Education Philosophy
Whats Right About Choice
04/2020
I just saw an article in the Houston Chronicle by Heidi Cruz about how Texas' public school children have been less prepared for Corona Virus school at home orders because online charter schools have been limited to only 6 of the states 1,254 districts. She argued that online schooling would have been more developed had more online charters been allowed. It was a simple argument, but virtually all the responses were to oppose school choice! I added my response as follows: Read More...
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A Christian Education? What?
10/2019
What on earth is a Christian education? Is it as generic as a sandwich? Just slap some information stuff between a beginning and ending prayer and wa-lah??? Read More...
Must We Eat the King's Food?
07/2019
Ideas Precede Actions
11/2018
Ideas come before actions; the internal is causative of the external; and the “pen is mightier than the sword.” These reflect Christian beliefs that turn the secular belief that “physical situations and events cause internal or ideological changes” on its head. They lead to starkly different views of life and social solutions. Read More...
Are Public Schools Religious?
09/2015
While I was responding to a post on Diane Ravitch's blog, another commenter suggested that public money should never support religious schools and that I should stick with the idea of privately funded religious schools. My response? I suggested that public schools are religious. Here's how it goes: Read More...
The Personal Side of Education
06/2015
Today, Ravitch commented on the writings of Ellen Booth Church, an educator, renowned children's book author (the I Spy series, etc.) who recently wrote, "All learning is social-emotional learning. Children do not learn skills in isolation but through social connection and interconnection to the real world—their world." I agree! We are dealing with "people" and not just "brains." Thus, who should do better at running socially and emotionally healthy classrooms? The Church and other private parties or the government? Read More...
Why all the Philosophy?
02/2015
Why so much philosophic discussion from a site associated with schooling? Where is the normal stuff on curriculum, etc. Read More...
Choice Opponent: "We want the best public schools!"
12/2014
We all want our children to attend the best schools. But who defines what is best? Read More...
How Real can it Be?
02/2013
I just read a very good blog by an innovative school administrator. He titled it “School Must Be Real Life.” He said some good things about the need to link education with real life; learning bits of seemingly irrelevant data’ without context doesn’t go over very well for students. Good teachers help young people to understand the value of the “Magna Charta”, learning algebra, etc.by showing how these things fit into life.
In response I wrote: “I like your thoughts! Learning must connect with meaningful things to motivate students. Our current public education system makes this very difficult. Not only do bureaucracy, regulations, and other ‘top-down’ authority make it hard to get off the beaten path, but laws supporting church/state separation. We connect with many common things in life, but issues of deeper meaning are largely off the table. We can link kids with the material world, but the world of beliefs, values and meaning (that more powerfully motivate) can only be discussed at a distance. I am publishing a book “Education Reform: Confronting the Secular Ideal” on this topic (out in about a month). I believe the best way to engage students in learning is to reformulate our public school systems to allow teachers and students to engage learning at a deeper level.”
Chris Lehmann’s idea is right on, but the context limits how far teachers can go. Lehmann is an education reformer, perhaps he will catch the vision of SACE!
In response I wrote: “I like your thoughts! Learning must connect with meaningful things to motivate students. Our current public education system makes this very difficult. Not only do bureaucracy, regulations, and other ‘top-down’ authority make it hard to get off the beaten path, but laws supporting church/state separation. We connect with many common things in life, but issues of deeper meaning are largely off the table. We can link kids with the material world, but the world of beliefs, values and meaning (that more powerfully motivate) can only be discussed at a distance. I am publishing a book “Education Reform: Confronting the Secular Ideal” on this topic (out in about a month). I believe the best way to engage students in learning is to reformulate our public school systems to allow teachers and students to engage learning at a deeper level.”
Chris Lehmann’s idea is right on, but the context limits how far teachers can go. Lehmann is an education reformer, perhaps he will catch the vision of SACE!
Discernment: A Rare Commodity
03/2012
As churches and individual citizens, we often choose our own leaders. But why do we so often choose poor leaders? I propose that we too easily look at false “images” of spirituality and leadership that not only poorly assess leaders, but undermine our own view of the gifts God has given us.
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School Choice 101
01/2012
January 22 – 28 is National School Choice Week. As of this writing, 364 events are planned across the nation to celebrate the successes and energize further advances of the School Choice movement. Below is an overview of School Choice that doesn’t “demonize the enemy.”
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Do Christian Schools need Philosopher Kings?
09/2011
Plato argued that the best kings would also be philosophers. Where most kings had the qualities to achieve their goals, the philosopher’s concern for truth and value make him the most able to choose good goals. Christian schools need these qualities, yet principals, like historic kings, often lack philosophic perspective. This post presents some suggestions to guide and motivate school leaders toward the philosophic strengthening of their schools.
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What Makes a Curriculum "Christian"?
09/2011
Can a “secular” curriculum be Christian? How do we go about discerning the merits of a curriculum in light of the vision of our Christian schools? In this post I explore some of the tools of discernment we can use related to curriculum and present a direction to strengthen future curricula.
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In Search of the "Good Society"
09/2011
Peace and prosperity are generally illusive goals for most societies. What are the supports of the “good society”? I argue that they are more indebted to the efforts and values of families than to the efforts of government. If so, what key implications does this have upon public policy?
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