Our Schools… pro active in teaching our childen who they are in Christ…
The tiny baby didn’t have a great start in life. From the time he was born, there was immediate fear. How were Amram and Jochebed meant to keep a little boisterous baby so quiet the Egyptians would not find him? Those who are parents know that babies cry at the most inconvenient times and places. What a task for Jochebed!
Well, the rest is history. After the Princess finds Moses in a reed basket, woven with love and lined with pitch and tar, Moses is returned to his home under the care of his parents and with the permission of the Princess of Egypt. The family no doubt rejoiced… until the enormity of the task ahead sank in. They only had a few years to share their heritage, their belief system and values before their baby would join the royal Egyptian household.
High on Jochebed’s list would have been teaching as much as possible about Moses’ identity. From the web site ‘Kids Matter” is this quote “Having a strong cultural identity enhances children’s self-concept and promotes a sense of connectedness and belonging. Children’s cultural identity is nurtured when they learn about their own cultural traditions and when those around them show respect for their cultural values. Teaching children to respect and appreciate variations and differences between cultures is therefore very important for all children’s social development.”
While not their parents, we, as primary teachers, have up to about the age of twelve to shape the children in our care. It is an important time. Like parents, we need to teach manners, problem solving, compassion and life skills as well as the ‘Three R’s’. We also have the opportunity of teaching our cultural identity.
Now, at an Adventist school, our cultural identity is our love for God and encouraging each child to reach their full God-inspired potential. We teach values, Encounter and link emotional and spiritual IQ concepts in many areas.
We have up until the age of twelve.
From his entering the palace somewhere around the age of twelve, fast track to when Moses is about 80 and beginning to realize his emotional, spiritual and cultural heritage. He listens to the Voice in the bush as God speaks to him. He talks about his insecurities and is encouraged with the words “I am who I am.” God identifies Himself as “the God of his father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” and Moses recognizes these names and obeys. It’s a long time but Amram and Jochebed’s hard work is beginning to bear fruit!
As teachers, we may never know the impact our teaching has on our children. Sometimes we are blessed to be able to follow children’s lives as they become adults. But there will times when we just do not know.
Like Moses’ parents, all we can do is ensure that we do our best while we have that short window of influence and continue to pray for them, that they will remember their Adventist primary school cultural identity – that they are children of God.
Tracie Hailey
Yr 1 Teacher, NCC