The concept of integration in education
By Rod Dreher
Rawlings School of Divinity
CLED 720: Biblical & Theological Foundations of Education
Genevieve Hamer
July 4, 2022
The concept of integration in education
One of the three criteria that Tyler (1946) thought should be considered as a guide to
organizing learning experiences in integration. According to him, "integration refers to the
horizontal relationship of curriculum experiences" (p. 86), and these experiences should be
organized in such a way as to help students formulate an increasingly unified view, and to
behave accordingly.
Although the ST. Olaf College Self Study Committee (1956) did not define "integration,"
their utilization of the term suggests similarities with Tyler. They presented a review of
integrating factors in education throughout the ages. According to them, in early Creek
education, being a good citizen was the main integrating factor in education. This integration
dissolved with sophists, who sustained personal advancement and individual success instead of
social services and public usefulness. Early Roman education also was founded on the
integrating aim to be a virtuous person: good citizen, soldier, and workers. Christianity gave a
new meaning to life and new objectives to education.
During the Middle Ages, integration, synthesis, and order were the goal of education based
upon authoritatively given goals and methods, but this aim degenerated towards the end of the
Middle Ages, when the Process of disintegration and fragmentation started with the overflow
of new interests.
The aim for education in the early modern age was actualizing humanity in every individual,
based upon reason as the principle of truth. Integration was not discussed because
autonomous reason and the principle of automative harmony were already in the mind of
mankind. Integration or harmony could be left to take care of itself. As the Industrial
Revolution began in Western Europe, bringing such political changes, as democracy, profound
transformations occurred in society and education. Reason was no longer the principle of truth
and justice, but a tool in the service of the gigantic industrial civilization. Classical and
theological patterns of integrating were utilized in only a few of the private church-sponsored
colleges. Positivist natural sciences and anthropological social sciences developed education
for democracy, which integrated nationalistic and economic ideals.
The first American universities struggled between two models of higher education: (1) the
German model that promoted freedom of research and freedom to teach, and supported
doctorate degrees; and (2) the English model that promoted the extension of knowledge rather
than the advancement, was slow to promote research, and emphasized B.A. degrees. Although
American universities did not attempt to eradicate disconnection of subjects, in general,
education toward technology satisfied the search of the individual for purpose and unity in life.
The contemporary school curriculum is described by Oppewal (1985) as a "curious mixture
of the old and the new, with contenders always jostling for a more prominent place in the
school day" (p. 20). The problem of education is how to harmonize this cacophonic symphony.
This harmonization is accomplished through integration. "Without this integration, the
curriculum will be nothing more than a dumping ground for unrelated facts" (Wilson, 1991, p.
59).
During the last few years, curriculum designers stated the need of curriculum integration
for several reasons: (1) the growth of knowledge that force curriculum designers to select what
should be taught, and what can be eliminated from the curriculum, (2) fragmented schedules
that divide the learning process in arbitrary blocks of time, which do not consider the needs of
students, and (23) the relevance of curriculum shown by active and natural linkages between
fields of knowledge (Jacobs, 1989, pp. 1-60).
The concept of Integration in Christian Education
In the field of Christian education, the problem of integration is different from that of
secular education. Secular education is looking for the integrating factor, whereas Christian
education already has this factor (Gaebelein, 1968). The integrating factor in Christian
education is God and the Bible. The problem of integration for Christian education is the
application oft this integration (p. 11).
From its own beginning Christianity has integrated faith with secular knowledge. The
Jewish and Hebraic system of education in the synagogue incorporated Greek and Roman ideas
of education. Thus, during the Middle Ages, the Reformation, and Colonization, educational
institutions emphasized theology as the main subject, and other disciplines only facilitate
human understanding of faith. According to De Jong (1990), "this traditional integration of faith
and learning was all but destroyed after World War II" (p. 88). Secularism, humanism, and
pluralism pervaded society, and even the raison d'etre of church-related institutions was placed
under question.
Ostensibly, it is the integration of faith and learning that distinguishes the Christian school
from its public school counterpart (Wilhoit, 1987). In reality, however, the lines between faith
and learning are often blurred in Christian schools. Some emphasize faith and diminish
learning; others accentuate learning, relegating faith to an isolated comer of the curriculum.
In spite of the ambiguous relationship between faith and knowledge, there is consensus
among Christians that Christianity has vitally important to implications for every area of life and
thought. In a secular, materialistic age, it is not easy to develop a Christian worldview. Sire
(1976, 1979), Blamires (1963), Holmes (1983), and Walsh and Middleton (1984), among others,
emphasize the importance of Christian thinking in the entire process of Christian life and
practice.
The phrase "integration of faith and leaning" is widely used in religious educational circles.
Sometimes used as a slogan, its meaning tends to be distorted, diffused, or ambiguous.
Integration
Badley (1994) questioned the term "integration" in the context of the integration of faith
and learning. For him there are five possible meanings: fusion , incorporation, correlation,
dialogical integration, and perspectival integration. "Fusion means that two (or more) elements
flow or mesh together to become a new entity." Thus, the fused elements may or may not
retain their own identity. "Incorporation seems to imply that one element disappears into the
…other." "In correlation integration, someone, usually a teacher, shows the relationship
between two subjects by noting points of interaction or common interest." Badley understood
by dialogical integration "the high and continuous degree of correlation that we could properly
claim a conversation had begun between two areas," and finally, '"perspectival integration the
entire educational enterprise is viewed from a specific perspective." He advocates the last
meaning, perspectival integration, because it provides a worldview and pursues educational
coherence.
Gangel (1983), although recognizing that the term integration is widely used, preferred the
term "harmony" with the meaning of merging, blending, correlation, connection, association,
and application. For him, integration is a process both in principle and practice, both
philosophical and pedagogical.
Faith and Learning
In examining the terms "faith" and "learning," Wilhoit (1987) stated, It seems obvious that
the existence of the two terms, faith and learning, suggests two qualitatively different sphere of
comprehension--something like the categories of apples and oranges--which we as master
chefs or teachers are to prepare as a single satisfying concoction and to serve to our hungry
students. (p. 78).
However, he defined faith and learning: "Faith is the areas of personal communion with
God--it values traits such as trust and love rather than precision of thought or emotional
detachment," and "learning is represented by cautious generalizations of philosophy or the
carefully controlled inductive truths of empirical science." Finally, he distinguished both terms
by saying:
Put in another way, learning represents those things we can verify by the scientific method
(such as water being made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen), while faith relates to
those things we cannot test or rationalize (such as the concept that God is all powerful).
Ultimately then, the difference between faith and learning is a question of origins--with faith
representing the sphere of understanding as revealed by God in His Word, and learning
representing the sphere of understanding as discovered and recorded by man. (p. 78, italics his)
Integration of Faith and Learning
In discussions of how the Christian perspective embraces reality, and more specifically,
education, not everyone uses the term integration of faith and learning. Some speak of
"worldview," others prefer talking about the "Christian mind," and a third group accepts the
use of "integration of faith and learning."
Christian mind
Blamires (1963) distinguished the secular mind from the Christian mind.
To think secularly is to think within a frame of reference bounded by the limits of our life
on earth….To think Christianly is to accept all things with the mind as related, directly or
indirectly, to man's eternal destiny as the redeemed and chosen child of God" (p. 44).
He used the word "mind" as a "collectively accepted set of notions and attitudes" (p. vii).
Blamires believed that the Christian mind does not exist, and challenged Christians to develop
the Christian mind. To him, "the Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking. And
Christian thinking is the prerequisite of Christian action" (p. 43).
Barclay's definition of the Christian mind was more biblically oriented. He noted: "By a
Christian mind I believe the Bible means "a Christian outlook that controls our life and our
thinking'" (p. 15). And he presented biblically based suggestions in the development of the
Christian mind.
Sire (1990) stated that, "the Christian mind does not begin with a worldview, not even the
Christian worldview. It begins with an attitude. Granted that attitude is rooted in the Christian
worldview" (p. 15). The attitude to which he is referring is Jesus' attitude: humility. According
to Sire, the Christian mind can be reached by being disciples of Jesus, and by approaching
knowledge, culture, and history from a Christian perspective.
Christian worldview
One of the clearest approaches to a Christian worldview was presented by Walsh and
Middleton (1984). After analyzing the definition of a worldview and how to achieve a Christian
and biblical worldview, they explained the relationship between a worldview and academic
discipline or scholarship. For them, a worldview is a pretheoretical view of the totality of
reality, based upon faith or beliefs, because all theoretical analysis occurs in the context of a
philosophical paradigm. The worldview determines the philosophical paradigm that supports
the academic discipline. Any academic discipline takes on an aspect of reality, whereas the
philosophical paradigm takes on the totality of reality (pp. 169-172).
Simple and clear introductions of different worldview were presented by Sire (1979, 1988),
Knight (1989), and Pazmino (1992) along with critiques and perspectives from Christianity.
Holmes (1977) presented eight characteristics of a worldview expanded recently in
Contours of A World View (1983): (1) holistic or integrational; (2) exploratory, or open system:
(3) pluralistic, that is, an open-ended exploration; and (4) confessional and perspectival.
Sire (1990) supported that a worldview analysis provides three bases for integration:
1. "Worldview analysis allows one to discover and examine the underlying presuppositions
of every academic theory and every discipline" (p. 155).
2. "A worldview analysis allows Christians to identify the biblical presuppositions that can
undergird proper scholarship" (p. 156).
3. "A worldview analysis provides the basis for interdisciplinary studies. Real questions we
need to ask and answer about God, human beings and the universe are not going to be
answered exhaustively by any one academic discipline" (pp. 156, 157).
Mission of Christian education
Coming to the educational field, different aspects of their history and mission of American
Christian schools presented by Ringenberg (1984), Van Brummelen (1986), Carpenter and
Shipps (1987), and Carper and Hunt (1984) shared the purpose and commitment of
engendering a distinctly Christian worldview in their students and communities. The history of
American Christian schools shows the struggle with secularization and recovery of the school's
distinctive mission. As expressed by Ringenberg (1984),
A Christian college is a community of Christian believers, both teachers and students, who
are dedicated to the search for an understanding of the divine Creator, the universe that he has
created, and the role that each creature should fill his universe. The titles of the specific
courses may not differ from those in a secular college. What does differ dramatically, however,
is the attitude with which Christian scholars approach their areas of investigation. To Christian
learners, al truth is God's truth, and the pursuit of it is a spiritual quest to understand God
better. (pp. 215, 216)
De Jong (1990) diagnosed the present situation of contemporary church-related colleges,
analyzing how they lost their raison d'etre, and how they can recover their mission. Thus,
The total college experience is a process of putting knowledge and skills into the context of
a value system, articulating that knowledge, those skills, and the value system into the
students' visions of themselves and their world. The result is a fulfilling life, one in which
continued openness and enlargement are enjoyed throughout life. (p. 141)
Integration Faith and Learning: its components
Gaebelein (1968) stressed that "Christian education can achieve integration into the all-
embracing truth of God" (p. 8). He analyzed three components in the integration. The first
component is the teacher. Regarding the process teachers go through in carrying out the
integration, Gaebelein said,
When he [the teacher] became a Christian through regeneration, he did not
instantaneously receive a completely developed worldview; rather it was implanted in germ or
in embryo. Just as there are believers who exhibit little growth… so there are others who, when
it comes to the development of a consistent frame of reference, remain comparative infants.
On the other hand, there are some who do grow. To expect achievement of this kind from all
Christian teachers is obviously impossible. But it is not only possible but also quite reasonable
to expect of Christian teachers a worldview intelligently understood and held with conviction.
(pp. 43, 44).
A second element of Gaebelein's book is that of subject integration. He expressed that
there are some subjects, which are more difficult to integrate than others. The hardest is
Mathematics, with Literature and History ranking as the most easy and natural.
As the third vital element in integration, Gaebelein targeted the school atmosphere, and
atmosphere that extends beyond the classroom. This includes all extracurricular activities,
namely cultural programs, band, choir, athletics, student discipline, chapels, and even
brochures that promote Christian education. Gaebelein's model of integration is a challenge for
Christian teaching because it is "hard work." However, "it is a glorious work," because it deals
with the formation of "growing human souls" (p. 108).
De Jong (1989) agreed with Gaebelein on the unity of integration of faith and learning. He
pointed our that frequently Christians think in "clusters," and that they tend to separate faith
from knowledge so that faith is connected with religion and knowledge is connected with
science, but there is not relationship between all elements. Therefore, The greatest challenge
facing Christian education today is that of discovering the unity of all that is known, of
formulating for our children a single mental vision, of bringing every tidbit of interpreted fact
and every theory of explanation into subjection to Christ (p. 46).
Holmes (1975) emphasized the importance of the "climate of faith and learning." He said
that values are transmitted "more from example than from precept, more from their peers than
from their elders, and more by being involved than by being spectators" (p. 82). Moreover,
teachers are keys to a climate of learning. They can inspire students, and students can inspire
other students; thus a climate of learning emerges. "It is important t that the teacher be
transparently Christian as well as an enthusiastic and careful scholar, and that he not
compartmentalize the two but think integrationally himself" (p. 83).
Integration vs pseudointegration
Sometimes integration of faith and learning is defined by contrast: what it is and what is it
not. Heie and Wolfe (1987) distinguished between integration and pseudointegration. The
difference between authentic integration and pseudointegration resides in that the former
emphasizes "integral sharing" between the Judaeo-Christian vision and the discipline, whereas
the latter focuses only on "integral commonalities." Wolfe's (1987) definition of integration
emphasizes the process of the integration of faith and learning. Integration is "more about the
process of how truth is grasped than it is about the ultimate unity of all God's truth" (p. 5, italics
his).
Integration as a process
Rasi (1993) provided a definition that points out the process and the intentionality of the
process. Integration of faith and learning is
A deliberate and systematic process of approaching the entire educational enterprise form
a biblical perspective. Its aim is to ensure that students under the influence of Christian
teachers and by the time they leave school will have internalized biblical values and a view of
knowledge, life, and destiny that is Christ-centered, service-oriented and kingdom-directed. (p.
10)
Often integration occurs spontaneously only as a part of the teachers' hidden curriculum.
Teachers' modeling and propitious, but sporadic relations between subject matter and spiritual
issues are not sufficient to reach the desired integration
A Christian worldview becomes operative only as teachers integrate these principles into
practice at the classroom level and promotes their integration in the student's life. Integration
of faith and learning should pervade the formal, informal, and hidden curriculums of Christian
schools and colleges.
