3 November 2009
Repairing the ruins
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Education; Values.
It is interesting to note that while there is much talk about education being a necessary preparation for the labour market, no one in his right mind would suggest it’s the primary purpose of all education.
Take a look at what I picked up online:
That last quote is a lot like what Socrates would say. Perhaps you might dismiss the dead philosopher as, erm, old school. But he would never approve of learning for knowledge’s sake, and certainly never as a means for material gain. Knowledge should be pursued because it teaches you how to live, promotes virtue and happiness, and leads to a moral life. Socrates’ disciple Plato learnt well; he echoed his master’s words by saying that the purpose of education was for beauty and goodness.
Regardless of how you feel about such noble aspirations, it doesn’t take long before someone comes along to burst your bubble. Get real, man. In this dog eat dog world, it’s every man for himself. Don’t you know the one with the most toys wins?
Don’t cynics just love saying this to your face?
Yet I find it intriguing that ethics and morality remain unquestionably the starting point for all education.
It’s not hard to see why R.C. Sproul Jr said in his thoughtful book ‘When You Rise Up’ that all ‘education is inherently religious‘. He quotes Robert Louis Dabney:
True education is, in one sense, a spiritual process. It is the nurture of the soul. Education is the nurture of a spirit that is rational and moral, in which conscience is the regulative and imperative faculty. The proper purpose of conscience, even in this world, is moral.
But God is the only Lord of the conscience; this soul is his miniature likeness. His will is the source of its obligations. Likeness to him is its perfection, and religion is the science of the soul’s relations to God. Let these statements be placed together, and the theological and educational processes appear so related they cannot be separated.
It is for this reason that the common sense of mankind has always invoked the guidance of the minister of religion in the education of youth……….Every line of true knowledge must find its completeness as it converges on God, just as every beam of daylight leads the eye to the sun.
In my previous post, I argued that the question of what you want your child to be comes before your education choice, whether homeschool or conventional school. Figure this out, and then decide what’s the best route to get there. Sproul also quotes the poet Milton who wrote: “The end 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.”
I happen to be in Milton’s corner here. I like the way he has articulated well a model for education that works for my family. And so we have embraced homeschool because we believe it offers our children the best opportunity to nurture soul and spirit holistically. By doing so, we believe they are better placed to love God, to imitate Him, and make a positive difference in our world.
What about you? What’s the reason for your education choice?
29 October 2009
So why did you choose to homeschool?
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Education.
“So why did you choose to homeschool? Your children are normal….”
It is often supposed that unless there was some dire need for keeping a child at home, depriving a child of conventional schooling is unreasonable, and possibly even damaging. Why? Because no parent could ever be sufficiently equipped or knowledgeable enough to do the stuff that school teachers are paid to do. More importantly, there are suspicions that weirdos who keep their kids at home risk turning out social misfits (a) whose sheltered upbringing leave them easy prey in our nasty, cruel world, and (b) who don’t have a clue how to socialize like normal human beings or fit nicely into society.
I have now come to the conclusion that people trip over these inevitable questions of qualification and socialization because of an unresolved tension. What is this tension? Firstly, a lot of parents hope schooling will effect transfer of knowledge (sometimes called education) so their children can get good jobs, jobs that offer prestige (and lots of money preferably). So they want to be sure that the ones educating their children have the right stuff. Hence the dirty looks when parents say they want to teach their children themselves. What audacity!
Secondly, these same people also believe education is to make kids socially adept, get along with all sorts of people in our pluralistic society. The only way a person can get ahead is when they’re properly schooled to possess the right EQ and IQ, and play according to the rules ordained by social convention and the dictates of cultural forces, say a lot of well-intentioned friends. You know, you’ve got to buy into society’s worldview and values in order to get something out of it. This is where the tension surfaces, but I’ll get there in a moment.
Now, governments the world over stand unabashedly by what their citizens want. Therefore all the talk about “equipping students with employable skills” and “equipping students with critical skills as the workforce of tomorrow”. In Malaysia, the government of the day is careful to point out that education is also to “inculcate national consciousness by promoting common ideals, values, aspirations and loyalties to foster national unity.”
Here’s the rub, the tension I was referring to.
A lot of parents want their kids to be independent, critical thinkers; they hope that at the end of all that schooling, their children will possess “critical skills” – not only to find lucrative employment, but perhaps the courage of character to shape the world in a positive way even. Like Einstein, Steve Jobs, or Mohammad Yunus.
But independent critical thinkers are not known to accept “common ideals, values, aspirations and loyalties to foster national unity.” They fly against the wind, take chances, defy typecast. They’re likely slow learners, late bloomers, high school dropouts, and anti-establishment to boot.
Because of this seemingly divergent views about what schooling ought to accomplish, we debate over who qualifies to teach, what to teach, what language is best, and how to teach our children. We’re arguing over what Neil Postman calls ‘engineering matters’ which are but questions about the best way to deliver school services.
Homeschool, like conventional schools are really a means to an end; they’re meant to take our children somewhere. Whether one chooses to educate a child at home or have her regimented in a school, the question to ask is, what is education for? Of course one can have several objectives (even conflicting ones), but don’t let them get in the way of what the overriding goal of education ought to be. 
If such a question sounds too daunting, here’s another: what sort of person do you want your child to be? I know that’s not a question you can grade or is it an end that comes necessarily after some 12 years of learning. But it’s an essential starting point. As the Cheshire Cat told Alice at the fork in the road when she asked which way to take, “That depends a great deal on where you want to get to.”
Similarly, choosing homeschool or traditional schooling depends on what you want your child to grow up into. No cheating now. Don’t say, “It’s not my job to shape my child, education is supposed to be neutral – I just want to let her be her own person, find her own way.” The truth is, education is never neutral or agenda-free.
Then if you should choose to homeschool, you’ll be unfazed by detractors who question your sanity, or by circumstances that threaten to overwhelm. The road ahead may be inconvenient and demanding, even costly; but I promise it will be a rewarding one.
7 May 2009
Reasons to homeschool
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Education; Values.
Homeschool isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there are so many good reasons to educate your child at home. I recently came across a site that carried a post titled, 100 Reasons to Homeschool. What started as a list back in 2007/08 continues to grow.
What’s interesting for me was discovering that a lot of reasons to homeschool went beyond academic achievements, keeping up with the Joneses. I can relate to that. Now there’s the other component that’s often missed – the development of values and character in one’s child, the joy of being there to see him learn, and simply enjoying a child’s growing up years. Sure, every parent wants their children to succeed academically, but academic success alone does not a complete person make.
It was Roosevelt who said, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” Values and character development may be taught, but mostly they are caught. Homeschool provides a safe place for parents to model values and intentionally make this the center of our education enterprise.
Back to the list. Here are some reasons that struck a chord with me. I’m using the numbering as they originally appear on the post:
1. You do not have to live up to the expectations of others.
4. Plenty of time to follow their passions.
6. I can be my kid’s biggest influence, not peers or teachers that may have different values than our family.
7. Homeschooled children are able to think, explore and discuss topics in ways not possible in a classroom setting.
10. Break up the day any way you desire and make it fit the attention soan of your child.
12. If you have a little boy who needs to jump up and down on a couch while he is doing math, he can do so.
13. Far fewer worldly/negative influences penetrate your children at an early age when homeschooling.
14. Avoid your child being given educational labels.
15. Your child’s achievements, advancements or academic pursuits need not be limited by age or grade.
30. We don’t have to wake up super early to be somewhere by a certain time everyday!
31. You can teach to each child’s learning style, thereby encouraging their strengths and improving their weaknesses.
33. You teach them how to learn and how to study, not just how to get through the next test. And, unlike the ps (public school) which teach this in a one-semester course called “Study Skills”, you teach it all year round…..giving them lots of practice.
34. Field trips, field trips, and MORE FIELD TRIPS!!
35. Real world experience, going to the grocery stores and bank constitute a math lesson, gazing at stars on a beautiful summer night and seeing bats inhabit our bat house is science. The list is endless!
50. The best for me… seeing the proverbial Light Bulb going off while teaching long division for a week in a row and my ds (dear son) saying Oh I get it now….and knowing I did that…I gave him that lightbulb moment.
104. Having children that are proud of who they are, and are comfortable in their own skin, so are true to themselves as a person.
106. They learn early on that only they are responsible for their education, actions, behaviour, and reactions. It’s up to them to choose the path they wish to follow, but they know that they have a hand to hold if they need it and a willing ear and heart for support and listening. They know they are never alone in any of the journeys.
Go ahead and check out the list here at the BabyCenter Community. And read the comments too (although the latest ones have veered into other issues). If you have more reasons to homeschool, you can add your own here.
25 April 2005
End of Education
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Books; Education.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO LOOK AT EDUCATION since it encompasses processes (how we learn) and formal knowledge (what we learn), but what is it all for? The late Neil Postman in his book End of Education said the purpose of education is to provide moral guidance, a sense of continuity, explanations of the past, clarity to the present, and hope for the future. It’s certainly well put but as it is all too clear, more education does not a better world make.
To be fair Postman does give suggestions to actively connect thought and deed, knowledge and service, so that society gains from education. But to do that, he proposed we rescue schools from their deplorable state with a complete overhaul, which is as likely as a goose laying a golden egg.
The 9th century Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi who introduced Medieval Europe to arithmatic and algebra (from the Arabic al-jabru) called the latter ”the science of restoration and balancing.” I’d like to think it’s a definition that clues us in on what’s the point in any education – if I may be allowed to extrapolate from his thought.
Learning is more than acquiring knowledge or mastering a skill. To quote Dewey, it’s not preparation for life, because learning is life itself. And life expresses itself not just passively in our being, but also in our doing, which must include that which brings restoration and balance in a world tainted by the Fall.
Jesus who came not to be served but to serve went about teaching and doing good, so the Gospels tell us. In his letter to the Ephesians Paul said that the Church of God has been amply gifted with teachers,pastors, and prophets to equip His people for works of service . And to Timothy, Paul said that the Bible was given to equip God’s people for good work.
The impulse behind all learning is to know God and His work in creation and history. We glorify Him when our learning finds expression in service to others. It was the great reformer Martin Luther who once wrote that God does not need our good works, but other people do. Life-long learning for a life of service. Makes sense to me. Now can anyone help Ethan make sense of algebra?