Man is a learner.
- Image-bearers arrive not at all a finished product, there is much to learn: in terms of reason, rule, relationships – all in reference to God. In fact, there becomes much to unlearn: We are conceived in iniquity and come into the world with ignorance and a bent toward foolishness. We have to leave things behind. “Education” derives from the Latin educere, “to guide out of,” or “to lead forth.”
It is axiomatic that one leads forth from an area of lesser to an area of greater desirability: from darkness to light, from bondage to liberty, from ignorance to knowledge, from confusion to clarity, from error to truth. – Guenter Salter
- Much of our learning happens without our realizing it. To be human is to be influenced. (Manipulated? Swayed? Propagandized?)
- Psalm 1 – we are listening to something.
- Proverbs 1:10ff – the first lesson!
- Proverbs 23 – we are being shaped by our environment (9, 13, 17, 18-21, 26-28, 31)
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 – well, there it is
- The concern with the sinister effect of the “algorithm” only highlights what was already true.
There are no uneducated men. They may escape the trivial examinations [of school], but not the tremendous examination of existence…Before a man is twenty, he has always learned the important things. He has learned them right or wrong, and he has learned them all alone [that is, away from school]. -G. K. Chesterton
Rather than simply being influenced, man is to actively pursue knowledge – Proverbs 4:5-7
- In order to subsist – Isaiah 28:23-29
- In order to build and furnish and beautify his life – Proverbs 24:3,4
The real object of education is to give children resources that will endure as long as life endures; habits that time will ameliorate, not destroy; occupations that will render sickness tolerable, solitude pleasant, age venerable, life more dignified and useful, and death less terrible.– Sydney Smith, 1771-1845
- In order to learn to do good – Isaiah 1:16, 17; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17
Stanley Hauerwas: All education, whether acknowledged or not, is moral formation.
- In order to explore and unearth some of what God has done, and to access what has previously been discovered – Psalm 104:24; Psalm 111:2; Proverbs 25:2
Literary critic Marion Montgomery once observed that “education is the preparing of the mind for the presence of our common inheritance, the accumulated and accumulating knowledge of the truth of things.” Such preparation was not simply the task of formal schooling, but of all cultural institutions in concert. – From Ken Myers “All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes”
- To know and praise the Triune God, specifically considering all that is under the Lordship of Christ – Proverbs 1:7; Psalm 104:24; Psalm 111:2; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Colossians 1:17, 18; Colossians 2:3
The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him. John Milton (1608–1674)
Parents are responsible for educating their young image-bearers.
- Deuteronomy 6: 1-7; Psalm 78: 1-8; Proverbs 1:8, 9; Eph 6:4
At the broadest level, education is the process of passing on to the next generation the parents’ understanding of the nature of their world. – Doug Wilson
“Fathers, ‘bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;’ and teach them the holy Scriptures, and also trades, that they may not indulge in idleness. Now [the Scripture] says, ‘A righteous father educates [his children] well; his heart shall rejoice in a wise son.’” – Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 AD.) to the Philadelphia Church
{Reflecting on Eph 6:4b}: In the Greco-Roman culture, the word paideia was like the word democracy in range and importance. It referred to the entire process of enculturation, as a child was rooted in the way of life established by his fathers. Paideia was enculturation, and a paideia “of the Lord” is therefore a Christian enculturation. It is nothing less than a Christian education, one that presupposes a Christian culture for the young child to be grown up into. If we do not have such a Christian culture, then the obvious thing to do is . . . build one. So, if anything, our word education is too small for it—referring, as it sometimes does, to what happens at the school building between 8 and 3. But if you take it in its broadest meaning—education for life, in all of life, we are getting close. – Doug Wilson
The stereotypical view of adolescence in our culture today describes it as a period of rebellion, as a time to ‘sow your wild oats.’ Youth, it is believed, have little interest in moral or spiritual matters… The generation of youth whose parents are baby boomers were referred to as the “abandoned generation” because their parents were so concerned with rebelling against the establishment when they were young that they were careful to impose no ethical standards on their own children. The result? Youth who possess no moral compass by which to navigate the difficult waters of life. In contrast, Proverbs depicts fathers and mothers deeply engaged in the instruction of youth. – Dave Bland “Proverbs and the Formation of Character
- Parents supervise the education of the whole, complex image-bearer both inside and outside of the classroom. Of course, parents can and do farm out some of this responsibility (In loco parentis), but they maintain responsibility. Another perspective: in the order of God, the state relies on a competent citizenry, but for this too they are dependent on the parents. (There’s a tension here!)
- Beginning with the Will – a child has a trainable conscience and pain and pleasure principle works with training. (Corporal punishment is part of this. – Prov 23: 13,14) People who think training the will has nothing to do with education should visit a few classrooms, where the teacher has to take so much time dealing with poor behavior that little time is left for the purely intellectual. The objective of training the will is to incline the child toward obedience to authority and to instill in him/her a proper respect for the same. This makes success in the next stage possible, and it should be largely accomplished by the time a child enters kindergarten.
- Intellect – Filling the mind with facts about the world, about history, about the arts. Giving the child skills of all kinds comes in here too: writing, reading, speaking, music playing, even sports. Some modern educators disparage learning facts, but facts become the material with which the child eventually forms his concept of life and the world. Memorization and broad reading are appropriate. Much of the foundation for the above is laid in elementary school.
- Emotions – teaching the child to love what is good and be averse to what is not right. In a sense, a parent does this all along while the child is in the home. What is crucial in this regard is the child’s relationship with his/her parents. If that relationship is warm, a child tends to adopt generally the outlook of the parents. Around 5th or 6th grade the child starts to make value judgments. It’s during the teenage years when positive moral qualities are developed. (This is what Lewis writes about in The Abolition of Man.) For example, it’s one thing to know your country’s history; it’s something else altogether to be willing to die for your country.
- Whether conscious of this or not, the parent presents the child with a worldview.
- What and how to think – facts, both “natural” (2+2=4) and metaphysical (God alone necessarily exists); value judgments: what is right and wrong? what is the world for? How important is majority opinion? How important are my feelings? What is valuable? What is dangerous?; duties; hates and loves; fears
If we analyzed [the visions and values of secular education we have absorbed] I think we’d find that implicit in the dominant models of education is a modern, secularist narrative that prizes autonomy as the ultimate good. Thus the goal of education is reduced to ‘critical thinking,’ which only turns out to be an empty, vacuous way of saying that education will simply enable young people to choose whatever ‘good’ they see fit. – James K Smith
- Lifestyle – how do we actually live – work ethic, clothes, weekends, extended family, sports, entertainment, noise, tone, hosting, meals; formality; giving; hanging out;
- Narrative – what kind of story are we living in? What are the big turning points? Is there meaning? Who are our people? Am I a servant or a lord? Is there hope?
We have the following bit of personal experience from a general officer of the United States Army. He was in a great western city at a time of intense excitement and violent rioting. The streets were over-run daily by a dangerous crowd. One day he observed approaching him a man of singularly combined calmness and firmness of mien, whose very demeanor inspired confidence. So impressed was he with his bearing amid the surrounding uproar that when he had passed he turned to look at him, only to find that the stranger had done the same. On observing his turning the stranger at once came back to him, and touching his chest with his forefinger, demanded without preface: ‘What is the chief end of man?’ On receiving the countersign, ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever’ – ‘Ah!’ said he, ‘I knew you were a Shorter Catechism boy by your looks!’ ‘Why, that was just what I was thinking about you,’ was the rejoinder.’ – Benjamin Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings quoted in Sinclair Ferguson Some Pastors and Teachers
- Liturgy/Symbol/Habit – morning rituals, nightly rituals, meals, Sundays, “hallowed spaces and times”
- Summary: Every parent should have some awareness of what is involved in “education,” that is, should know what it entails. He should have some idea of an outcome and be able to evaluate his/her child along the way: “Are we reaching the goals I expect and desire?” One practical manifestation of this awareness shows up when a parent asks “What are you learning?” not “How are your grades?”