Most schools will start in just over a month and some are still looking for personnel. I would like to take a couple of minutes to provide a word of encouragement to those schools that are still in the process of hiring personnel.
Educational experts tell us that the best time to make offers of employment for the new school year is from mid-March through mid-May. This is the time when most school districts offer employment contracts for the next school year.
In any school, there are master teachers, good teachers, fair teachers, and poor teachers. The idea propagated in some administrative circles is that the longer it takes to fill a teaching position, the greater the probability that the teacher employed will be in the “fair” to “poor” group because the “good” to “master” level teachers are already employed. This leads to the lowering of the average teacher quality which would result in a “decrease in the overall average quality of instruction in the classroom.” (Stewart) If this scenario repeats itself over several years, the overall academic quality of the school will suffer. The longer it takes to fill a position, the greater is the probability of employing teachers who are unable to facilitate learning and to overcome learning problems presented by students, regardless of the class size.
The academic quality of your school depends on employing the right personnel.
Although there may be some truth to this position, Christian schools are not limited to what takes place in the natural. If your Christian school ministry has been established under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you can have confidence that He knows exactly the type of teacher you need. Rather than praying, “Lord send us the right teacher,” pray, “Father, help the teachers, that You have ordained and appointed, to hear and to obey Your Voice.” It is not a matter of God speaking, it is a challenge of hearing and obeying. You need to direct your prayer and faith toward hearing and obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit. Apply Psalm 85:8, “I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people (teachers), and to his saints.” Declare, Isaiah 1:19, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.”
There are a number of reasons Christian educators do not hear, nor do they want to take a step of obedience. These reasons may relate to finances, family, health, relationships, to name a few. They simply may not recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the devil will provide them with all kinds of reasons and excuses for not fulfilling God’s calling. His attempt is to bring doubt and unbelief and to question the teacher’s ability to be successful in a Christian school. You can combat this by taking authority over all principalities and powers that are blocking obedience to the call of God. Apply 2 Cor. 10:4,5 “The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We rear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God (God’s call to teach at your school); and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
There is no easy formula for selecting a teacher who will be successful at your school. As a minimum, they should be prepared spiritually (Born again, Called of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, believes and acts on the word of God, has an active prayer language, and involved in Christian service). They should be prepared both academically and professionally to teach (degrees, license, subject preparation, experience, classroom management.)
They should have a great personality, one that displays a zeal for life, bright, optimistic. This kind of personality will help in making their teaching interesting, especially if they display a vibrant spirit that radiates the joy of the Lord.”
Above all these factors, you need to find Christian educators who can confirm being called of God as a Christian educator in general and to your school, grade, and subject in particular. This is important because with this calling comes the equipping. Declare Philippians 1:6. “The teachers you have ordained to be at this school are “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Add 2 Cor. 9:8, “God is able to make all grace abound to you (to the teachers you have ordained to be here), so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you (they) may abound in every good work.”
There is no simple formula to predict teaching success. A number of different factors relate to success, the main one is knowing that the person you are about to employ has been called by God to your school.
As you get closer to the start of the school don’t fall into the “warm body” trap. Avoid the pitfall of settling for the mediocre. If you have an "average" teacher, you will have "average" students. You may be thinking that you can’t afford to hire a “master” teacher that God brings your way. Know this, if they are called, they will know it and desire to fulfill God’s call and believe for provision.
One year, we were praying and believing God for an upper-level Math teacher. There were several applicants that could have filled the position. However, we refused to settle for second best and released our faith for God’s choice. We did not have a “peace” about hiring just anyone. We stood on the promise found in Col. 3:15, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful. One week before the start of school, God spoke to a teacher who had been teaching in a public school and was a MIT graduate with five years of teaching experience. God spoke to him specifically to pack up his belongings and family and move to Tulsa and apply for a position at our school. Three days before school started, he was hired and became head of our science department – a master teacher who had a profound influence on the lives of countless young people over the next two years. I am so thankful that we allowed the Holy Spirit to be the employment officer.
“Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35, King James Version). God shows no partiality - what God did for us, He can do for you and your school. I am in agreement that every position that is open in your school will be filled with God’s appointed candidate.
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