Integration of Faith and Learning in the HPERDS Disciplines

by Julie Walton, Ph.D.
Calvin College

There is a catchphrase in Christian Education with which we like to describe the many ways we apply our faith in the classroom.  What might this integration of faith and learning look like in some of the HPERDS disciplines?  Within the distinctively Reformed Christian tradition to which we at Calvin College adhere, the integration of faith and learning stems from the sovereignty of Christ over all of creation.  Thus, even learning is subject to, informed by, and molded from this idea that we are first, and always, God’s creatures in God’s world, and that the world as we see and know it is a far cry from that which God created and called good.  Moreover, through the power of Christ’s redeeming work, Christians are themselves called to do God’s work as agents of renewal in the church, the academy, and society.

In HPERDS, we begin to look at the many ways faith integration can, and does take place every day in the context of the place of the HPERDS disciplines in an undergraduate Christian liberal arts setting.  It is here that students are called to learn and live the virtues of stewardship and diligence as they discover the joy inherent in human movement and play.  In and through HPERDS we can look at the remarkable and complex human form, and marvel that God Himself condescended to take on such appearance.  We can ponder the meaning of “created in the image of God” and wonder that we, in our sinfulness, can be called to image a Holy God.  We can study the nature of competition, and look for the ways it can and should be a healthy reflection of an abundant life informed by play and best effort.  We can reflect on the importance of rest and leisure in the middle of a chaotic culture that rewards restlessness.

Should Professors Coach Too?

by Julie Walton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Exercise Science, HPERDS, Calvin College

At Calvin College, we participate in NCAA Division III athletics, and have historically worked valiantly to stick to a professor-coach model in which the majority of varsity sport coaches are also faculty members with terminal degrees in their fields.  Our coaches who are also professors are increasingly struggling with the natural and urgent time-demands associated with coaching.  Despite what was once felt to be adequate teaching release-time, our professor-coaches are now stretched to the limit in their attempts to be excellent in the four areas of faculty expectations:  teaching (and coaching), scholarship, advising and service.  The demands of coaching- including significant recruiting of student-athletes that no other faculty is asked or expected to do - have been consistently ramping up over the past decade to the point of infringement upon every area of the professor-coach’s professional and personal life in ways that are all-consuming.  A colleague of mine defines the professor-coach paradigm as omnivorous.