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AERIE VIEW ARCHIVES March 7 - Why get an education? (Part 1) March 14 - Why get an education? (Part 2) March 21 - Why get an education? (Part 3) |
Aerie Views
Please e-mail your responses to: johair@desertchristian.org
August 27, 2008
True Competition in Education
Welcome to the start of the 2008-2009 school year. I look forward to sharing with you this coming year on the topics related to education. The year has gotten off with a bang. I do not know if you saw the recent editorial in the Tucson Citizen about Public schools and vouchers and tax credits. The editorial called for an end to tax credits because now that desegregation has been set aside the public schools are now truly competitive. You can read the editorial at this site: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/93504.php
Besides the interesting idea that it was desegregation law that made public schools less than competitive the disturbing point they made was that tax credits are taking money away from public education. This is flatly wrong! It is disingenuous and misleading. As you can tell it made me mad! The tax credit law has not taken a cent away from state spending on education. State education spending has grown each year under the tax credit law. To imply that public school students are somehow being deprived because of this program is dishonest. In truth thousands of
In fact tax credits are actually helping public education in
Here at Desert more than 1/2 of our families benefit from the tax credit legislation. Many of these families would not be able to send their children to this school without the presence of this scholarship money. Tax credits have increased the economic diversity of our school family by allowing lower income families to attend DCS.
It was interesting that the editorial also said tax credits were in violation of the state constitution. That is completely untrue! The tax credit law has twice been ruled constitutional by the State Supreme Court and once by the US Supreme Court. The judiciary says it is in line with the state and federal constitution. One can be of the opinion that it should not be constitutional but that is different than saying it is unconstitutional.
There is a battle brewing over education. The state monopoly continues to try to remove any competitors in the arena of education. Let us all continue to expose the untruths being used to attach educational choice. Here, by the way, is an interesting article to read on the history of US education: http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v30n4/cpr30n4-1.pdf
You will not hear these things in the discussion on public education!
May 19, 2008
Grading
Here we are at the end of the 2008 school year! Final exams are being taken and report cards are going out and everyone’s curiosity is focused on what grade did I get? It is like the air we breathe, we expect and anticipate grades in our classes. We are all very aware of grades. By the way (and this is true), I graduated in the top 75% of my high school class!
Where did grades come from? When did they begin? What is the history of grading? There has always been assessment in schools. Neil Postman in his book ’Technopoly’ points out that the first institution of learning to use numeric grades was at Cambridge University in 1792’s. The first
The modernist idea that anything can be measured is behind our use of grades. Grading is a form of measurement. But what are we measuring? Grades supposedly (as currently thought) show how much a student knows of a particular subject. So a student receiving a B+ or 88% for an English class supposedly knows 88% of English.
We live in a day where we think that people who know lots of facts must be really smart. That guy who was on Jepordy for several weeks and won lots of money we think must be very smart. Yet, what is the difference between wisdom and knowledge? Which is better to possess? How do you measure wisdom? We can measure a persons’ knowledge of a set of facts at a particular point in time, but who says those facts are important or meaningful. To answer that question one must have wisdom.
I spoke with a child of a long time friend who took AP US Government at a public high school. I asked this student what grade they received. They told me they received an A and passed the AP exam. I asked if they had read or studied the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. They said they had studied a few parts of the Constitution but nothing of the Declaration. Their grade says they have an excellent knowledge of Government but they knew next to nothing about the founding documents for the
There needs to be assessment in education. Students, parents and teachers need to know what their student has accomplished. I do not believe numeric or alpha grades effectively represent the accomplishments of a student nor do they really tell us anything worthwhile about their knowledge of the subject. I believe an anecdotal report from the teacher on the character, skills and mastery of parts of the subject by a student would be a truer reflection than a letter grade on a report card.
[1] http://www.indiana.edu/~educy520/sec6342/week_07/durm93.pdf
May 5, 2008
Homework
(Part 3)One of the important underlying issues related to the topic of homework is the character of the child and their work ethic. The past two issues I dealt with the idea of good vs bad homework and how to deal with it as a parent. This time I want to look at the character of the child.
One of the character issues that all parents contend with in training their child is their child’s approach to work. Children seem to all realize early on that work is sometimes hard and they do not like hard. Students sometimes run into subjects or concepts that are difficult and hard to grasp and the immediate response for most is to give up and say it is too hard and make no effort. Like water many children want to take the path of least resistance.
There seem to be two characteristics that need to be developed in a child in this area, perseverance and diligence. The value of these characteristics in a person is obvious to any mature person. Children do not see or appreciate this value nor are they interested most times in developing these characteristics. Dallas Willard says that we fall into legalism when we emphasize ‘trying’ rather than ‘training’. This applies to the development of character. Homework is a tool that we can use to help develop character rather than a legalism that deadens our children.
To do something one must know what needs to be done and have the capability of doing it. When looking at a homework assignment, a good place to start is to ask, do we know what needs to be done? Is the assignment clearly understood? One way to train your child is to help them make sure they know what needs to be done. If they are confused, what do they need to find out and clear up the confusion? Is there someone who can clear it up for them? The discipline to ask and seek answers develops diligence.
One of the next issues is to take stock in what materials will be needed. This again is an excellent skill for a child to develop. There are many humorous stories of students who need to do a project and announce it to the parent at 9pm the night before it is due. A parent then chooses to rush off and purchase all these materials because their child has procrastinated or forgotten about the assignment. So sit down with your child and think through what will be needed to complete assignments before starting.
Lastly, difficulty is often seen as a curse by most children. Maturity sees it more as a challenge or test, not a curse. When a child encounters difficulty in an academic assignment how are we guiding them and training them to deal with it? As an adult, how do you deal with difficulty? Do you complain? Do you give up? Do you throw contempt at God or people? Why does God allow difficulty in our lives? In the scripture, God often says it is to test what is in our hearts. James says to consider it all joy when you encounter various trials; it is a test of our faith. The test presents an opportunity to produce perseverance and maturity.
In conclusion, we do not want to encourage laziness but diligence in our children in their homework. We want to train our children how to face and deal with difficulty not just tell them to try harder. We want them to grow in character and perseverence.
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
April 28, 2008
Homework (Part 2) Last week my thoughts on homework came from the perspective of the teacher on the reasons for homework. This week I want to approach the matter from the perspective of the student and parent. To review, homework assignments can either be good or bad. If it is assigned with the benefit of the student in mind it is good. Assignments that practice concepts or ideas learned in class or assignments that develop or enrich and add to what is learned in class would fall in that category. Any assignment given without thought to the betterment of the student would be a bad assignment. Assignments that are simply busy work, or punishment or mindless repeating of topics covered in class would not be constructive homework assignments. Based on this idea, it is the teacher who determines whether a homework assignment is good or not. Knowing their motivation and reason behind the assignment would help one evaluate any assignment. We all do things for a reason and as sinful people we can do things for good or bad reasons. This is why I would encourage any person, parent or student who is curious or concerned about an assignment to go and ask the teacher respectfully their rational for this assignment. I assume that if a good answer is given that most people will then proceed to do the assignment with a better attitude now that they know the reason for that assignment. Since education is a partnership between the family and the school, it is appropriate and reasonable for a parent to ask their child’s teacher the rational for any assignment. The parent can then help motivate their child to do this work, when they are complaining or neglecting the assignment. Older students can ask their teachers privately the purpose of an assignment to satisfy their curiosity. It is not prudent to question every single assignment; this would come across as complaining or nit picking. Having said that, I would expect every teacher to be able to explain the purpose of any assignment they give. What is their objective and how does it fit with the classroom objectives is a good question. What do you do with bad homework assignments? A couple of things, first for parents; if after talking with a teacher a parent is not satisfied with the ‘reason’ then I recommend they talk with the school administrator to express their concern and desire to see constructive assignments for their child. Secondly, I would have the child go ahead and do the assignment to learn to “do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus”, without “grumbling and complaining”. ( Stay tuned for part 3 on this topic – I have more to say!
Homework
April 21, 2008
Recently the topic of homework has come up in conversations I have had with different people. It comes up regularly with people here at Desert and with my extended family who have children attending public schools around town. There has been a lot of discussion in print about this topic. It seems everyone has an opinion on it. So here is mine!
Homework is the academic work that children take home after school to finish and then hand in at school at some future time.
What is the purpose of homework? Why do teachers assign it? There are a variety of good reasons for its existence. Here are my ideas on the issue: Homework should enrich and expand a students’ knowledge of the ideas taught in class, or it can be an assignment that reveals the students mastery of a skill or idea being covered in class. At times it can be the work that was begun but not finished in class and is taken home to complete.
Homework should be supplementary. The work in class should be the focal point of the learning taking place at school. This is where I see the problem starts. Many schools and teachers use homework for other purposes than the ones listed above.
Homework can be used as a punishment; students are made to do more because of some disobedience or character issue. When you make work punishment you make a positive thing (learning) to be something bad and to be avoided. Work, by the way, is a creation ordinance (God ordained before the fall), something we are called to do so it is good. Other consequences should be used for discipline and correction, homework should not.
Some teachers use homework to fill up time or make it look like they are difficult teachers. The assigning of lots of work which most of the time is busy work is just mindless activity that is boring and repetitious and takes the fun out of learning. To require a person to keep showing their mastery of a topic after they have demonstrated proficiency is also discouraging and disheartening.
Some schools use the volume of their homework as a sign of their stated rigorous academic standards. Being busy for busy sake is disingenuous. Rigor is demonstrated in creative and original work by the student. The amount of homework is not the sign of rigor, creative thoughtful scholarship is a better measure of rigor.
April 4, 2008
The real problem with people - Part 2
Last time we talked about sin being the root problem in our lives and in the lives of our children. The root problem is not ignorance! How does God want us to address the sin we see in the lives of children?
Giving children more information will not solve the issue. We are called to love one another, and love does not ignore the problem. The example of how God deals with us is our model for dealing with our children.
In Hebrews 12:4-11 the author encourages the Hebrews with the truth that God disciplines His children. God is motivated by love to discipline. So the Lord’s discipline is a sign of His love for us. Discipline is hard and painful and not pleasant. God does not discipline out of anger but out of love.
So the first thing loving discipline does is to confront the behavior and the foolishness behind that behavior. Loving discipline then calls for repentance; a turning away from the sinful behavior and attitude. Loving discipline chooses an appropriate consequence in keeping with the offense. Loving discipline offers forgiveness and relationship toward the offending person.
Discipline administered out of anger boarders on abuse. Getting angry at a person for a sin, or holding a grudge is not a sign of love to that person. A persons’ sin ought to break our hearts as we move to discipline and correct their sin. God is not angry with his children (Romans 8:1); He loves them and disciplines them so they might share in His holiness.
So how does this fit with education? Education is about developing the whole person and seeing the child disciplined in good character. We cannot change hearts but we can provide consequences and discipline to join God in His work in their hearts.
Proverbs 2:22,23 - The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Proverbs 6:23 - For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life.
Proverbs 12:1 - Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.
Proverbs 13:24 - He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
March 28, 2008
What is the real problem with people?
We live in a culture that says the reason we have problems is that people are ignorant and unlearned. Regularly we are told that if people only knew they would choose to do the right thing. Through the years people have come into the school office saying they have become aware of some activity that DCHS students are involved with that is wrong. Drinking, smoking, immorality and so on are happening out there.
I am not so naïve to believe that some Christian school kids do not do these things. When the school knows specifics, names and events, then we can deal with that person. The fact that some know of situations does not mean we all know and are choosing to not do something. We can only deal with what we know about. But I digress!
Many times people come in and tell of what they know and imply that we should address the issue in a chapel or assembly. It seems that people think the problem is a knowledge issue. If these kids knew what was right they would not do it! I can tell you that the students at DCS know far more about our communities standards on these issues than we can imagine. They know what is good and not good!
The problem is not lack of knowledge, but sin! Sin is that willful defiant choice to find life on my own terms, rather than trust God. We have all rebelled against God (Jeremiah 2:13), forsaking Him and turning to our own sources of life. At the core we trust ourselves more than we trust God. We believe we know better than God and by golly we are going to make life work for us on our terms.
Loving discipline confronts the foolish and offers them a way out. We will talk about that next time.
March 21, 2008
Why get an education? - Part 3
In my previous two installments I addressed the ideas of thinking and relating as good objectives of education. There is a third one – communicating.
We are beings that communicate with each other almost all the time. We were designed to communicate with God. You see this all over, from people wanting to communicate with extra terrestrials, to our desire to solve problems by communicating rather than by force, to lovers sharing their souls with each other.
This is the most important of the three. One can think well, but if one cannot communicate what they are thinking the idea dies. To relate with others without communicating will keep the relationships shallow. Good communication carries ideas and relationships to new heights and depths.
Communicating well is not easy! In my 14 years as a missionary overseas, the major reason behind problems on the field was poor communication. We are not naturally very good at it. It is a skill to be developed. I have learned that to write well one must write and rewrite and rewrite to hone the message. There are fundamentals to being a good speaker.
An educated person should be trained to communicate in all areas of communication, from reading and writing to speaking and listening. They should be afforded the opportunities to practice and develop these skills without fear of ridicule or rejection.
March 14, 2008
Why get an education? - Part 2
A second part of what I think should be developed in an educated person is their ability to relate with other people.
When we home schooled our youngest during middle school, we constantly were asked, “how will he be socialized if he is home schooled?” The concept of socializing appears to be another reason people think children should be in school.
I find most people understand socializing to be that their child can relate with other children. That they learn to find their place in the social pecking order and learn to live with that position. This value of being socialized in earlier grades becomes a fearful and undesirable thing in secondary school. There, it is called 'peer pressure'! No parent of adolescents wants their child to be influenced by their peers. Why is that? Well, most adolescents are immature and irresponsible and not good role models.
I want children to learn how to relate with adults in the adult world. I want them to learn who they are and for them to be able to relate with confidence in who they are without the shame or pressure to conform to how others think they should be. High numbers of peers and low numbers of adults in a child’s life tends to lead to the latter.
All people tend to define themselves from their self-image. We tend to look to others to reflect to us who we are. I do not want children to primarily look to other children to define themselves; I know there will be some of that, but the more important issue is to get a true view of themselves from the adults in their world.
| March 7, 2008 |
Why get an education?
So why do you send your child to school? Why do you want them to get an education? These fundamental questions are very important in the educational decisions parents make.
Society tells us that the reason to stay in school (read, "why get an education?") is so you can get a good job. Neil Postman pointed out in his book The End of Education, that this reasoning means we do not have a culture anymore but only an economy. If this is the reason to get an education then we are only preparing kids to be employees.
Why isn’t the reason to stay in school so that individuals can go out and create work and develop an independent business? Why only be a good employee? My cynical side says our society only wants kids who can obey orders and not think creatively. God forbid we would create creative thinking, independent human beings. Adolf Hitler said, “Blessed is the leader whose people do not think!”
One reason I believe you should get an education is to develop ones ability to think--to think deeply and well about things.