A310C: Faith, Education, and Leadership

Across America, students in rural, suburban, and urban areas experience the daily effects of inequity on their educational journeys. From under-resourced schools and communities to a lack of teachers and staff to properly train students, our children in America are suffering from academic and emotional outcomes that make navigating their futures incredibly challenging. At the same time, we know that faith provides stability, support, and guidance to millions of young people, families, and communities across the United States.   And, we know it is especially pivotal for vulnerable communities (i.e. Black, Latinx, immigrant, other marginalized communities). Churches, mosques, temples, and other religious centers often take the lead in giving at-risk children academic assistance, mentorship, and lessons in resilience and self-control. At the Leadership Institute for Faith and Education (LIFE)—the impetus for this module—we believe that schools have the opportunity to leverage the support these institutions provide to enhance, empower, and raise achievement levels of all kinds for children across America. Historically, communities across the country have created the change they want to see locally through reaching across divides and building relationships, programs, and advocacy together, and we believe the same is true of faith and educational communities coming together.  In this module, we will ask what role faith plays in the development of our personal identities as educational practitioners, how faith communities can become more engaged partners in improving student outcomes, and what it might look like to design an impact-orientated faith and education partnership with people of different faith perspectives.