and innocent as the schools we grew up in. Children need that discipleship and support as they grow up in their faith. Kids need teachers who can openly bring God into the classroom and make Him real in the day to day living of life.  Parents need Christian teachers and schools to reinforce what they are teaching at home. Christian education provides so much more  than academic education, it provides faith/life education.   True children still have free will, we all do. True, sometimes parents can be less than exemplary role models for their kids. I've always believed that when the home and school work together that the positive impact in a child's life can be HUGE, and grads won't emerge cloistered and naive, but rather as equipped critical thinkers ready to stand their ground for their faith. Preach it brother!!"

Thanks Bruce. Here is the first of several interviews with two educators who understand and can help us define this all important educational reform: Transformation. I apologize for a bit of background noise we did the interview in the Fairmont lounge at Vancouver Airport.

Audio Only

Thank you Mark and Eric we will continue this discussion next week. Please email us your comments and thoughts on today’s podcast. Also, if you would like us to mail you a free copy of my book or send you the download link for the audio version of, Discipling This Generation for a Digital World, simply send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and let us know what type of an educator you are, home schooler, classroom teacher, school administrator, or interested parent. Please let us know how you heard about the podcast and, of course, please include your mailing address. Thank you for listening and thank you for your commitment to discipleship-based Christian education.