ICEC 2016 Report

The International Christian Educators’ Conference is held every three years in Europe and serves the great community of teachers and directors from International Christian Schools.

It is indeed encouraging to find American or international schools that offer a framework for a Christ-centered education. The Black Forest Academy in Kandern in Black Forest (near Mulhouse) has 350 pupils and students from Kindergarten to 12th grade and will soon celebrate its 60 years of existence. http://bfacademy.de/
 
This year brought together 336 delegates at ICEC from 68 schools in 37 countries of EUROPE, the NEAR and MIDDLE EAST and part of AFRICA. The dense and rich program included 62 plenary speakers and presenters and 115 workshops in total with a large team of American volunteers and staff of the Black Forest Academy, Kandern. This ensured the success of this event. We were offered a mobile app with all the information organized by ACSI Global from Colorado Springs, the headquarters of the ACSI in Colorado, and Tim Shuman, Director for ACSI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS.
 
The theme was "Effective" from Philemon 1.6: "I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ." The plenary speakers included: Dr. John DIXON (Australia), Dr.Tim STUART (USA-Singapore), Dr. Philippe DOW (USA-Kenya); the latter two being adult children of missionaries (TCKs). They were able to touch the heart and mind of the participants by their depth, their knowledge and their testimonies. https://www.acsi.org/events/global/gl_icec-europe
 
Participants were 90% American, but there were also some European, African and Asian officials and participants. A few non-international schools (Europe, Africa and Asia) were also present! ICEC next conference will take place in 2019 but ACSI Europe will host the International Educational Leadership Conference (IELC) for schools in the Europe region in March of 2017.

Recognizing the Problem of Sin

The foundational, yet often overlooked, reality is the way sin impacts both teaching and learning. As school leaders, we cannot view education merely as the transfer of knowledge or the development of skills. Education is always moral and spiritual, shaped either by truth that comes from God or by distortions introduced by sin.

ACSI Europe Online Prayer

Join Christian school leaders from across the Europe region for a time of prayer, fellowship and encouragement. This group meets on Zoom the 2nd Thursday each month at 13:00 CET to focus our attention on God's presence and provision for His work through global Christian education.

Education as an Affirmation of Identity

Here we explore one of the most pressing issues facing Christian schools today: how we understand and communicate identity and purpose. Our role as school leaders is to help students discover who they are and why they are here, according to God’s Word, and to ensure that our school culture and curriculum reflect this foundational truth.

Rediscovering the Glory of God through Education

We live in a universe crafted by the Word of God. This foundation invites us to view education not as man’s attempt to impose meaning, but as an invitation to uncover the meaning already embedded in creation—Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.