EDUCATION 03 – Modern schooling

EDUCATION 03 – Modern School

Grey color          Principles from the Bible (as laid out in EDU 02 – Next Generation)
Dark red color   How this contrasts with our modern schooling

Deu 6:1-3                            Education of a Nation
  • God places responsibility of teaching values, knowledge, attitudes on the family
  • What will make a nation live long, grow strong and be numerous as a nation is good education in the home
  • A nation’s education does not primarily lie with government … nor with church!
  • What then about modern schooling?
Deu 6:6-7                            Teaching when?

‘… talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.’

  • daily, practical teaching in normal life
                > we separate: school, not home, is for learning
  • teaching as questions / topics come up
                > school sets the schedule / topics … cut up, short, unrelated, unnatural, unpractical
  • talking with child throughout the day about truth, laws, values, reasons
                > school is ‘answers’ only, for questions I never asked
  • integrated approach, teaching applied in daily life
                > what is taught has no practical application or importance, other than passing the examination
Deu 6:8-9                             Learning helps

‘Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts…’

  • Visual things, reminders, symbols, memory helps
                  > school is listening all day to teacher (only 20% of children learn best audio)
  • helpful learning environment
                  > school setting is helpful only to some children
                  > too many children > no chance to ask / process / check / think own thoughts / verify other options
                  > same learning speed and learning type required from all children
  • Learning of the child is the most important family project
                  > family becomes only an extension of school (do your homework! Study for your exam!)
  • Children feel the importance and get support
                  > and pressure! … not to ask but to answer
Exo 13:12-14                      Feasts
  • Feasts provide a fun, colorful, stimulating, interactive, sensory, hands-on environment to cause a child to think & ask
                  > school doesn’t encourage curiosity, own thinking, questioning, own initiative
                  > school is not very anything on this list … not very fun, not very colorful, not very stimulating, not very interactive, not very practical …
Exo 13:14                            Encouraging questions or critical thinking

‘When your child asks you: What does this mean? You shall answer…’

  • teach according to the child’s questions, thoughts, interests, needs
                  > School pre-sets topics, content, style
  • teach according to the child’s speed and learning method
                  > School requires the same speed of all children
                  > School does not help different learning styles
  • teach learner-centered, learner-driven
                  > School is very teacher-centered and curriculum-centered
Deu 6:20-25                        History and Cause & Effect
  • Teach children history … God’s acts in human history (Bible) and God’s hand in the nation’s history
                    > history is often only dates and events, not meaning and importance, no God-perspective, not even in Christian schools
  • Teach children history…God’s hand in the family’s, parents’ history … so they know the will and ways of God. > obedience … so they know God’s involvement with us > destiny
                    > school knowledge has little to do with me or my family or my destiny
                    > School requires theoretical knowledge, but no practical application or skill, no character
  • Teach children the all-important if > fhen, cause > effect, through history and law
                    > School teaches this as information and theory, but not as important heart choices and character development
                     > School asks for information, not understanding
                     > School asks for theory, not application
                     > School asks for smartness, not character
Family Education
  • In Jewish culture a son learned profession from his father, in an all day, hands-on, work-together approach.
                     > school has very little decisive involvement of the father and mother
  • First the child watches the father do > they do it together > the child does as father watches > the child does it alone
                    > Children with kinesthetic learning style, hands-on, exploring, practical intelligence get no encouragement in school
Summary
  • Modern Way:                         Ancient Way:
  • often fear based                      free inquiry, safe
  • information transfer                skill transfer
  • memorization                           ability to do
  • head                                           head, heart & hands
  • compartmentalized                 integrated
  • Teacher-centered                     learner-centered
  • Stop being impressed with your education! Think: Albert Einstein failed school!

What in the world do we do with this? > We need some totally new thinking and insights, also Biblical based schools who show how it how it can be done better.

EDUCATION