Podcasts about Cardus

In this episode of Just Schools, Dr. Jon Eckert speaks with Dr. Lynn E. Swaner, the President US, for Cardus. Lynn's professional experience spans several sectors and encompasses roles in academia, sponsored research, associations, and independent schools. As a result, she is passionate about building bridges within and across fields. They share about the 2023 Cardus Education Survey and what it reveals about the long-term impact of different educational sectors, including Protestant Christian, Catholic, public, independent, and homeschool settings. Swaner highlights key findings: Christian schools continue to excel in faith formation, are improving in academic outcomes, and face growth opportunities around belonging and peer relationships.  The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Be encouraged. Mentioned: Cardus 2023 Findings Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy by Matthew Kaemingk The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs by Peter Enns Connect with us: Center for School Leadership at Baylor University Jon Eckert LinkedIn Baylor MA in School Leadership   Jon: All right, so welcome to the Just Schools podcast. This is Dr. Lynn Swaner. She has a new role as of last year, so we're going to dig in a little bit into that and then some of the work we've been able to do together. So Lynn, thanks for being with us and just tell us a little bit about what you're doing. Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Jon. I'm excited to be here and join you and your listeners. So some exciting things that I've been working on, a new part of my role as Cardus President U.S., which I joined in January of last year. I can't believe it's almost been a year. And so in that role... It's helpful for me to explain a little bit about what Cardus does. Cardus is a nonpartisan think tank. It is grounded and rooted in 2000 plus years of Christian social thought. And what we look at are how the different spheres of society. So education is one. For example, healthcare could be another, government, family, citizenship, all work independently as well as work together for flourishing societies. And so we have research files in all of those areas. And of course here in the U.S., I'm still very involved in working with education and that's where we get to the Cardus Education survey, which I know we're going to be talking about today. But just a little bit of framing really quickly about Cardus's philosophy and approach to education. In many societies in the U.S. is no different, there's kind of this division of education into, for example, your traditional public or district schools. You've got private schools, you've got charter schools, which obviously are a type of a public school. You've got homeschooling, etc. And Cardus's position is that all education is public in the sense that it contributes to the public good. And certainly when we do the Cardus education survey, that's what we found will impact that a little bit. But we're finding that different types of schools and homeschooling actually contribute positively to a range of outcomes that we would want healthy, thriving, contributing citizens of our country to demonstrate to and to inculcate. Jon: So great introduction. I first became aware of Cardus through the Cardus education survey because Katie Weins was writing a draft of it as a next door neighbor back, I guess this would've been in 2011, 2012 that she was working on that. And I love the idea of what Cardus is about because it's not trying to say, Hey, we want to privilege this over this, over this. It's like, Hey, no, all education is for this common good and it's all public and let's do this work. And so at the Baylor Center for School Leadership, that's what we want to do. We want to support Christians in whatever work and whatever schools they're called to. So Cardus has been a huge blessing in our work, and it's one of the places where our work's been able to overlap. And so in this last year, we were able to do the data collection for the 2023 Cardus education survey for the U.S. So talk a little bit about the way we collect that data. Getting that nationally representative sample of 24 to 39 year olds is hard, it's expensive and it's not done very often. So can you dig into a little bit of how we collect this data and how Cardus is doing it since 2011, but how we did particularly in 2023? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Sure. And I'd love for you to chime into obviously Jon as a card senior fellow and as a co-author on the report. If you want to provide any additional flavoring to anything I'm saying, feel free to. But I think most particularly practitioners, and if you've done doctoral research, the type of research that you're used to is certainly collecting data on graduates through alumni surveys and things like that. And we also have anecdotal data, right? So graduates will come back and say, "Hey, this is the impact that this teacher had on me," et cetera. And from these and other places, I think most educators know that they make a difference in the lives of students, but we don't always know in a really rigorous way what difference certain types of schools make, let alone what is the impact of a whole sector. And that leads to all different kinds of questions like are we delivering on our promises in our mission statements, [inaudible 00:04:18] of a graduate, et cetera. So that's where the CES comes in. And it is quite different to the types of research that most practitioners will be aware of. And so there's essentially three different ways that I can differentiate the CES, the versus as you mentioned in the sample. So we survey over 2300 graduates in that age 24, 39-year-old bracket, it looks at the five largest educational sectors in the U.S. So those are traditional public schools, Protestant Christian, Catholic, non-religious independent schools and homeschooling. And so that enables us to kind of compare in a healthy way, not in a competitive way, but a healthy way, how graduates from a specific sector are faring. And the way that we do this is we use a leading polling firm in the United States. So we use Ipsos Public Affairs KnowledgePanel, and then from that they generate a nationally representative sample. And so most of the time practitioners will be more familiar with convenient samples, so for example, the alumni that they have emails for or the people who respond, this is very different where we're starting with that polling panel where actually it is already nationally representative and we can weigh things and make sure that it is. That's the first difference. The second is really looking at holistic outcomes. So when we administer the CES, we're asking questions about academic, spiritual, cultural, civic, relational, we even have mental health and well-being in 2023. So we're not just asking, did you go to college? Although we do ask those questions. It's really looking at more of those flourishing outcomes. And probably one of the strongest things that the CES does is we use rigorous controls, which is a fancy research term. So we actually screen out methodologically and statistically the impact of family background characteristics. So that's things like socioeconomic status, education level parents, religiosity of your family, that kind of stuff so that no two graduates are ever identical. But let's say you and I were very, very similar in our backgrounds. And then you multiply that over hundreds of people, we're able to estimate, well, we've got these people who are essentially the same in these major pieces. So any difference that we observe in their life outcomes, we can estimate that we can actually attribute that to the type of school that they went to. So again, nobody's exactly the same, but because we use those rigorous controls, we can actually start to estimate the difference of the specific type of school that they attended. That's just a little background on the CES and the power that it brings to these questions. Jon: Yeah, that's super helpful. And the charts that you see in the report will always have two bars. One that's the raw score and then one that estimates the school effect. And of course, we can't control for every variable, but we control for a lot of them to try to get a better handle. So you'll see those and we try to be as transparent as we can. Again, with any good research, that's what you want to do. Another thing, when we started timeout doing this iteration, I remember talking to you in Ottawa about this. We really wanted to get a sense of how schools have shifted since COVID, because that was this seismic shift and we realized that to collect those data was going to be insurmountably expensive and too hard to do. So we opted for this, which I actually like what we finally landed on this I think is great. These graduates, the 24 to 39 year olds in this sample, the youngest graduates would've finished in 2018. So I feel like we've got this really interesting baseline of what we launched into when COVID created this unbelievably tragic in many ways, but natural experiment when all education shifted because that created a seismic shift like we haven't seen in education ever. And so now we have this data that says, Hey, these are the 24 to 39 year olds that graduated from these places. And so I think the key is to see some of the major findings that came out in this iteration, because I think then future CES surveys will capture some of the shifts that happened in graduates post-2018 when 2020 hit. So can you just lay out three or four of the major findings? Obviously the report is quite long, so if you want to dig into all the different outcomes about civic life, family life, religiosity, faith, mental health, I love the mental health items that we added. What would you say the three or four main findings that people would be most interested in from this iteration of the CES? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, so obviously I'll speak specifically to the Christian school sector. In the actual report, we provide a summary of findings for each sector, so for Catholic schools, for Protestant Christian schools, homeschooling, etc. So I'll focus here specifically on Christian schools. And so there's essentially three large sort of theme, thematic findings, if you will. One is really good news in terms of consistency. One is some good changes. And then one is an area that as we've talked with school leaders about this, that they really want to be thinking more deeply about and focus on for growth and improvement. So the first key finding is consistency in faith formation. So as you mentioned, we've done this survey now four times in the U.S. and each since 2011, and in each iteration, Christian schools stand out most distinctly in their ability to foster faith formation. So when we look at things like religious engagement in terms of going to church, regular practices such as prayer, Bible reading, when we look at spiritual vibrancy, so like saying that their schools prepared them for a vibrant spiritual life or they have a higher sense of regularly experiencing God's presence compared to all the other formal schooling sectors, Christian schools stand out the most in terms of their graduates report that at much higher levels. And we even see beyond personal faith that graduates are seemingly living out those values in a couple of ways specifically. So for example, they participate in charitable giving and volunteerism at much higher levels than graduates of other formal schooling sectors. So that's really good news. Again, we've seen that consistently, and I think it makes sense, right? If you have schools, some estimates like 13 to 15,000 hours spent in a school in a formal schooling context, right? And if one of the stated outcomes is these types of spiritual formation outcomes, then we would hope to see that in the data. And in fact, we do. And again, remember this is after estimating school effect, right? So this is not the influence of family, although of course we know families influence this and churches, et cetera. This is saying we take two students that look the same in terms of background, we're going to notice this benefit, this boost. So that's consistent finding number one. The next- Jon: Hey, can I jump in there real quick, Lynn? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, please. Jon: So on that, just to make sure, because you're not able to see the charts because it's a podcast, we will try to link this to the podcast so you can look at the report. And Lynn's done a great blog summary of this too. So we will post that as well. What she means by that is, so for example on how often, if at all, do you pray to God or some higher power, 37% of public school students, there are baselines. So when you look at the report, don't think the public school people are left out, they are the baseline. Everything's being compared against the public school because that was the largest population that we look at. 24% more Protestant Christian school graduates pray to God or a higher power regularly, just the raw score. When you adjust for all the other demographics that feed into that graduate, that drops to 14%, that's still significant at the 0.01 level. So that means with 99% certainty, that's not random. And so that's what she means when she says, Hey, even controlling for school effects. So we try to focus in on those things that are significant even when you control for demographic backgrounds, because it would make sense. Well, if you grow up in a family where that's typical and that's normal and you have all these things, then maybe that's all that it is. And the school doesn't have any effect. That doesn't appear to be the case on an item like that. So thanks for setting up and let me interject there into the wonky details that people can't see. Dr. Lynn Swaner: No, that's really, really helpful. Trying to paint a word picture here, but just a plug for folks to access the report. One of the really great things about these graphics, which are some of the best I think we've ever done, is you can actually, on the online report, you can just simply click and download any of these figures. So if you want to pop it into... They're publicly and freely available. But yeah, thanks for flushing that out, Jon. So that's the consistency piece we've seen. Key finding number two is rising academic outcomes. So people who've been in Christian education for a while will remember the 2011 CES. I certainly remember when that came out because I was in a Christian school at the time. And at that time, Christian school graduates were reporting lower levels than their public school peers when it came to college attainment, when it came to feeling prepared for academics post-secondary school. And what we see in the 2023 data is that that has significantly improved. So now Christian school graduates are trending at the same levels when they report as their public school peers earning bachelor's degrees, how well-prepared they feel for college, et cetera. And I think, Jon, I'd be curious to hear your take on this, but this to me reflects what many Christian school leaders have shared with me anecdotally and what I have seen in the field. That over the past decade or so, schools have worked to increase academic rigor, right? So I think this is something that as I'm sharing this with school leaders, that seems to really ring true with them. That it used to be years ago sort of the sense of, well, we really, really care about the spiritual outcomes. We're not as concerned about academic. And there's been a rethinking of that to say, well, actually, if we're going to be a school, then we need to do academics really, really well, both... Because of our spiritual mission. Because we want to be excellent to honor the name of Christ, and also because we want students to be well-prepared for whatever good works. Think about Ephesians 2:10 that God has prepared for them. So Jon, I'm assuming you've seen some of that as well, but I think this is worth celebrating. There's still more work to do, right? We don't want to settle for, okay, Christian schools are at par with public schools. There's still more to do, but I think this is something worth celebrating. Jon: Well, I agree, and I think there's been this shift even in the last few years where there's some skepticism about college as the ideal outcome for kids because of the sense that some colleges skew worldview in these ways that may not be in keeping with the belief system that a more conservative family might have. And so the way this question is worded I think is well set up. And again, we took this from previous surveys, so it's not like Lynn and I are sitting here complimenting our structure of our question here. But it's how well did your high school prepare you for academic success in post-secondary education or training? So it's this kind of wide open, Hey, do you feel prepared? 31% of public school students said, yeah, they were. Even when controlling for the family effect and the other socioeconomic effects, Protestant Christian schools are 22% higher than that, so that's 53%, over half of them felt that way. Now, unless we think we're getting everything right, Catholic schools are at 59% and non-religious independent schools are at 64%. So we still have room to continue growing in that. I think that's one that, again, its perception is somewhat reality here. If you don't feel like you're prepared for post-secondary success, then you probably aren't. And at 24 to 39, you have evidence that says, yeah, I wasn't really well-prepared. And so I do feel like given the previous iterations of CES, I think Protestant schools have made some big gains there. And I think that's super encouraging. And I hope that coming out of COVID, that that momentum can continue. Because I think for many schools that was a moment to say, Hey, look, this is a really good place to try to meet needs for specific learners that help them be prepared for life, not just for economic outcomes, but for outcomes more broadly. Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah. I think too, just to go meta for a minute, I think it's also really encouraging... I'm encouraged by this, that if a whole sector or let's say a large number of schools within a sector say, Hey, this is something we're going to improve on, we're going to be intentional about, we actually have evidence that it can make a difference, and that should be obvious. But I think when you get into the nitty-gritty of leading a school, of teaching in a school day in and day out, that can be hard to remember. And so I hope that schools, educators, leaders find this encouraging that when we focus on something... And the other interesting piece here which we don't have to go into in depth, is that I think a decade or two ago, there was this perception maybe that if we focus on the academic, it would be at the detriment of spiritual formation. And we're not seeing that. So it's not like all of a sudden there's been this precipitous drop and spiritual formation with academic outcomes skyrocketing. That's not what's happening. And so I think that's just really kind of a validation of the work that schools have been doing and still need to do, but I just want to kind of point that out. Jon: Well, and to quickly add to that, if you look at the highest level of school completed, this is the broader perception of preparation for post-secondary. When you control for the sector, Protestant schools are almost identical to public schools on bachelor's degree or higher, a 0.01 higher in that. So it's not that we necessarily have more students going on to bachelor's degrees or higher in Protestant Christian schools, it's that they feel more prepared for whatever it is they're heading into, whatever that might be. And so I think that is an encouragement that academics, you don't look at academics as one subset that hurts the others. As Christians, we should be doing everything excellent ways. And so I like the robust way that the Cardus survey, especially this year, tries to look at that. Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah. So we'll move on to the final... And again, encourage everyone to download the report, lasts to be seen and to understand. But the final thing that stands out and that really is resonating as we speak with schools and leaders and teachers, is sort of this broad category of shortfalls in belonging and peer relationships. So the first thing is in terms of overall mental health and well-being, graduate of Christian schools report similar levels in terms of depression, anxiety as peers and other sectors. So that I guess is good news in the sense that they're not necessarily more anxious or struggling with well-being than other sectors. It's important to just mention that graduates of homeschooling are the only sector that experienced lower rates in that. So that's really interesting. That's a conversation for another day. But that's the first thing. But what we did observe is that... And this is slight, it's not extreme, so we can pull the numbers and they're not hugely significant, but it still, we can see this is that graduates of Christian schools seem to have a lower sense of belonging. So saying they felt that they belonged when they were in their schools and also slightly weaker peer relationships. And this all compared to their public school counterparts. So again, you mentioned the public school being the baseline. So we're not even talking about non-religious independent Catholic schools. We're just talking about the public school comparison. And what's really interesting is that even though they had this sense, lower sense of belonging, they still felt like their schools were really close-knit communities. And that's a bit of a paradox, I guess you could say. Their schools were really, really close-knit, but they didn't feel they belonged at the same rate as public school graduates and other graduates of other sectors. So I think this is... There's a lot of speculation. Obviously the data doesn't explain why this is the case. And as I've talked with school leaders, as you've talked with leaders trying to give some thoughts around this, some interesting things are coming up, which is it's very easy to look to the external environment for answers. So if you look at 24 to 39-year-olds right now, we know that a significant tranche of that group would've been impacted during high school by smartphones, social media, even some declining enrollment in private schools, right? So immediately we're going to... Cyberbullying, we turn to those kinds of things. And that's absolutely true, and there's no doubt that those things had an impact. But where the question is, is why didn't we see the same dip in the other sectors, right? Because arguably, Catholic school enrollments were dropping at the same time. Independent school enrollments, everybody's got smartphones. So I think there's something unique to the Christian school environment that we need to ask the question, what happened there? What's going on? And again, anecdotally, just as I saw over the last 10 plus years, an emphasis on improving academics, I think we've started in Christian schools to really be thinking about how do we build communities where there's a sense of belonging, right? Where we have people from different backgrounds, where we are working on bullying, we're working on these things. And it'll be interesting to track this into future years, but there's a lot of discussion about this and why this could be, how we can do this better. Jon: Yeah, I think this is a great example of where the CES is super helpful because Protestant schools and public schools are not statistically significantly different. About half the kids feel like they belong, about half don't. So we had about half say, agree or strongly agree in both public schools and Protestant schools. But what I'm fascinated by is the non-religious independent schools. Even when controlling for school effect, they are significantly by 21%, 18% different where you have 68, 70% of their kids feeling they belong. And when you lean into stereotypes about secular independent schools, it's like, oh, well, those are going to be clicky, they're elitist, and they're all these things, but based on these data, they feel like they belong and they have stronger relationships with students at their schools. So I mean, I think that's something to dig into. And Catholic schools are similar. They don't have quite the same effect, but Catholic schools are significantly higher on belonging and on the relationships with students in schools. And so again, if all education is public education, then we should be learning from each other, from our areas of relative strength. And so I think that's a super helpful finding, even though it may be a little bit hard to look at because we want to make sure each kid belongs at our school and half of them saying they don't feel they belong. That's a punch in the gut to educators, but we've got to look into it and we've got to find ways to do that better. And I think, my hope is that it's 2020 on all schools have gotten more thoughtful about that, and I hope Protestant Christian schools have been leading the way in that. And I hope we see that in future iterations of the CES. But are you optimistic about that, Lynn? Dr. Lynn Swaner: I am, and I think I would go back to what I said. One of the most encouraging things about the findings for me has been one, as a sector or a large number of schools in the sector say, Hey, we're going to focus on improving this. We see the results. And so I think certainly in all the marketing materials I've ever seen for every Christian school... I know Christian school is saying, we have a sort of unfriendly community or environment, and kids aren't going to... Usually it's the opposite where Christian schools are saying, we're a family, we're so close-knit. And I think the findings here suggest and encourage us to not just assume that that is happening. Just because we say that we're a close-knit community, that kids are loved and feel like they belong, just because we say that, doesn't mean automatically that that is happening. And so we just need to lean into that, and that's going to look different on every campus, right? I certainly am hopeful about some of the changing approaches to technology in schools that are more thoughtful, more intentional than I think reactional... Reactionary, I should say. So I think a lot of schools are thinking about, Hey, if we let kids have cell phones... I just heard about school the other day that lets the students have cell phones in passing periods. Well, okay, they have their cell phone in passing periods, but then they're not of looking up and talking with people, whereas other schools will say, you can't have them. We're going to lock them away for the full day. And then you have students who are like, I got to talk to people in the hall. So I just think schools are being more intentional about this. And I guess my encouragement would be to lean in that even more deeply and understand what this looks like at your school, what are some of the pressure points for students, ask your graduates and your alumni. And I think it's just a really good way for us to say, Hey, let's continue leaning into what we say about ourselves and also what we want to be. Jon: Yeah. I'm so encouraged hearing about all the loud cafeterias that are coming back. I think that's a blessing. And so that's an encouragement. So we're going to do a quick lightning round here, and I'm going to frame these, and you can answer them as succinctly as you can. But if you were to say, Hey, here is the worst piece of advice that you could take from the CES. If you were to say somebody were to look at this and say, Hey, you should take this finding from the CES, and this would be... What would be a misapplication of the CES? And then on the other side, what would be the best application of something coming out of the CES? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, that's an interesting one. I think a misapplication of the CES would be to make a declarative statement and say, if you want your child to be this way, you should send them to this type of school. I think that would be a mistake. Because there's a lot of nuance that the CES doesn't... At least if you read it doesn't capture it certainly. And so that would be sort of the negative mistake. How do I think it... And what was the other question? What would be the one thing I would want the- Jon: Best takeaway from the CES. Dr. Lynn Swaner: The best takeaway would be that not that different schools have different kinds of outcomes, and they're rich and diverse and holistic. And so each one of the sectors that we looked at has really, really positive things about it, including public schools and has some things that they need to work on. And so I think that the best takeaway would be to not write off any of schools and to also not say this is the only way to do it. But rather to look at the data to understand, hey, if you're a parent, to say these are our values as a family, these are the things that we want. And we see there's a couple sectors that do these things really well. There's a couple that maybe we wouldn't be interested in that and to make a really informed decision based on that. So I think that would be number one if you were families. And the second thing I would say is just for people who are involved in policymaking, people who are like lawmakers, advocates, is this is not a zero-sum game. There are millions of children in this country, and the vast majority, some, I think around 80% are in public school settings, about 20% are not, which that's not an insignificant number. That's one in five kids. And all of these schools are public education. All of these schools are training people and hopefully creating productive human beings and flourishing human beings and et cetera. And so when we look at how to set up our educational system, there really is... I think about our colleague, Ashley Berner at Jons Hopkins, who's also a senior fellow at Cardus. The subtitle one of her books, the title of her book is No One Way to School. There is no one way to school, and not every school is right for every kid, every year. And so if we have a robust educational system that allows families to make choices that fit their children and fit their needs and the types of things that they want to see for their kids, that is not only the most just system, but also the CES provides evidence that all kids can flourish. Jon: And that's the goal, each kid flourishing. So I always have to ask, what's your favorite book or one of your... I know you read a lot. One of your favorite books you've read in the last year? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, that's a really tough question. Jon: I know. I know- Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, I'm going to have to say two. One of which is a little bit more academic, and another one which is a little more accessible. So the first would be Work and Worship. So that's actually by Matthew Kaemingk and Cory Wilson. So Matt Kaemingk is out at Fuller. And it really looks at how... We were just having this conversation about Christian schools, right? So bifurcating, academics and spiritual formation. And we do that a lot with our work, right? Maybe a little bit less in Christian school settings, but really taking a look at how we bring our work as an offering of worship and how we worship through our work. And I was not raised in a liturgical background. Getting to know the beauty of liturgy more now as an adult and as I continue on in my faith, and just to be able to look through this book and see different prayers and liturgies for work has been really, really encouraging. So it's the first one. And the second one is The Sin of Certainty. Subtitles, Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs. So this is by Peter Enns, who's actually out of Eastern University near where I live. And what I really like about this book is I think I can't really diagnose this or talk about this briefly in a podcast. In fact, I'm working on a book that looks at this in depth. But God calls us to love him with all of our heart, our mind, soul strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, right? And I think it's easy for schools, it's easy for educators to focus on one of those. It's easy as disciples to focus on one, but that's really not, we're called for this sort of total discipleship. And I think a lot of times, there's been a lot of wonderful things through the emphasis on biblical worldview that we've had in Christian schools. But oftentimes that can morph into, Hey, let's have the correct beliefs, right? Let's get everybody to think rightly about these issues, about what's going on society, etc. And so much of our faith is not just thinking correctly, it's also learning to trust in God and not having the answers, right? And having complicated situations, right? Artificial intelligence, very complicated, right? So how are we going to get the correct belief around that? So this book has been really, really helpful to be thinking about how really people over millennia, literally millennia, have trusted God without always having all the answers in front of them. Jon: That's good. All right, last question. Looking ahead, after we clicked this data, which is kind of backward looking, what was your experience like in schools? And then we do all this work with schools in the present, and then we get to look ahead. What makes you most hopeful about what you see in the future for education that's for the common good? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah. So what makes me most hopeful, I've been spending a lot of time... In fact, I just got back from the International School Choice and Reform Conference presenting there on this data. And what makes me really hopeful is that there's a renewed interest in education by parents, by people who never saw themselves as educational entrepreneurs or edupreneurs as the topic is or as the title may be. So I think there's just a plethora of new types of school options coming on board. So hybrid micro-school, co-ops, all kinds of things that are growing and they're really, really exciting. It's a little bit of the wild west in some ways, but I am excited to see people excited about the possibilities for education as opposed to we're locked into choices that were made 100 plus years ago, and we're just sort of trying to live with the consequences. So I'm excited about the innovation and the diversity that I'm seeing in educational types and models. I think that's going to grow over the coming years. I think as we have more funding available at the state level, I think we'll see parents taking advantage of that. And I'm excited to see what's going to happen. I like change in general. I'm not a person who doesn't change, but I think we're due for a bit of a transformation of our educational system where we end up putting students at the center instead of systems and structures and sort of the way that we've always done things. Jon: That's great. Well, Lynn, really appreciate your time and the work that you do at Cardus and the Cardus education survey. Again, the great thing about Cardus is we're looking to support each kid in the way that they are made so they can become more of who they're created to be. So we don't like to get in the weeds on policy issues and how you should structure vouchers and are these bad. I mean, Texas, we're in the middle of voucher wars and at the end of the day, everybody in Texas wants to make sure each kid is educated well, and families have to be involved in those decisions. And are. I mean, we've made choices with where we live and where we go for years. And so school choice is not a new idea. And I think we need voices like Cardus there saying, Hey, look, this is what graduates are saying about these educa... And we put it out there transparently and we spend the money to get a nationally representative sample so that we try our best to give a accurate picture. So grateful for your work, always grateful for your work at Cardus, and thanks for your time.  

Canada's elections, America's baby boom, and Trump's 100 days. Find us on YouTube. Show notes: In this episode of The Bulletin, Mike, Russell, and Clarissa discuss Canada's election of a new prime minister, America's falling birth rates and conservative solutions, and President Donald Trump's press tour marking his first 100 days in office. Brian Dijkema of Cardus Canada, author Hannah Anderson, and Andrew Egger of The Bulwark join the conversation. GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: Join the conversation at our Substack. Find us on YouTube. Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. ABOUT THE GUESTS:  Brian Dijkema is the president, Canada at Cardus, and senior editor of Comment. He is a public policy analyst, public commentator, and writer.  Hannah Anderson is the author of Made for More, All That's Good, and Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul. Andrew Egger is White House correspondent for The Bulwark. He previously covered politics for The Dispatch and The Weekly Standard. ABOUT THE BULLETIN: The Bulletin is a twice weekly current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today's editor in chief) and Mike Cosper (director, CT Media). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world.  The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more. “The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today Producer: Clarissa Moll Associate Producer: Alexa Burke Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producers: Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode I get to speak with Dr. Lynn Swaner. Lyn is the President of Cardus, a think tank in the states to dedicated to strengthening institutions for the common good. She is the editor or lead author of numerous books, including Future Ready, MindShift, and Flourishing Together. She holds a doctorate in organizational leadership and is a good friend of CEN, having spoken at a number of our conferences.We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, from a Christian understanding of flourishing to innovation and the place of research. We also talk about what it means for a Christian school to be distinctive and a core question that she talks about to help them stay on mission: what does love require?

send us a text via Fan Mail!A fascinating conversation on a recent study of homeschooled adults.  Co-author Albert Cheng, PhD, is a Cardus senior fellow and associate professor in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas.Among his many achievements and areas of study, his research interests include character formation, school-choice policy, faith-based schooling, and homeschooling.  Our conversation about this study, Diverse Outcomes for a Diverse Population, reveals some interesting data about home educated adults as well as food for thought on our goals for family education.  Support the showContact On Instagram at @make.joy.normal By email at makejoynormal@gmail.com Search podcast episodes by topic Thanks for listening to Make Joy Normal Podcast!

Synopsis: Are Homeschoolers Happier? Alyssa dives into a recent study from Cardus which found that homeschoolers are not only better educated, but they are also more likely to be happier, optimistic, grateful, and successful. Sources and References: Overview of U.S. Department of Education | Departmentment of Education Diverse Outcomes for a Diverse Population | Cardus Homeschool Students are Happier, More Engaged & More Likely to be Married | Washington Stand A Sample of TransGenderism Taught in Illinois 4th Grade Classrooms https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/… Continue Reading

The Right has long had a thing or two to say about the importance of the family and its role in national stability and prosperity.  But there are sharp divisions regarding what political implications can be drawn from this idea, and what policies should be pursued to protect and strengthen families.   Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis welcomes economist Clara Piano to the show to talk about the government's role in pro-natal and pro-family policies, the ideal population size, the challenges of under/over-population, ethical consumerism, and what some of today's Right have in common with family policy practiced by the Soviet Union.   About Clara Piano From clarapiano.com   Clara Piano is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi. Her primary areas of research are family economics, law and economics, and public choice. Sher is also a Senior Fellow in the Family Program at Cardus, a Law & Economics Fellows Advisor for the International Center for Law & Economics, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Markets & Morality. 

This is a turbulent time for American democracy. Years, perhaps decades, of social change is manifesting in the form of distrust, violence, chaos, fear, loneliness, and despair. But Conversing, along with Comment magazine, is about hope, healing, and hospitality. For this special 200th episode of Conversing, Mark Labberton invites Anne Snyder (Editor-in-Chief, Comment magazine) for a close reading and discussion of the 2025 Comment Manifesto, a hopeful new document offering a vision of Christian Humanism for this era. Together they discuss: The meaning and intent behind a new Comment magazine Manifesto for Christian humanism The Incarnation of Christ for what it means to be human Hospitality in an era of exclusion Healthy institutions and the importance of communal agency Individualism vs communitarianism Learning to perceive the world in fresh, surprising ways About the Comment Manifesto To read the Manifesto in its entirety, visit comment.org/manifesto/, or scroll below. To watch a reading of selections from the Comment Manifesto, click here. About Anne Snyder Anne Snyder is the Editor-in-Chief of Comment magazine, which is a core publication of Cardus, a think tank devoted to renewing North American social architecture, rooted in two thousand years of Christian social thought. Visit https://comment.org/ for more information. For years, Anne has been engaged in concerns for the social architecture of the world. That is, the way that our practices of social engagement, life, conversation, discussion, debate, and difference can all be held in the right kind of ways for the sake of the thriving of people, individuals, communities, and our nation at large. Anne also oversees our Comment's partner project, Breaking Ground, and is the host of The Whole Person Revolution podcast and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year (2022). Show Notes Giving thanks for 200 episodes of Conversing! 2000 years of Christian thought to the public square James K.A. Smith, the former editor of Comment Magazine Seeking a positive moral vision A turbulent moment for democracy MANIFESTO SECTION 1 “We are Christian humanists…” What it means to be human in our age—our infinite dignity, relationship to the earth, and woundedness The significance of Jesus Christ for what it means to be human What the Incarnation of Christ means for our world “So many people we know and love and respect feel ecclesially homeless, obviously politically homeless.” MANIFESTO SECTION 2 “We believe it's time to build…” Agency Called to a co-creative project Productive and constructive “Contributing the true and good and beautiful in a messy world.” MANIFESTO SECTION 3 “We believe in institutions…” Collective, common, and communal Institutions, as part of the social architecture of our world, can be extraordinarily positive. “I always get asked, ‘Why do you believe in institutions? Why? You don't need to! They're gone! They're dead!'” “Healthy institutions are channels within which you can actually realize your sense of agency in a way that might be more moving than you ever would have imagined just by yourself.” Yuval Levin's take on community (paraphrased): “All the tumult we're experiencing, we're just having a big fight about what kinds of what community means.” Polarization MAGA as a kind of community “I consider myself a bit of a communitarian.” Christian humanism throughout history always has four projects connected to it: Theology, character formation, political economy, and aesthetic. MANIFESTO SECTION 4 “We believe in the transformative power of encounter—encountering reality, encountering those unlike us.” Addressing the fractured social fabric and isolation of this age Encounter and trust Hospitality— ”taking one another's being and doing in the world seriously enough” Enter the room listening MANIFESTO SECTION 5 “We believe Christianity is perpetually on the move. There is no sacred capital.” “This is our most aggressive claim.” Distinguishing Comment from peer publications such as First Things “All cultures are fallen, and we're part of another kingdom.” Galatians 5 and the Fruit of the Spirit Civilizational Christianity The smallness of “faith, family, flag” “So much of my Christian identity has been rewritten by experiences of Christian faith that are completely outside the, the social reality that is my fundamental location.” ”When Christianity seems to be running the dangerous risk of being captured, captured by a certain kind of ideological political social frame that feels as though it's really making itself primary simply by its Napoleonic capacity for self-crowning, that is a very, very dangerous thing.” MANIFESTO SECTION 6 “We believe there are different ways of knowing—that the thinker and the practitioner have equally valuable wisdoms worth airing, that relationship and context matter for the ways in which we perceive reality, that the child with Down syndrome perceives truths that a Nobel Prize winner cannot, and that there is a need for those who inhabit these myriad ways to share space and learn how to pursue understanding—perhaps even revelation—together.” Perceiving the world differently Down syndrome and the expression of a different kind of knowing or wisdom Full circle with the first principle of the imago Dei Functioning out of either confidence, uncertainty, or anxiety Mark Labberton's friend Dustin (R.I.P), who had cerebral palsy Fatigue, trying to get our bearings Looking for moral and eschatological coherence Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment Magazine and Fuller Seminary. The 6 Primary Sections of the 2025 Comment Manifesto To read the Manifesto in its entirety, visit comment.org/manifesto/. We are Christian humanists, those who believe that Jesus Christ—God become man—is the ultimate measure of what it means to be human. We believe that every human being is created in the image of God, whole persons who are at once fallen yet gloriously endowed, finite and dependent, yet deserving of infinite dignity. We seek to stay true both to the wonder and to the woundedness of life this side of the veil, even as our eschatology floods us with hope: Jesus has walked with us, died, risen, and ascended, and he will come again to make all things new. We believe it's a time to build, that the creative imagination and the Christian imagination are mysteriously linked. We want to begin with the Yes in Christ, not our own noes. While there is an important role for criticism baptized in a study of what is true, good, and beautiful, it is a means to an end—the basis for wise repair and imagination, not the justification for destruction or erasure. We are committed to keeping orthodoxy and orthopraxy married, taking seriously our job to translate between them. We believe in institutions: government, guilds, families, schools, universities, the church. We recognize that in our age of individualism, institutions are often painted as the enemy. We try to change that, seeking to shape the character of today's most formative institutions while exploring what kind of reimagined social architecture might compel the next generation's trust. We believe in the transformative power of encounter—encountering reality, encountering those unlike us. Loving enemies is bedrock for Comment, hospitality core. We are champions of the difficult room. We believe in the deeper truths that can be discovered when different life experiences and distinct sources of wisdom are gathered around one table. We intentionally publish arguments with which we disagree, including those who don't hail Christ as Lord, not for the sake of pluralism without conviction, but because Christians have always better understood the contours and depths of their faith when crystallized through exchanges with strangers turned friends. We believe Christianity is perpetually on the move. There is no sacred capital. While the audience we serve is navigating a North American context, we serve this audience from an understanding that Christianity is an intercultural, polyglot religion. At a time of rising religious ethno-nationalism, we insist that no culture can claim to represent the true form of Christianity, and we actively seek for our authors and partners to reflect the global reality of the church. We believe there are different ways of knowing—that the thinker and the practitioner have equally valuable wisdoms worth airing, that relationship and context matter for the ways in which we perceive reality, that the child with Down syndrome perceives truths that a Nobel Prize winner cannot, and that there is a need for those who inhabit these myriad ways to share space and learn how to pursue understanding—perhaps even revelation—together. ... Our theory of change takes its cues from the garden, less the machine. We are personalists, not ideologues. We follow the logic of Jesus's mustard seed, of yeast transforming a whole pile of dough, of the principle of contagiousness and change happening over generations. We believe in the value of slow thought. We are skeptical of the language of scale in growing spiritual goods. While we wish to be savvy in unmasking the either/or reactivity of our age and will always call out dehumanizing trendlines, we are fundamentally animated by the creative impulse, by a philosophy of natality expressed through hospitality. This feels especially important in this time between eras when no one knows what's next, and we need one another to recalibrate, to reflect, and to shape a hopeful future.

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this episode, Peter Copeland, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Program at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, sits down with Cardus' Senior Fellow Andrea Mrozek and Program Director Peter Jon Mitchell.The discussion covers the trends and social effects surrounding marriage and family formation in Canada - Mrozek and Mitchell provide a comprehensive overview of the declining marriage rates and their implications, from poor economic and social well-being to the challenges young adults face in starting families.Both reflect on the importance of marriage as an institution, highlighting its contributions to social stability, economic prosperity, and positive outcomes for children.The guests also explore cultural and policy factors influencing marriage, from individualism to the impact of feminism and propose ways for governments to promote marriage, such as removing policy disincentives and fostering positive portrayals in media and culture.Be sure to share and subscribe to Inside Policy Talks for more thought-provoking analysis on the key policy issues facing Canada today!

A special episode for the inauguration of Donald Trump's second term, as the forty-seventh president of the United States. Whether you're filled with hope and joy, or anxiety and fearfulness, how can we pursue a common citizenship that is grounded in faith and moral sensitivity, focused on justice and love, and rightfully patriotic? Today, Mark welcomes friends Pete Wehner (columnist, The Atlantic, and Fellow, Trinity Forum), Anne Snyder (editor-in-chief, Comment magazine), and David Goatley (president, Fuller Seminary). Together they discuss: The inauguration of Donald Trump for his second term in office; The meaning of patriotism in an unfolding, rambunctious democratic experiment; Repentance, repair, and understanding; How to keep a moral-ethical grounding in political life; Balancing open curiosity and genuine concern; What rejuvenates and renews us during anxious political times (exploring beauty in nature and art); Learning disagreement in a post-civility era; Peacemaking instead of polarization; Developing civic antibodies and the need for regeneration and renewal; And how to pray for Donald Trump as he enters his next term in office. About Peter Wehner Peter Wehner, an American essayist, is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, and senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. He writes on politics and political ideas, on faith and culture, on foreign policy, sports, and friendships. Wehner served in three presidential administrations, including as deputy director of presidential speechwriting for President George W. Bush. Later, he served as the director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Wehner, a graduate of the University of Washington, is editor or author of six books, including The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump, which the New York Times called “a model of conscientious political engagements.” Married and the father of three, he lives in McLean, Virginia. About Anne Snyder Anne Snyder is the editor-in-chief of Comment magazine, **which is a core publication of Cardus, a think tank devoted to renewing North American social architecture, rooted in two thousand years of Christian social thought. Visit comment.org for more information. For years, Anne has been engaged in concerns for the social architecture of the world. That is, the way that our practices of social engagement, life, conversation, discussion, debate, and difference can all be held in the right kind of ways for the sake of the thriving of people, individuals, communities, and our nation at large. Anne also oversees Comment's partner project, Breaking Ground, and is the host of The Whole Person Revolution podcast and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year (2022). About David Goatley David Emmanuel Goatley is president of Fuller Seminary. Prior to his appointment in January 2023, he served as the associate dean for academic and vocational formation, Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Jr. Research Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry, and director of the Office of Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School. Ordained in the National Baptist Convention, USA, he served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Campbellsville, Kentucky, for nine years (1986–1995). In addition to his articles, essays, and book chapters, Goatley is the author of Were You There? Godforsakenness in Slave Religion and A Divine Assignment: The Missiology of Wendell Clay Somerville, as well as the editor of Black Religion, Black Theology: Collected Essays of J. Deotis Roberts. His current research focuses on flourishing in ministry and thriving congregations, most recently working on projects funded by the Lilly Endowment and the Duke Endowment. Show Notes What each guest values and honours about America, expressing commitment and affection as citizens “Any presidential inauguration is weight bearing.” Pete Wehner: a first-generation American From ideals to reality about the history of America “ I'm the kind of patriot who is committed to the country being the best that it can be.” “Rambunctious unfolding-still … democratic experiment.” The scene for Inauguration Day 2021 Strength and vitality of American life What are your commitments and hopes for the next four years? “Some of my siblings for whom their angst is new, and I'm happy to say, welcome to my world.” The posture of believers and people of good will to “keep a moral ethical grounding” “Justice, especially for the dispossessed, the aliens, the powerless” Pulled in different directions Eugene Peterson formulation: “There's the Jesus truth, and the Jesus way.” Called to be different things at different moments Name reality as best we can “Is it possible to be both prophetic and the force of unity at the same time?” Will there be a World War III in the next decade? Creative ways to develop resilience “A great chastening” “I feel both curious and really concerned.” When patience runs out “ I'm socially and humanly curious—and strangely a little hopeful for new frames of how we are with one another—but I am steeling myself for turbulence and violence at a time when it feels like we can't afford those things.” The shifting global stage The need for deep compassion and energy that doesn't stop listening or caring What rejuvenates and renews you in this moment? Being outside, natural beauty, artistic beauty, and staying actively in community with people who will stay reflective. Turning off the news National Gallery of Art's Impressionist exhibit (link) “For most of us, our day-to-day lives, even in the political realm, are not really driven primarily by what's happening with the presidency.” Jon Batiste “Healthy, substantive arguments that are not ad hominem” Are we living in the post-civility era? Peacemaking instead of polarization Developing civic antibodies and the need for regeneration and renewal “Something has gone deeply wrong in the white evangelical world” “ I'm completely fine with deconstruction as long as there's reconstruction.” “There's a great line that the ancient Greeks used, Bobby Kennedy used that in a speech of his in the late ‘60s, where he said that the task was to tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world.” Prayers for Donald Trump That the Spirit of God would overshadow Donald Trump and political leaders That “Not our will but Thy will be done.” For moral sensitivity ”I'll just be candid here. I have a sense that he's a, he is a person with a lot of brokenness in his life.” “We're part of a story, and there's an author. … But those chapters aren't the whole story.” A notorious chapter in American history   Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.

Homeschooling is no panacea, and exceptional challenges are present here and there. . . but homeschooling still introduces the most positive news in Western Christianity — when it comes to generational faith. Another comprehensive study just released confirms that homeschooling is two times to four times more effective than Christian schools for "passing on the faith. Here we review these outstanding comparisons between homeschooling and Catholic and Protestant schools. The Cardus study confirms the initial results we obtained with the Gen-2 study done ten years ago.This program includes:1. The World View in 5 Minutes with Adam McManus (Scripture-engaged people gave $2,000 on average in 2023, Violence against Mexican Catholics and Evangelicals rises, California forced to allow pastor to evangelize in public)2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

Donate to help us make more shows: https://www.faytene.tv/donateOn October 30th the province of Quebec made medical assistance in dying (MAiD) available to those with dementia and cognitive decline. This, after the federal government delayed such expansion nationally until 2027.An estimated 70,000 Canadians are expected to die by MAiD as of the end of 2024. MAiD is now a leading cause of death nationwide and Canada has some of the broadest laws on MAiD globally.How far should this go?Should all of Canada follow Quebec's lead and legalize MAiD for those fighting mental illness?Joining us this week to discuss are Amanda Achtman, journalist, filmmaker, and advocate (Dying to Meet You Project), and Rebecca Vachon, (Program Director of Health at the policy think tank Cardus). Thanks for joining us. Please like, subscribe and share.FayteneAnchor Host____________________________Faytene.tv is a listener-supported program. To help us produce more interviews on essential topics for our nation, please click here to donate: https://www.faytene.tv/donate____________________________If you want to be sure and never miss an episode, sign up for our email list here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/SIOjsQmFIND US AT:Main Site: https://www.faytene.tv/Free App: https://apple.co/3rgzcfCYouTube: https://bit.ly/3d7XyTzFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/faytenetvInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/faytene Twitter: https://twitter.com/fayteneVimeo: https://vimeo.com/channels/faytenetvBitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/faytenetvRumble: https://rumble.com/user/faytenetvGab: https://gab.com/faytene#faytene #canada #maid #healthcare #amandaachtman #rebeccavachon #assistedsuicide #euthanasia

Brian Dijkema, the president of Canada at Cardus, and a senior editor of Comment, discusses the role that Canada's natural resource sector has played in sustaining mid-skilled labour demand in this country. He also sheds light on the risks the Trudeau government's proposed emissions cap on the oil and gas sector could pose to middle-class opportunity.   This episode was made possible by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the generosity of listeners like you. Make a one time contribution today.   The Hub Dialogues features The Hub's editor-at-large, Sean Speer, in conversation with leading entrepreneurs, policymakers, scholars, and thinkers on the issues and challenges that will shape Canada's future at home and abroad.   If you like what you are hearing on Hub Dialogues consider subscribing to The Hub's free weekly email newsletter featuring our insights and analysis on key public policy issues. Sign up here: https://thehub.ca/join/.

Join veteran journalist Lorna Dueck as she interviews Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett, Program Director at Cardus, and Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling, Ambassador for the Canadian Bible Society, in an insightful discussion about the beliefs of Canadian Christians. They explore the findings from a February 2024 survey conducted by Cardus in partnership with the Angus Reid Institute and supported by the Canadian Bible Society. In this interview, the guests dive deep into the survey results and discuss key questions like, "What do Canadian Christians believe about their faith?" and how they practice and live it out publicly. ---Learn more about the Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.caHelp people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donateConnect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesocietyWhether you're well-versed in Scripture or just starting out on your journey, The Bible Course offers a superb overview of the world's best-selling book.  This eight-session course will help you grow in your understanding of the Bible. Watch the first session of The Bible Course and learn more at biblecourse.ca. ---Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett is the Program Director of Faith Communities at Cardus. He is an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in the Eparchy (Diocese) of Toronto and Eastern Canada. Andrew is Program Director of Faith Communities at Cardus. A champion of religious freedom domestically and internationally, he has served as Canada's first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and led Global Affairs Canada's Office of Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016. He simultaneously served as Canada's Head of Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). When not praying, studying, or advocating, Fr. Andrew can be found with his fly rod in a stream, listening to bluegrass or Beethoven, or reading the Church Fathers. Learn more about Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett: cardus.ca/personnel/andrew-p-w-bennett --- Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling was the Senior Minister of Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church in Toronto, one of Canada's largest United Church congregations and was responsible for leadership and administration at Timothy Eaton from 1998 until his more recent retirement. Overseeing staff, providing visionary leadership, acting as the public representative of over 1,500 members and managing a dynamic and ever-evolving ministry to the city of Toronto and beyond. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Law from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, a Master of Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. In 2008, Wycliffe College, Toronto, recognized his contribution to preaching with an honorary Doctor of Divinity. Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling is now the Ambassador for the Canadian Bible Society building relationships with churches, academic institutions, and individuals across Canada. 

The Liberals like to talk about their childcare program, but childcare operators and experts are starting to identify big failures in implementation. On today's episode I discuss the mechanics of the childcare program with two experts - Krystal Churcher from the the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs and Peter Jon Mitchell from Cardus, an Ottawa-based think tank. We're pleased to be back with more episodes following our summer hiatus, bringing you longer form conversations about the big issues of the day.

Brian Dijkema, Cardus president for Canada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beat the censors, sign-up for our newsletter: https://firstfreedoms.ca/call_to_action_pages/stay_informed/ CARDUS Health Director Rebecca Vachon https://www.cardus.ca/research-library/health/ is interviewed by Barry about the Cardus report “From Exceptional to Routine: The Rise of Euthanasia in Canada by Alexander Raikin, Visiting Fellow in Bioethics at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. In less than a decade, euthanasia has gone from being a rare exception — as was originally intended – to a routine cause of death in Canada, sometimes with same-day service for assessment and provision. By 2022, Canada's “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) deaths had grown 13 times higher than they were in 2016, the year when MAiD became legal. Rebecca Vachon discusses these and other findings of the report that is shocking. Academics are now asking serious questions about what is going on in Canada and MAID. See for example the article written by Dr. Christopher Lyon, “Words matter: ‘enduring intolerable suffering' and the provider-side peril of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada,” Journal of Medical Ethics, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2319-2933 Dr. Lyon “raises important questions about the risks of MAiD clinicians subjectively defining, approving and providing MAiD in ways that deviate from accepted legal and clinical concepts and ethics. Examples show some prolific clinicians describe MAiD in terminology that differs from such norms, as a personal mission, as personally pleasurable, and as a rights-based service.” Please note the views expressed by the individual(s) in this video are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views or principles of the First Freedoms Foundation.  

David Craig and Jeremy Prest sit down with Rebecca Vachon from Cardus to discuss the complex and controversial topic of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada. Together, they explore the ethical, legal, and societal implications of MAID policies, weighing the issue from different perspectives. Join them for a thoughtful and candid conversation on a subject that deeply impacts Canadians and raises critical questions about the value of life, personal autonomy, and the role of the state in end-of-life decisions.

Is Canada broken? Canadians are grappling with a housing crisis, inflation, affordability and unemployment. Many Canadians are face serious roadblocks to finding good jobs. How can Canada make long-term policy reforms to address challenges to our labour supply, and what will be the economic impact of utilizing Canada's untapped labour pools? Joining us to discuss is Renze Nauta - work & economics program director at the non-partisan think tank Cardus. Good morning!

We have an exciting episode for you this week! Joining us for this discussion about generosity and stewardship are two successful local entrepreneurs, Al Schutten and Peter Kranendonk, along with Ray Pennings, the founder of Cardus, a non-profit think tank. We discuss lessons learned in business, principles in giving and responsibility in stewardship. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this conversation!   0:00 - Intro 6:00 - Lessons Learned 25:00 - The Pressure of Time 27:00 - Strings Attached 34:00 - Sanctified Common Sense 35:20 - Time Management 41:40 - Misconceptions 54:24 - Pressure 1:08:00 - Principles for Giving 1:13:00 - Being Part of a Church 1:17:00 - Interacting with Non-Profits 1:22:00 - Generational Wealth 1:27:00 - Advice to Young People   To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/ Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/ We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Is there one true God in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Is Jesus truly God and truly Man? Can God make a mistake?The answers to these basic questions of the Christian faith seem straightforward enough to many Christians. Yet, there are also many who profess to be Christians who are not sure. What is the current status of theological beliefs among Christians in Canada? Andy had a chance to sit down with his good friend Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett from Cardus to talk about the recent study they completed on this question. Listen in on their conversation as they talk about the findings and the trends we are seeing.

Rebecca Vachon, Health Program Director at Cardus, a public policy think tank, joined Aaron to talk about the Normand Meunier situation.

How might an institution cultivate the courage and realism required to accept an imperfect set of choices in this broken world, and to choose wisely and in a timely manner?  Today's conversation with Anne's Cardus colleagues, Ray Pennings and Brian Dijkema, reflects on the challenges and choices facing institutional leaders seeking to protect the common good in a year of war abroad and strife at home.

Anne Snyder joins Mark to discuss the need for deeper listening in the work of genuine encounter and exchange in public life. They reflect on the contributions of public theology to contemporary life, the values of Christian humanism, and the mission and vision of Comment magazine. They also announce an exciting new partnership between Conversing and Comment. Anne Snyder is the editor-in-chief of Comment magazine, which is a core publication of Cardus, a think tank devoted to renewing North American social architecture, rooted in two thousand years of Christian social thought. Visit https://comment.org/ for more information. For years, Anne has been engaged in concerns for the social architecture of the world. That is, the way that our practices of social engagement, life, conversation, discussion, debate, and difference can all be held in the right kind of ways for the sake of the thriving of people, individuals, communities, and our nation at large. Anne also oversees our Comment's partner project, Breaking Ground, and is the host of The Whole Person Revolution podcast and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year (2022).

In this podcast episode, Jon Eckert interviews Deani Van Pelt, who leads an association of independent Christian schools in Ontario, Canada. They discuss trends in education, including increased parental engagement and the growth of alternative forms of education. They also touch on the work of Cardus, a think tank focused on education for the common good, and the importance of using industry best practices in education. Van Pelt highlights the ideas of Charlotte Mason, an educator from the early 20th century, who emphasized the importance of relationships and the development of the whole person in education. They also discuss the role of empathy and narration in learning, and the challenges and opportunities facing education today. To learn more, order Jon's book, Just Teaching: Feedback, Engagement, and Well-Being for Each Student.   The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.   Be encouraged. Connect with us: Baylor MA in School Leadership Baylor Doctorate in Education Jon Eckert: @eckertjon Center for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl   Mentioned: Understanding by Design: Professional Development Workbook by Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks The Whalebone Theatre: A Read with Jenna Pick by Joanna Quinn   Jon Eckert: Welcome back to The Just Schools Podcast. Today we're here with good friend Deani Van Pelt, another friend from Canada. We've had some great insights from educators in Canada. So first of all, welcome, Deani. It's great to have you. And just tell us a little bit about what you do now and how you got to what you do right now. And then we'll jump into some trends that we're seeing and some cool ideas and how to better engage students. Deani Van Pelt: Great to be here, Jon. Always good to be in conversation with you. And greetings from Canada. I'm sitting here in a nice icy weather just outside of Toronto. Currently, I lead an association of independent Christian schools here in Ontario. We've got almost 100 private Christian schools that are part of our association. So many dynamic committed leaders and educators within the network, within there's about 20,000 students whose lives we're privileged to be part of through the work that we do in our association. We do some on learning, some on leadership, some on government advocacy and a lot of work on school support. Just helping schools to be the absolute best they can be, most professional, most effective in our times. So it's fantastic to be able to serve the independent school sector here in Canada in that way. We do lots of work as you know John, that's how you and I met, with leaders in Christian education across Canada but also across North America and across the pond with the UK and other countries. And we've just learned so much from each other as we network and connect with one another. We're soon going to be bringing a whole cohort of Christian school leaders from Canada over to the UK. And just find that our optimism, our focus, our leadership abilities really increased through these engagements and just so privileged to be part of that. Jon Eckert: That's great. No, I was going to say I love what you do through Advance. And then we also get to overlap through Cardus as senior fellows because they're all looking at education for the common good. And what does that mean? To educate in ways that serve the public because sometimes, at least in the US, we think of public schools as obviously being for the public good. We want to do that. I spent 12 years teaching in public schools, but then how do other schools contribute to that public good? And so, Cardus is a think tank that does a lot of good work in one section is education, that's where we overlap. So just talk a little bit about your work there, how that ties into Advance and some of the cool things that you get to do, where you see some of that work going. Deani Van Pelt: One of my favorite short statements about education comes from Cardus and they say all education is public education. It doesn't matter where it's happening, it's all for the common good. It's all the education of the public for the common good. And for some it's government schools, for others it's in an independent school. And now we're seeing all of these out of system types or forms of education that are starting up. It's all education is public education. So along those lines, Cardus does a lot of work as looking at the independent school sector. They're really interested in the good that can come out of non-government schooling. So you and I we're both so privileged to be part of these research teams, looking at so many different aspects of the independent school sector. There's quite a few senior fellows at Cardus on the education file. And together with each one of us with our different areas of expertise, the whole school of thought out of Cardus is becoming increasingly sophisticated. And if your listeners haven't taken a look lately at Cardus' education research, I highly recommend it. I scrolled through again yesterday. It's fantastic the number of studies that are coming out of Cardus through the collaboration across quite a few researchers. Jon Eckert: Well, and Cardus was great. They were able to publish a collective leadership paper that looks at what collective leadership looks like in independent schools that I had worked on. And I really appreciated them putting that white paper out. But they do have a number of amazing white papers. And then we survey educational outcomes for people 24 to 39. And I guess Cardus has been doing that for 13 years. I've been a part of it now for the last few. And we have that data. We just did another data collection that will be coming out with results from that relatively soon where we can just take an open-minded, even-handed look at what the data is showing for what kinds of outcomes we're getting from all of these kinds of education that contribute to the common good, which I think is important. And I think those are really useful conversations to have. So with that said, what are some of the trends you're seeing in education in Canada they get you excited, and maybe some of the trends that you're a little more concerned about as you look ahead at what's coming? Since you get to work with so many different school leaders, you obviously have that and you place some in the policy space. So what are some trends you're excited about and maybe some you're concerned about? Deani Van Pelt: Yeah, so I would say the biggest trend is that parents are really dialed into their kids' education. COVID gave people a glimpse as to what was going on, and I think more and more parents started being involved, started asking questions. Some were pretty satisfied with what they saw and they were really contributing, some not so satisfied and started asking some other questions. But the point is, parents are probably more engaged in their kids' education than we've seen in quite a few decades. So that's a key trend and a number are making different choices for their children schooling. But it isn't just on that we call the demand side of choosing something different. It's also the provision, John, so many new independent or other sorts of out of system forms of education are starting up. And that is a significant trend, particularly here in the province of Ontario where I am. A couple of 100 independent schools have opened just in the last two years in this province. That kind of growth it hasn't been seen before. So also growth in homeschooling, but homeschooling isn't what it used to be. It now takes this kind of hybrid form where there's a few days where you might be at home and then a few days of the week where you're out in a more group setting. Perhaps you're registered as part of a school, maybe it's delivered through hybrid means so you're part of a school but it's a virtual school. So just the diversity, the categories, I would say the trend in the categories no longer being so distinct, public school, independent school, homeschool, that's changing. And that's really fun. I love entrepreneurs. I love an entrepreneurial spirit. And you've heard the new word, entrepreneur, and I think that's exactly these are the days of entrepreneurship. And it's really exciting to see people with very high capacity individuals but also communities coming together and saying, "I think we can do this differently. We can do this better." And giving it a try, that's a fantastic trend and that's global. Jon Eckert: Yeah, I would agree that that is definitely pervasive. And as you see that, do you see any challenges or headwinds for education that give you pause, or that you feel like we really need to be focusing on to overcome? Deani Van Pelt: Yeah, exactly. There are a lot of industry standards as you and I know. There are best practices, there are some fantastic insights that we know about how children learn, about what optimal teaching and learning environments can be, that these entrepreneurs really should be considering. So at Advance, for example, we help schools with their operations. It's basic. You need these certain types of policies, all right, here they are. Take a look at all of these. Make sure you're at very minimum doing all of these things. You want to operate a safe, healthy school that follows whatever the requirements are, the legislative requirements are for the jurisdiction in which you find yourself. So get up to speed, find the organizations that can help you to operate safely and well. So don't try to do it all on your own, I guess is what I'm trying to say. And good entrepreneurs know that as well to use industry best standards, best practices. So that would be a challenge but the solution's available. There are fantastic associations like ours and other supports across every educational jurisdiction, and I think folks just want to seek those out. Jon Eckert: That's good. I like that your challenges even offer some hope and some ways forward. Well, one of the things that I think is interesting is you talk about these shifts that have been happening fairly rapidly since COVID. One of your deep passions is based on Charlotte Mason who was born in 1842. So has some timeless truths in some of the ways that she approached education and a liberal education, and what that means to really educate whole people. She is well known in some circles. And then many people that are listening may not have heard of Charlotte Mason. So tell us a little bit about where you find hope in Charlotte Mason for where we're at now as we have these, as you use the term entrepreneurs. As we think about that, well, how do we stick to these timeless truths with all these different delivery mechanisms and ways we can deliver education? Where do you see those things overlapping? Deani Van Pelt: Yeah, great question. And indeed, she died just over 100 years ago, so what on earth are we doing talking about a person... How on earth? The turn of the 20th century but indeed there are some timeless principles. And I love Charlotte Mason's idea about education being about relations, relationships or education being the science of relations. If you think of that as a metaphor for what it is we're actually trying to do as educators, it's a fruitful notion. So if you think about the purpose of education is to build relationships as Charlotte Mason would say, in four different areas. So relationship with self, relationship with others, so others being people who lived in the past, people who live now in other places maybe than your own context, but also your own context and thinking about people who'll live in the future. You say, "Oh yeah, this makes sense." Well, and then the third type of relationship, relationship with the universe. Well, what's that? Nature, all of the aspects of the universe, science around us. And then fourthly, relationships with God, relationship with the divine. Understanding that the child has the whole person, does include the spiritual, the emotional, the intellectual aspects. So if you think about all of what we do under this umbrella of relationship building and that all of education is about, it has this relational feeling, that makes sense. But then on top of it, Mason says, "Students, people, children are born persons." And she doesn't say they're born individuals, she says they're born persons. So her anthropology talks about personhood. And I did some digging a little while ago because that just started bothering me, what does she mean by this? Why is this so revolutionary? In Canada women were declared persons in 1929. Okay, so legally we became persons less than 100 years ago. Is that- Jon Eckert: That's good to know, major jump. Deani Van Pelt: But it wasn't just that legal definition, it was more than that. What is personhood? If you hold that view of the human being that they are persons, it means that you hold to the fact that they are born into and born for relationship. So the idea is that the child as a person isn't an individual, lonely, isolated, autonomous, even just self-centered and sort of almost free floating. We can start getting pretty negative if we use the sense of the child as an individual. But if we think about the child as a person, they're born into something already preexisting. They're in a certain time and place, born into certain relationships, and then born for relationship. That's what I love about Mason. If you say your education philosophy is for a certain thing and then it's rooted in your anthropology or understanding of the human person, it's a pretty coherent philosophy. I like that. I love as well that it's got that whole theological side and well-rounded side. So obviously it has some practical implications. What does a relational education look like? Jon Eckert: Well, and I love that piece about it being relational. And when we think about the highest form of understanding in the US, Wiggins and McTighe wrote the book Understanding by Design. And they put at the top level of understanding empathy. And it makes a lot of sense because in order to understand anything, you have to understand yourself and your place in it. But to be able to understand the perspective of someone else, you understand the concept well enough that you can actually understand it from the perspective of another person, that feels like a timeless truth about what it is to truly understand and very much grounded in Charlotte Mason. One other thing that came to mind when you shared that is Arthur Brooks' book From Strength to Strength. He ends his book with this, basically this is his life motto, and it is to use things, love others and worship the divine. That's it. He's like, we don't use people, we use things. We don't love things, we love others. And ultimately our goal is to worship the divine. That feels like that would fit pretty nicely with Charlotte Mason, would you agree? Deani Van Pelt: Oh, absolutely. And then to go back to the first point that you made about empathy, Charlotte Mason would say, especially when you're introducing a subject to a child, teach it through literature, teach it through what she called living books. Textbooks are great. You want to drill down and learn more about a certain topic, but don't introduce it. Use living books, use a story, beautiful language to pull a child into a setting, a time, a place, build that empathy. And we've learned that if the amygdala is stimulated, learning's going to be more solid. So stimulate the emotions, draw the child into a topic area. And I just love that sense like that and many good educators use that practice. Of course, as you say, it's a timeless idea. Use the story, use great books, living books to bring a child into caring about ideas and things. So the other aspect to build the full person, because you did talk about Arthur Brooks saying use things, is that education will happen by books and things. The child does have that intellectual, the emotional but they also have the physical. And if we include in our education, a lot of use of our hands, building, creating, making, that helps build another aspect of the personhood and creates obviously a certain kind of confidence and an engagement with the world that has many levels to it. So books and things as a full education in Charlotte Mason's approach. And I was looking at what some of your definitions are for engaged learning. I love your book, Just Teaching, and just so happy to be able to refer back to it. But you talk about the consolidation and creation as being part of being engaged. And Mason has this notion called narration. So let's say think of a child early in their education, we read a living book, we read the story and then the child tells back. So verbally telling back what they just heard, retelling. And we've learned that narration it's not a test to see if you caught what was in the story, but it's by that very act of giving back you are consolidating the ideas, you're making them your own, you're verbalizing. So now we're developing oracy. And so the thoughts become the child's own, that is the process of learning. It's not the test but narration is the way of consolidating. Then the creation side is, okay, how do we verbally explain later on a child's education? Their narration will take written forms, but it can also take other forms. They create items that are ways of narrating their learning. So love your definition of engagement. And I think it does draw on timeless principles that Mason brought up Jon Eckert: Well, and so I would totally agree with that. And I say it's the four Cs. You got to have content. Kids have to be able to consolidate. They need to be able to collaborate with peers, with teachers. And then the creation piece, what I love about the narration piece and how it relates to creation is when you're narrating you're bringing yourself to it. And you're understanding fully the concepts that you're narrating. It's like a kid who reads Shakespeare and doesn't understand it. It's just reading words and phonemes and putting them together with no sense making. But that narration, they're creating meaning in the way they do the narration. So it's not summarization, it's not just a regurgitation, it's actual the way you just described it according to Mason, it is creation. And I always say in the book, it's feedback, engagement and wellbeing. To get to interesting feedback where you're giving purpose-driven wisdom for growth, that's how I define feedback, you've got to have that deep engagement. Otherwise, what are you giving feedback on? If it's just surface level learning, it's not very interesting to give feedback on. You can't give very much. And so ultimately that kind of narration and creation of meaning as we pursue truth together becomes this powerful interchange between teacher and student. And I think is why most of us that love teaching keep coming back to it because that's the meaningful part. So yeah, I don't know if you'd add anything there because if you want to have a final thought on that, go ahead and then we'll jump into our lightning round to wrap things up. Deani Van Pelt: Well, that's fantastic. But Charlotte Mason did say, in the end, it's not how much a child knows it is how much they care. And building these relationships, building this care for many orders of things opens a full life for the child. And you talked about that. Charlotte Mason recommends a liberal education, a full liberal arts education. Some young children are having up to 20 subjects a day, just small amounts, beautiful poetry, some beautiful music, engagement with a variety of literature that touches a whole bunch of subjects, history, art, geography. So you keep the feast, the banquet is full, you engage a lot of ideas in really rich ways and that does open doors of not only knowledge but also care. And I just think that is a full education along the lines of what exactly what you talk about. Jon Eckert: Well, that's a perfect transition to the lightning round because I think in our TikTok generation, we may need to rethink how do we give kids bits and pieces in small amounts so that they can be drawn in and then they can develop the cognitive endurance. So for the lightning round, we're just going to give bits and pieces of what would be big answers, but we keep these to a word phrase or a sentence or so. We'll test your ability to do that and I'm terrible at this one. But first question, maybe an easy one, I know you read a lot. What's been your favorite book? It could be education related, doesn't have to be, but favorite book you've read in the last year? Deani Van Pelt: I have spent the last six months reading a lot of novels. And a girlfriend and I sat on a dock this past summer, and she was just sharing, "Deani, you don't read enough literature." So I made a decision to read a lot of contemporary literature that come recommended. So in the last few weeks I have read, it's not necessarily my favorite book but it's caught my attention. It's called the Whalebone Theater. And recently published, I'm blanking on the author, children raised in sort of unusual circumstances in an English manor house, but they love Shakespeare. And it's these children, there are all three half siblings. And how Shakespeare and their own navigation of the world leads to some really courageous acts during World War 11. Jon Eckert: All right. Well, that's Joanna Quinn is the author. Does that sound right to you? Deani Van Pelt: Yeah. Jon Eckert: Typically, I spend 95% of my time reading nonfiction, but I've been increasingly convicted that fiction and reading novels really builds empathy because it allows you to get in the heads of different characters. And so I have been encouraged to read more literature. My problem with that is I get so sucked into the story that I become a bad father, I become a bad husband, I become a bad employee. All I want to do is read the book. So I read nonfiction somewhat protectively because I can set that down. A good story, oh, it is rough. All right, well, that's good. Good recommendation. I'll file that one away. So if you were to say in a word, phrase, or sentence, what you see is the biggest challenge facing education right now, what would it be? Deani Van Pelt: Jon, I wish you would've asked me what the biggest hope is for education. Jon Eckert: Well, that's next. We can start with hope if you want, we can end with challenge. I usually like to start with the challenge first, but you can go with hope first and then we can talk about a challenge. Deani Van Pelt: The biggest hope that we have for education is that so many actors are caring about it right now. So many new providers, teachers, community members, thinking about... They're asking the question, could this be different? And if so, can we do it? And their answer is yes. Jon Eckert: Okay. So if you're struggling with the challenge, if that is the biggest opportunity, I would say the potential biggest challenge with that is how do you find coherence and how do you have any type of connectivity? Or is it just 1000 flowers blooming and you just see what it is. But I could see there being challenges. It's great to have that many people interested, that many people with ideas of what could work. But how do you try to make sure that there is quality in that and what would that look like? Do you see that as a challenge or are you just kind of like, let's just see what happens? Deani Van Pelt: So I love the let's see what happens, but we need to quickly get a balance. As our friend from Boston University, Charlie Glenn would say, "We've got to balance freedom, autonomy, and accountability in education." So I love pluralism in education. It is not a one size fits all. Thank you world for finally realizing we've got a wide diversity of needs and challenges, but let's balance the freedom, the autonomy with accountability. Are we going to get the accountability right? What does that look like state by state, jurisdiction by jurisdiction? That could be our biggest challenge. Jon Eckert: Yeah. No, I like that. And that's a great place to wrap up in that tension. So Deani, thank you for spending time with us today. Love the work you're doing. Really appreciate you taking the time and I'll let you contribute. Deani Van Pelt: Thanks for having me, Jon. It's great to be here.  

What role does politics play in the mission of God? How do we navigate the political field without stepping on a cultural landmine? What should our political engagement look like? And what do we do with things like Christian nationalism? Today's guest is Cherie Harder, President of the Trinity Forum. Cherie Harder serves as President of the Trinity Forum. Before joining the Trinity Forum in 2008, Ms. Harder served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Policy and Projects for First Lady Laura Bush.Earlier in her career she served as Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, advising the Leader on domestic social issues and serving as liaison and outreach director to outside groups. From 2001 to 2005, she was Senior Counselor to the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), where she helped the Chairman design and launch the We the People initiative to enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history. Before that, Ms. Harder was the Policy Director for Senator Sam Brownback and also served as Deputy Policy Director at Empower America.She holds an Honors B.A. (magna cum laude) in government from Harvard University and a post-graduate diploma in literature from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where she was a Rotary Scholar. She is also a Senior Fellow at Cardus, an Editorial Board member of Comment magazine, a past board member of Gordon College and the C.S. Lewis Institute, a current board member of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution and Faith and Law, and an advisory board member of the National Museum of American Religion.Check out The Trinity Forum Sign up for the Apollos Watered newsletter.Help water-thirsty souls by partnering with Apollos Watered!

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett is the Director of Cardus Faith Communities at Cardus, Canada's faith-based think-tank. He also serves as Senior Fellow at the Washington, DC-based Religious Freedom Institute. He is an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in the Eparchy (Diocese) of Toronto and Eastern Canada. Fr. Deacon Andrew served as Canada's first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and Head of the Office of Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016 in the department of Global Affairs Canada. He is a leading commentator on religious freedom and conscience rights in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. as well as degrees in history from McGill and Dalhousie universities in Canada. Cardus Faith Communities: https://www.cardus.ca/research-library/faith-communities/ Special Guest: Andrew Bennet.

This episode was recorded on December 7th, 2023. Amanda Achtman was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta with mountains, cowboys, and entrepreneurs for inspiration. She studied political theory in her hometown. After making a viral political parody video, she moved to Toronto to do a mix of journalism, crowdfunding, and advocacy in defense of Canadians' fundamental freedoms. After that, Amanda went to Poland to study John Paul II and to explore the stories of saints, heroes, and martyrs. Upon returning to Canada, she served as the senior advisor to a member of parliament, working to prevent the expansion of euthanasia to persons living with a disability or mental illness. Amanda recently spent two years in Rome studying the resurrection of the dead throughout Jewish tradition. This year, she is a NextGEN Fellow of Cardus and a Krauthammer Fellow of the Tikvah Fund. Amanda is mainly focused on preventing euthanasia and encouraging hope through her cultural project, Dying to Meet You.   Find more from Amanda: Her website: DyingToMeetYou.com Follow Amanda on X/Twitter: @AmandaAchtman What Amanda's Reading: https://amandaachtman.com/books/ Cardus NextGEN Fellowship: https://www.nextgenfellowship.ca Tikvah Fund's Krauthammer Fellowship: https://tikvahfund.org/krauthammer-fellowship/home/ Canadian Physicians for Life: https://www.physiciansforlife.ca The Hildebrand Project: https://hildebrandproject.org

Parliamentary Budget Office, Yves Giroux joins Vassy to discuss the fiscal situation for the federal government as they head into their budget. On today's show: Listen to Vassy's full conversation with Karen Hogan, Auditor General to Canada about the critical report released yesterday looking into the ArriveCan app.  Listen to Vassy's full conversation with Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi on the report released regrading the ArriveCan app.  The Daily Debrief Panel featuring Shakir Chambers, worked in prime minister Stephen Harper's office before becoming a policy advisor to the International Trade Minister, now a principal at Earnscliffe Strategies, Mike Le Couteur, Senior Political Correspondent for CTV News Channel and Saeed Selvam, Vice President of Public Affairs at NATIONAL. Rebecca Vachon, Health Program Director, Cardus on a new report from Cardus detailing the state of pediatric palliative care in Canada. 

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: The Brott Music Festival is closing its 2023 season with The Musical Magic of Christmas, this Saturday at 3:00 p.m., at the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, 357 Wilson St. This performance features Alex Brott, daughter of Boris, making a special appearance to read ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, 40 years after making her debut on the stage at age 6 while her dad was conducting. An asteroid eclipsing a star is not something you see every day, but early next week, star gazers will have a chance to witness that happen to the brightest star in the night sky, Betelgeuse. The historic Chedoke Estate has reopened, under the management of Cardus. Putin is aiming for another term in office, which he will likely get. What does this mean for Russia, Europe and the world? Cindy Woodhouse has been elected the New National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. It is all coming up on the Hamilton Today Podcast! Guests: Sean Sparling, retired Deputy Chief of Sault St. Marie Police, currently President of Investigative Solutions Network. Alex Brott. Paul Delaney, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Science - Department of Physics & Astronomy at York University. Michael Van Pelt, CEO of Cardus. Phil Gurski, President of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting, former CSIS analyst. Aurel Braun, Professor of International Relations and a Senior Member of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. Liam Midzain-Gobin, Settler Scholar and Assistant Professor of Political Science, Brock University. C. J. Hélie, President of Beer Canada. Scott Radley, host of the Scott Radley show and columnist with the Hamilton Spectator. Host – Scott Thompson Content Producer – William Erskine Technical/Podcast Producer – Tom McKay Podcast Co-Producer – Ben Straughan News Anchor – Dave Woodard & Jen McQueen Want to keep up with what happened in Hamilton Today? Subscribe to the podcast! https://megaphone.link/CORU8835115919

Across the country, more and more parents are seeking education options for their kids outside of public schools. For some this is private schooling, perhaps a charter school for those in places such as Alberta, or even home schooling. This edition of The Andrew Lawton Show shines a light on school choice – what options do parents have, and why are they making the choices they are? Joining Andrew to discuss are the Fraser Institute's director of education policy, Paige MacPherson, Alberta liaison officer Catherine Kavanagh of Cardus, and Home School Legal Defence Association president Peter Stock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're bringing you an episode of It's Political with Althia Raj.  This week on “It's Political,” we mark April's high religious holidays, such as Easter, Ramadan, Passover and Vaisakhi, with a conversation on faith and politics. How it influences MPs' policy positions, where they believe the line between state and church should be drawn, and the impact of political parties using religion as a wedge. First, we'll look at the rising numbers of religious hate crimes and a new report by Cardus that suggests Canadians have polarizing views on religion. Canada's former ambassador for religious freedom, Andrew Bennett, will walk us through his research. Then, we'll hear from Amira Elghawaby, the Trudeau government's recent appointee as Canada's special representative on combatting Islamophobia, on why she believes her role is necessary. After, we'll sit down with Liberal MP Iqra Khalid, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie and Liberal MP Anthony Housefather for a conversation on how their faith influences their politics. In this episode: Mississauga—Erin Mills MP Iqra Khalid, Sarnia—Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu, Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, Elmwood—Transcona MP Daniel Blaikie, Andrew Bennet, Cardus' program director of Faith Communities, Amira Elghawaby, Canada's Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia of Canada. Hosted by Althia Raj. Some of the clips this week were sourced from: CPAC, the House of Commons, the Senate, CBC, CP24, BBC, CityNews, CTV, Andrew Scheer's Facebook page, Global “It's Political” is produced by Althia Raj and Michal Stein. Kevin Sexton mixed the program. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel.

They say it's dangerous to talk about politics and religion. We're not listening. This week on “It's Political,” we mark April's high religious holidays, such as Easter, Ramadan, Passover and Vaisakhi, with a conversation on faith and politics. How it influences MPs' policy positions, where they believe the line between state and church should be drawn, and the impact of political parties using religion as a wedge. First, we'll look at the rising numbers of religious hate crimes and a new report by Cardus that suggests Canadians have polarizing views on religion. Canada's former ambassador for religious freedom, Andrew Bennett, will walk us through his research. Then, we'll hear from Amira Elghawaby, the Trudeau government's recent appointee as Canada's special representative on combatting Islamophobia, on why she believes her role is necessary. After, we'll sit down with Liberal MP Iqra Khalid, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie and Liberal MP Anthony Housefather for a conversation on how their faith influences their politics. In this episode: Mississauga—Erin Mills MP Iqra Khalid, Sarnia—Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu, Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, Elmwood—Transcona MP Daniel Blaikie, Andrew Bennet, Cardus' program director of Faith Communities, Amira Elghawaby, Canada's Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia of Canada. Hosted by Althia Raj. Some of the clips this week were sourced from: CPAC, the House of Commons, the Senate, CBC, CP24, BBC, CityNews, CTV, Andrew Scheer's Facebook page, Global “It's Political” is produced by Althia Raj and Michal Stein. Kevin Sexton mixed the program. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel. Listen here and follow or subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.

Hub Dialogues (part of The Hub, Canada's daily information source for public policy – https://www.thehub.ca) are in-depth conversations about big ideas from the worlds of business, economics, geopolitics, public policy, and technology.The Hub Dialogues feature The Hub's editor-at-large, Sean Speer, in conversation with leading entrepreneurs, policymakers, scholars, and thinkers on the issues and challenges that will shape Canada's future at home and abroad. The episodes are generously supported by The Ira Gluskin And Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.This episode features Sean Speer in conversation with Lyman Stone, a senior fellow at Cardus specializing in demographics, family and fertility, about his recent report, She's (Not) Having a Baby: Why Half of Canadian Women Are Falling Short of Their Fertility Desires. If you like what you are hearing on Hub Dialogues consider subscribing to The Hub's free weekly email newsletter featuring our insights and analysis on public policy issues. Sign up here: https://thehub.ca/free-member-sign-up/.The Hub is Canada's leading information source for public policy. Stridently non-partisan, The Hub is committed to delivering to Canadians the latest analysis and cutting-edge perspectives into the debates that are shaping our collective future.Visit The Hub now at https://www.thehub.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China's vice premier Sun Chunlan has come out to say that the omicron virus is “less pathogenic” and is indicating that the Beijing Communist government may be somewhat loosening its covid zero grip. An exclusive True North report has discovered that the Canadian government says it's completely prepared to pay the US Navy double the amount originally agreed upon in 2014 to acquire torpedo upgrade kits for its Victoria-class submarines. And Canadian think-tank Cardus is calling for Liberal Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti to explain his recent comments on assisted suicide. Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Andrew Lawton! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Day 28 of the Emergencies Act hearings, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino testified that he was aware that the Freedom Convoy did not pose a threat to national security as is required in the Act. Plus, Convoy lawyer Brendan Miller was ejected from the building by Commissioner Paul Rouleau – a first at the Emergencies Act hearings. Also, an Ottawa school board meeting turned into a giant gong show as a motion asking all students, teachers and staff be required to mask indefinitely was to be voted on. And according to the think tank Cardus, more Canadian parents are choosing alternatives to public education. Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Sue-Ann Levy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joining Lucas on today's episode is Ray Pennings the Executive Vice President at Cardus - a Canadian non-partisan think tank that seeks a healthy society through independent research, policy analysis, and advocacy. We chat about the history of Cardus, what they actually do and the impact they have. We also cover topics such why think tanks matter, MAID (medical assistance in dying) and of course we briefly analyze the covid response. Be sure to check out Cardus and the work their doing by going to: https://www.cardus.ca/ - Let us know your thoughts! 0:00 - Intro 9:00 - History of Cardus 14:00 - What does Cardus do 20:00 - Approaching issues/topics 27:26- Why do think tanks matter? 32:00 = How does Cardus maintain being bipartisan 41:40 - Faith and public life 52:09 - MAID 1:01:54- Covid post morum 1:17:40 - Political leader analysis 1:31:00 - What are things we can do to make lasting change   A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM  To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/ Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/ We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at reformedrealtalk@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!

Pope St. John Paul II once said: “As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.”What's the state of marriage and family these days?  Is public policy effectively safeguarding these fundamental human institutions?  When it comes to things like government action on childcare, is the work of the home even being properly valued?Our guest for this episode is Andrea Mrozek, Senior Fellow at Cardus Family.  Cardus Family is an initiative of the Christian think tank, Cardus, based in Canada and dedicated to strengthening the ways in which society's institutions can work together for the common good.Andrea was previously Executive Director at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, and is widely recognized as a leading voice in Canada on marriage, child care and women's issues.Documents/Websites ReferencedAndrea Mrozek biography (Cardus) Andrea Mrozek, “Child care solutions vital in post-Roe era” Catholic Register (July 2022)Andrea Mrozek, Peter Jon Mitchell, Brian Dijkema, “Look Before You Leap: The Real Costs and Complexities of National Daycare” (2021)Support the showwww.crownandcrozier.comtwitter.com/crownandcrozierfacebook.com/crownandcrozierhttps://www.instagram.com/crownandcrozier/Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.

David Hunt is the Education Director for Cardus who was a partner in the production of this research and book.

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral becomes a Canadian federal holiday. What would this mean for BC? Shachi Kurl, President of the Angus Reid Institute discusses Canada's feeling on the Royal Family. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a national holiday for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, for all federal government workers. Should B.C. give their residents the day off? What's next for new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre? Ken Boesenkool, President of Sidicus Consulting Ltd. and Professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University discusses the next steps for Pierre Poilievre after having been named leader of the federal Conservatives School closures in BC and all federal workers get the day off for the Queen's funeral, what about local businesses?  Kathleen Cook, Director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business discusses business closures for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Doug McCallum strikes again - pushing 50 Land Use Applications forward  Linda Annis, Surrey First Councillor describes Surrey Mayor Dough McCallum's latest act as mayor, attempting to push 50 Land Use Applications forward Mourning Queen Elizabeth II - Why September 19th should be a National Holiday Brian Dijkema , Vice President of External Affairs at Cardus discusses why it is important to give Canadians some time off to reflect on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II

Brian Dijkema , Vice President of External Affairs at Cardus discusses why it is important to give Canadians some time off to reflect on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II

Brian Dijkema, Vice President of External Affairs with Cardus and editor of Comment magazine discusses the dangers of gambling

The BC Greens' call to publish a report on Telus Health Sonia Furstenau, BC Green Party leader discusses the BC Green's call for immediate release of probe into Telus Health fee-based program Ontario's new “strong mayors” legislation, would this help in Vancouver?  Colin D'Mello, Queen's Park Bureau Chief for Global News Toronto explains why and how Ontario is enacting legislation to provide the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa with more power and authority within their jurisdictions. Anjali Appadurai's BC NDP leadership bid  Keith Baldrey, Global BC Legislative Bureau Chief analyzes Anjali Appadurai's BC NDP leadership bid along with Ontario's “strong mayor” legislation More shootings throughout the lower mainland, how we can help kids stay away from gang life Jordan Buna, Substance Abuse Liaison for Surrey Schools and Counselling Therapist for No Fear Counselling discusses how young kids get lured into gang life. Jordan is a former gang member himself. StatsCan's latest report on problem gambling Brian Dijkema, Vice President of External Affairs with Cardus and editor of Comment magazine discusses the dangers of gambling

Co-founders are a known relationship in the realm of start-ups and institution-building. But less studied is the dynamic of friendship between those who are building something that intends to have cultural impact and last beyond a generation. Today's episode digs into that deeper, less transactional realm, as the co-founders of Cardus, Michael Van Pelt and Ray Pennings, reflect on their 20+ years of friendship while leading.

Can a ruler be both powerful and pious?  This combination may be rare in our political leaders today. But the life of Blessed Karl of Austria teaches us that the answer to this question can indeed be a resounding “yes.” With April 1, 2022 marking the 100-year anniversary of his death, in this episode we examine the legacy and witness of the last emperor of one of Europe's most long-standing Catholic dynasties. Proving that a deep faith in God was not at odds with service in the highest imperial office, Blessed Karl strove for a peaceful resolution to the First World War and ultimately died in exile after only two short years on the throne. Karl's life represents a compelling example of Church-State cooperation in an authentic pursuit of the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people - and serves as a contrast to the corrupt entanglement of altar and throne in modern-day Russia.Joining us to explore these themes is Father Raymond de Souza. One of North America's most well-known Catholic commentators, he is a regular columnist for the National Post and the National Catholic Register. Father de Souza is a Senior Fellow at Cardus, Canada's leading Christian think tank. He also serves as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario.If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  Documents/Websites referenced Father Raymond de Souza (biography)@fatherdesouzaBlessed Karl of Austria (Vatican biography)Blessed Karl of Austria - Cause for Canonization USA / Canada K.V. Turley, “Blessed are the peacemakers: Lessons from the life and legacy of Blessed Karl”, National Catholic Register (October 21, 2020)“Caesaropapism” (CatholicCulture.org)“Josephinism” (CatholicCulture.org)Father Raymond de Souza, “The Kirill Question”, National Catholic Register (March 9, 2022)Father Raymond de Souza, “Putin is using a ‘spiritual' lie to further his imperialist aims”, National Post (February 26, 2022)www.crownandcrozier.comtwitter.com/crownandcrozierfacebook.com/crownandcrozierhttps://www.instagram.com/crownandcrozier/Please note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.Support the show (http://missionoftheredeemer.com/crownandcrozier/)

We're living in post-modern, post-nationalist times. The secular value of the separation of church and state has been taken to an extreme in Canada -- and has led to the complete removal of religious symbols, concepts and festivities in the public square.  Why do Christians get criticized and denigrated, ignored and erased?  Can we completely erase Christianity from our modern society? Can we divorce our values, our norms, our morality from their Judeo-Christian roots? Should we? The political left enthusiastically says ‘yes,' but there is also a growing appetite for learning more about the traditions, norms, values and attitudes that help build our modern day society.  For a special Christmas week edition to The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by Ray Pennings of Cardus to discuss the importance of Christmas and the value of Christianity in modern times.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are conservatives so reluctant to talk about culture? If conservatives want to win elections, they have to lay the ground to promote conservative values and ideas well beforehand. On today's episode of the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by Ray Pennings, co-founding and Executive VP at Cardus. They discuss how culture, religion and civil society play a more important role in our lives than politics. And they discuss how conservatives need to win the culture wars in order to win elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catch up on what you missed on an episode of The Richard Syrett. Founder of Judicial Watch, and current chairman of Freedom Watch & Author of “It Takes a Revolution: Forget the Scandal Industry!” Larry Klayman talks about if we are witnessing the Greatest Threat to Civil and Personal Liberties in 100 Years? Richard along with cawsbar (Canadian Women's Sex-Based Rights) fights against Radical Gender Ideology. Plus, Vice-President of External Affairs at think tank Cardus, Brian Dijkema speaks on how Ontario's Vaccine Passports Fail to Protect Public Health

Father Deacon Andrew Bennett served as Canada's first (and so far, only) Ambassador for Religious Freedom from 2013-2016.  He joins us to discuss his time as a diplomat championing religious liberty, the duty for governments to defend this essential human right, and how the future of religious freedom will ultimately depend on the faithful having the courage and the capacity to truly understand and publicly live out the truths of the Gospel.Fr. Dcn. Bennett currently serves as Senior Fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, DC, and Director of the Religious Freedom Institute and Faith Community Engagement at Cardus in Ottawa, Canada. 0:00 - Introduction2:45 - The vision for an Office of Religious Freedom6:00 - Stationery, furniture, Prime Minister's support - getting the Office off the ground5:30 - Assessing the global state of religious freedom - where to begin? 8:05 - Government restrictions and social hostility - the religious freedom litmus test 13:10 - The delicate diplomatic dance of outreach to freedom's worst offenders16:00 - Friends in the fight for freedom - Canada, the United States and Europe19:50 - Why prioritize religious freedom?25:15 - Meanwhile, back at home - religious freedom and freedom of conscience in Canada29:30 - Getting your own house in order first29:50 - Fundamental freedoms - inherent within us or gift of the State?35:30 - Threats to religious freedom on the home front today41:30 - Religious freedom and the challenges of COVID47:10 - An opportunity for the laity48:25 - Hope for the future (and a powerful story of Christian witness amidst persecution)53:35 - ConclusionIf you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation by clicking here:  DONATEDocuments/Websites Referenced:Father Deacon Andrew BennettCardusReligious Freedom InstituteShahbaz BhattiOffice of International Religious Freedom (USA)United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (UCIRF)Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (United Nations)Canadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsBerkley Centre for Religion, Peace and World Affairs (Georgetown University)A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World (Pew Research) Dignitatis Humanae - Declaration on Religious Freedom (Vatican II)Dr. Brian Bird, "The ban on in-person worship continues in BC." Vancouver Sun, 1 January 2021 This podcast has been edited for length and clarity.Support the show (http://missionoftheredeemer.com/crownandcrozier/)

We talk with Taban Behin, Brian Dijkema and Hoda Farahmandpour about how we should think about the nature of technology and its relationship to the education of young people. Behin is a PhD student at the University of Victoria, Dijkema is Vice-President of Cardus, and Farahmandpour is a PhD student at the University of Toronto.