Aside from actually teaching, nothing has aided my growth as an educator more than talking with experienced, respected teachers; particularly those in my discipline: theology/worldview. It’s hard to think of two living teachers more esteemed in the field than Dan Kunkle and Dan Ribera.
Mr. Kunkle has been the longtime worldview teacher at Phil-Mont Christian Academy in Philadelphia, PA (to learn more about Kunkle, check this out). And on the other coast, Dr. Ribera teaches bible at Bellevue Christian School just outside of Seattle, WA (to learn more about Ribera, check this out). Together, they have close to 80 years of teaching experience.
I recently engaged in some shoptalk with the Dans (Dani?). While I had high expectations for the exchange, I couldn’t have anticipated just how rich their insights would be. With permission, that conversation is reproduced below:
Messer: In short, how/why did you become a teacher (and how many years ago)?
Ribera: A combination of being good with my hands (I prepared to be an electrician in HS) and affirmation of working well with kids (VBS, camp, Sunday school) led me to study to be an Industrial Arts teacher in college. I worked as a shop teacher for a few years while I attended seminary. That led to teaching bible in a Christian school. I began teaching 37 years ago. That includes 19 years as a school principal.
Kunkle: I did not grow up in a Christian family. Through the 10th grade I wanted to be a disc jockey. In 11th grade I had a teacher who changed my life. He taught American history. He was the first person in my life that I really admired and wanted to be like. It was at that point that I decided I wanted to be a high school history teacher. I went off to college to major in Secondary Education Social Studies. In college I became a Christian. After finishing my udergraduate degree. I enrolled in seminary thinking that I might be headed for the pastorate. The Lord made it clear in my first semester of seminary that I was not called to the gospel ministry. I went back to my first love, that of teaching, and after graduation from seminary I began teaching Bible at Phil-Mont Christian Academy. So I have been teaching there since the fall of 1979. In addition, I teach philosophy and world religions at a local Catholic college.
Messer: Who were a few early influences on your theology, philosophy of education, etc.
Ribera: Having grown up in a relatively non-academic anti-intellectual church, discovering Francis Schaeffer in college was huge. Reading Schaeffer, CS Lewis, John Stott (and other IVP authors) were all formative in my college years. In seminary, I met Cornelius Van Til, and studied under John Frame. Presuppositional and perspectival understanding are still important to me. I took a class at WTS in which I was introduced to Dooyeweerd (via Kalsbeek), Kuyper and Bavinck. These Dutch Reformed thinkers help form my philosophy of education. In addition to Van Til, Bavinck, and Kuyper (and just a small dose of Dooyeweerd), a Hungarian chemist/philosopher, Michael Polanyi was an important thinker who contributed to my epistemology and my doctoral dissertation.
Kunkle: While in college, I met a man who was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (the Covenanters). He introduced me to Reformed Theology. his name is Jack Delivuk. For a time he served as the librarian at Geneva College. The major influence in my early life as a Christian was R.C. Sproul. My wife and I visited his study center in Western Pennsylvania each week for a year when we first married. Then there were some of my professors at Westminster Seminary. Among them are Richard Gaffin, John Frame, Vern Poythress, and Robert Godfrey.
Messer: How do you see bible classes fitting into the overall curricula of a school? Why is it important?
Ribera: I think Bible classes fit into the overall curriculum in several ways. First, students need fluency in scripture to understand the narrative in which we find ourselves. Further, this biblical fluency informs our questions, perspective, and conversation. The story of the bible helps form our identity as God’s image-bearers. We are God’s creatures who are dependent upon Him for all our knowing. The Bible defines the creator-creature distinction. Finally, scripture gives commentary to the world we study in all school disciplines, specifically, the goodness of creation, the distortion and the anguish that come from sin, and the hope and restoration that come through Christ’s redemption. Some bible classes need to focus on bible content and narrative, while other bible classes should focus on philosophy, worldview, theology, ethics, culture, and apologetics.
Kunkle: The school is not the home, nor is it the church. God is worthy of our loving him with our minds. Bible instruction in the Christian school ought to have the same academic weight and rigor as all the courses that students take. It should be a graduation requirement. bible classes are important in that they provides an opportunity for in-depth study of the text of Scripture, theology, worldview and cultural analysis.
Messer: What have been a few key emphases in your teaching that have remained over the years?
Ribera: The Bible tells one story. God reveals himself in creation, in scripture, and in the incarnation in Christ. We think God’s thoughts after him. The biblical narrative flows through Creation, Fall and Redemption (I know a fourth theme is added – “restoration,” but I learned it with just the three, and still think a case can be made that redemption already includes what Christ accomplished and how it is applied). The triadic themes of Prophet, Priest, and King find wide application in our understanding of the Godhead, the offices of Christ, the nature of humans, the structure of ethics, etc.
Kunkle: In regard to the Old Testament: In the Old Testament we meet a God who makes promises and keeps them. The Old Testament is all about Jesus. In regard to the New Testament: It is what we find in the New Testament that has the power to change people’s hearts. In regard to Theology: All theology is practical theology in that the goal of theology is to get to know God better and love him more. For example, learning about the communicable and incommunicable attributes of God should make our worship more concrete. we are to watch our life and doctrine carefully. In regard to worldview and culture studies: Only Christian Theism explains the world as it is and only Jesus can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. Competing worldviews are utterly incapable of explanation and being fulfilling. There is nothing more reasonable than for the creature to submit to the Creator and there is nothing more reasonable that for the sinner to embrace the Savior.
Messer: How have high school students changed since you first started teaching? Regarding this generation, what gives you hope/what’s a cause for concern?
Ribera: Parents have changed for sure. The world has certainly changed. Thus, student are products of these changes. A teacher in a Christian school can no longer assume that even Christian students have consistent care by a local church. They may not attend, they may not be taught God’s word, they may not celebrate the sacraments, and they may not believe the gospel. Post-modernity is coming to its natural conclusion before our very eyes. The challenge is one of epistemology, how do we know? how do we know truth? how can we be certain?
Kunkle: Yes, students have changed. Far fewer students today read books for pleasure. In some ways it seems to me that students today are less social that they once were. IIronically, I think that is is partially due to the explosion in social media. Whereas at one time kids would go out on the weekends together to the movies, now many of them stay home and binge on Netflix while texting friends who are elsewhere. Students today also come to us less well catechized from their church experience. It appears that churches are not teaching their young people the fundamentals of the faith as once was the case. My hope is that the Lord will not leave himself without witness in the world until he returns.
Messer: What advice can you give young teachers who’d like to be in it for the long haul?
Ribera: Read, study, engage in conversation. Love truth more than popularity.
Kunkle: There is the “grow season” and the “show season.” Devote significant time in the summer to make improvements for the next year. Take notes throughout the school year and determine what needs to be improved for the next year. Work on these things over the summer. Teach twenty years, not one year twenty times. Also reserve some time in the summer to play, so that you come back refreshed in September. Honor the Lord’s Day. Don’t do school work on Sundays. God did not build you to work seven days a week. In short, be a life long learner and use time wisely. Cultivate and nurture your love for kids. If you find yourself no longer enjoying the company of children, go sell insurance.
Messer: Are there any (perhaps obscure) books every teacher should read?
Ribera: This is a tough one. I’m trying to narrow it down between Parker Palmer, Michael Polanyi, and Herman Bavinck. I’m currently reading James K. A. Smith. He’s very good. I’ll leave it at that.
Kunkle: I don’t know about obscure, but these books are a great place to start:
Chaim Potok: My Name is Asher Lev
Dorothy Sayers: The Mind of the Maker
John Henry Newman: The Idea of the University
Gary North: Foundations of Christian Scholarship
Doug Wilson: Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning
