Page 9 - CC Life 15 2016 Spring

ACADEMIC SECTION

The Origin, Purpose and Outcome of the

International Conference
on Christian Education 2016

Dean of Academic Affairs
Dr. Mae Chiang

Christ’s College Taipei held an International Conference on Christian Education March
18-20. The theme of the conference was Laying the Foundation for Christian Education:
The Mission, Vision and Development of Christian Education in Asia. This was the first
international Christian education conference in Taiwan. The participants consisted of
scholars, educational leaders, teachers, students, pastors and parents from 13 countries:
Taiwan, Korea, the United Stated, China, the Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Spain,
France, Italy, Canada, Germany, and Australia.

Origin

In the western Christian countries, education originally belonged to churches. Schools
such as Harvard University, the University of Paris, and Oxford University were
established to prepare people to work for the Lord. Today there are still many church
schools in Europe and North America. Recently, Asian parents from countries such as the
Philippines, Indonesia, and China also began to look for alternatives to public education
for their children. Indeed, a Christian education movement has begun in Asia! In 2012
Cardus published research on performance after graduating from college. It was research
based on data collected from more than 3000 people between the ages of 24 and 39,
graduating from both Christian and non-Christian schools. The results indicated that
students graduating from Catholic schools, Christian schools, Christian homeschools,
and independent learning situations have better performance than those graduating from
public schools.

Based on this research, Christ’s College Taipei started working with Christian
professionals, scholars, pastors, school presidents, teachers and parents from both Eastern
and Western backgrounds to host this conference in 2016. We hope this conference
will encourage more people to pay attention to Christian education and start a deeper
conversation on how to integrate Christian faith, philosophy and teaching methods into
an effective educational model. It is our goal to equip our next generation to be excellent
both in academic areas and in personal characteristics. We want to encourage Christian
holistic education and establish Christian education alliances.

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