Cultural differences increasingly impact our everyday lives. Virtually none of us today interact exclusively with people who look, talk, and behave like we do. David Smith here offers an excellent guide to living and learning in our culturally interconnected world. / Learning from the Stranger clearly explains what "culture" is, discusses how cultural difference affects our perceptions and behavior, and explores how Jesus' call to love our neighbor involves learning from cultural strangers. Built around three chapter-length readings of extended biblical passages (from Genesis, Luke, and Acts), the book skillfully weaves together theological and practical concerns, and Smith’s engaging, readable text is peppered with stories from his own extensive firsthand experience. / Many thoughtful readers will resonate with this insightful book as it encourages the virtues of humility and hospitality in our personal interactions ― and shows how learning from strangers, not just imparting our own ideas to them, is an integral part of Christian discipleship.

Learning from the Stranger: Christian Faith and Cultural Diversity

Smith, David I.

Religion & Spirituality

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

A pioneering look at the implications of Christian faith for foreign language education. It has become clear in recent years that reflection on foreign language education involves more than questioning which methods work best. This new volume carries current discussions of the value-laden nature of foreign language teaching into new territory by exploring its spiritual and moral dimensions. David Smith and Barbara Carvill show how the Christian faith sheds light on the history, aims, content, and methods of foreign language education. They also propose a new approach to the field based on the Christian understanding of hospitality.

The Gift of the Stranger: Faith, Hospitality, and Foreign Language Learning

Wm. B. Eerdmans-Lightning Source

In Teaching and Christian Practices several university professors describe and reflect on their efforts to allow historic Christian practices to reshape and redirect their pedagogical strategies. Whether allowing spiritually formative reading to enhance a literature course, employing table fellowship and shared meals to reinforce concepts in a pre-nursing nutrition course, or using Christian hermeneutical practices to interpret data in an economics course, these teacher-authors envision ways of teaching and learning that are rooted in the rich tradition of Christian practices, as together they reconceive classrooms and laboratories as vital arenas for faith and spiritual growth.

Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith and Learning

Smith, James K.A.

Christian teachers have long been thinking about what content to teach, but little scholarship has been devoted to how faith forms the actual process of teaching. Is there a way to go beyond Christian perspectives on the subject matter and think about the teaching itself as Christian? In this book David I. Smith shows how faith can and should play a critical role in shaping pedagogy and the learning experience.

On Christian Teaching: Practicing Faith in the Classroom

Eerdmans

How digital technologies are impacting Christian education, and how to respond.
Digital technologies loom large in the experience of today’s students. However, parents, teachers, and school leaders have only started to take stock of the ramifications for teaching, learning, and faith. Digital Life Together walks educators, leaders, and parents through some of the big ideas that are hidden in our technology habits. Moving beyond general arguments for and against digital devices, the book draws from extensive interviews, surveys, classroom observations, and school records to examine the real impact of technology on Christian learning. 
Based on a three-year, in-depth study of Christian schools, authors David Smith, Kara Sevensma, Marjorie Terpstra, and Steven McMullen offer resources to inform conversations in school communities about the role of digital technologies in students’ formation. With a wealth of new research findings, short, readable chapters, and accompanying discussion questions, Digital Life Together sets the stage for individual reflection, book club discussions, professional development conversations, or strategic reflection by school leaders.

Digital Life Together: The Challenge of Technology for Christian Schools

Sevensma, Kara

Terpstra, Marjorie

McMullen, Steven

Encountering cultural differences in the classroom, in the workplace, in the church, and in the public square is an everyday part of contemporary life. The chances that we will live our lives interacting only with those who share our cultural identity and ways of thinking are shrinking. Understanding culture and how cultural difference affects how we understand one another and live well together is no longer just for travelers. It has become a basic life skill. Past Christian ways of thinking about cultural difference as most important for missions to far away places do not harmonize with today's realities. This book offers a brief, critical overview of how Christians have been rethinking their relationship to cultural difference. Creation and fall, the image of God, the body/temple that is the church, neighbor ethics, the trinity, the incarnation and cross of Christ, and the call to welcome strangers - each of these offers distinct challenges to think in Christian ways about how we deal with differences. Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, this book provides a concise guide to current Christian discussions of otherness. It points to rich ways in which Christians can responsibly and graciously embrace cultural difference.

Christians and Cultural Difference (Calvin Shorts)

Dykstra-Pruim, Professor Pennylyn

Calvin College Press

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