Practical Paideia

Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy)

In Personal Finance we spend a week or so on the interview process. One of my essential questions for this unit is: “What is the purpose of an interview?” For this lesson, I began by breaking the class into four groups, giving each group a different individual (Moses, Esther, Noah and Jesus). As a group the class was tasked with creating a job description for the position that each of these individuals eventually ‘interviewed for’. Their job descriptions needed to include the job title, the responsibilities, and the qualifications. (for bonus points they could also include the salary…but that one takes some deeper thinking). Prior to this lesson, it would be helpful to provide the class with a few sample job descriptions so that they have a frame of reference. Once every group has given a brief presentation of their finished job description we had a debate. Based on what we now know about these biblical heroes, which character trait (or qualification) do you think is the most important to God and why? The students needed to defend their answers with evidence from either the life of Moses, Noah, Esther, or Jesus. By the end of class, the students had realized that all of these individuals had the same goal-to save God’s people. They also realized that a number of the qualifications overlapped. Character traits like humility and selflessness were apparent in all the ‘applicants’.

By the end of this lesson my students had a stronger understanding of the interview process, the purpose of job descriptions, and how someone’s qualifications play a role in the interview process. We also were able to address how the purpose of an interview is to exchange information. Both the employer and the interviewer want to find out if this will be a good fit. But, just as importantly they looked at examples of individuals in the Bible in order to argue and defend their position. I hope this exercise led to think more deeply about what kind of qualifications God requires from His people.