Spring and Summer Courses

Lead from Where You Are: Making a Difference in the Face of Tough Problems, Big Questions, and Organizational Politics

(ICSD 132504 / 260003 S25)
Blended Online Asynchronous/Synchronous

(MWS, MA-EL)

Leadership is not about personality, authority, position, influence, or power as such. Leadership is an art, a craft, a practice, to which everyone is called sometime or other, in widely different situations. Leadership can be practiced with varying degrees of authority, from any position, at varying scales of influence, and with varying access to different sources of power. Leadership is the work of motivating a group of people to act in certain ways as they shape what they share.

In this course we will explore how to contribute leadership when we have a particular, recognized position of authority in a group, and also regardless of our position in a group. We will learn how to contribute leadership when our group has clear, commonly agreed-upon procedures and goals, and when there are not (or not yet) clear, commonly agreed-upon procedures and goals (so that we must practice imaginative discernment). We will learn how to contribute leadership both to make beneficial change happen and to ensure needed maintenance.

Syllabus

* Approved for Area 2 or 4 of the CSTC.

What's Christian About Christian Education?: Reformational Philosophy

(ICS 1107AC / 2107AC S25)

Remote (Online Synchronous)

Dates/Time TBA

(MWS, MA, MA-EL, PhD)

Online Synchronous
with Dr. Neal DeRoo

This course will offer you an opportunity to reflect about what it means to teach or educate “Christianly.” It will situate a Reformational understanding of Christian education within two distinct types of “context”: first, the “spirits of the age” that are at work influencing our shared modern, Canadian society; and second, the local context of the school you work at. The ‘spiritual’ context will help us see Christian education as an alternative, not simply to “secular” education, but to other patterns of spiritual formation, like consumerist education or workaholic education. The ‘local’ context will then allow us to discuss how Christian education can be ‘put to work’ in your day-to-day activities as a teacher or administrator. The goal is to give you time, space, and resources to develop a clearer understanding of how faith impacts education in general, and how your faith shapes what you do as an educator more specifically.

Called to Teach: Foundation and Learning*

(ICSD 260001 S25)
Blended Online Synchronous / Asynchronous Format
with Dr. Edith van der Boom

Called to Teach is designed to inspire and support K-12 educators in their personal and professional journey of teaching and learning. Through this course, participants will explore their vocation as educators, reflecting on their teaching practice in the context of faith and spiritual disciplines. This inner journey invites educators to seek refreshment and renewal in their work while considering the formation and learning of their students.

The course aims to address these key questions:

What is my calling as an educator?
How can I intentionally live out my calling in teaching and leadership?

Syllabus

* Approved for Area 4 of the CSTC.

Christian Deeper Learning: From Wonder to Inquiry to Practise

July 14 - August 14, 2025

Christian Deeper Learning: From Wonder to Inquiry to Practise is a course that seeks to help Christian educators develop their understanding and application of deeper learning. We will consider what it means to be image-bearers of God called to care for our neighbours and to be engaged in real work that is part of God’s story. Considering these ideas will inform classroom practices and signature pedagogies in apparent, unintended, and even transformative ways. Together we will examine the importance of global citizenship as a form of Christian Deeper Learning and the impact it has on developing a caring and just world.

Syllabus

* Approved for Area 3 of the CSTC.

ICS courses continue to be available online this term. Unless otherwise noted, the listed courses will be delivered synchronously (meeting at designated times over Zoom video conferencing), following an in-depth once-weekly seminar format.

Below, you will find an alphabetical list of all the courses on offer remotely this winter and links to full course descriptions and syllabi (as they become available throughout the coming months). If you are interested in taking an ICS course for credit and applying it to a program at another institution, you may contact our Registrar with questions on how best to do so.

Attention TST students: you must contact the ICS Registrar to complete your registration.

AUDITING DISCOUNTS

MA-EL Course Fee Reduction: Two or more educators from the same school who register for the same course (for credit) at the same time would each receive a $100 rebate from their course tuition. We believe that when teachers from the same school take a course together, they become stronger conversation partners and can better support each other in the implementation of their project.

First-Time & Alum Discount: If you are a continuing learner or want to get a taste for what ICS courses are like, first-time ICS auditors and ICS alums can take these courses for only $425 (registration included). You can find more information on this and all other fee options on our fees page.

A Team Audit option is available for school board members and executive leadership teams who wish to take the course How to Govern a School together. Please email our Registrar directly at academic-registrar@icscanada.edu for more details.