Volume 2 - Edition 6 - May 2006
Christian Education: Proclaim Christ as Truth OR Teaching Human Level Thinking
by “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” ~Jesus Christ
One of the greatest strengths the Bible brings to education is that it is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. Oddly enough, Jesus makes the audacious claim that he is the Truth (John 14:6). It is audacious because we, in the west, equate truth with concepts and ideas rather than in a person, but Jesus makes the claim that truth is rooted in him and it is because of this that truth is never neutral and education should always be biased towards the glorification and enjoyment of God. Not only is Jesus the Truth, he is also its Author and Creator and Sustainer (Col.1:1-17).
What does that mean for the student? Education, from beginning to end, is designed to reveal Christ as the one true source and the Christ in every aspect of life challenges the learner to see Christ as the one who directs every molecule. The acquisition of information and knowledge demands a response from the learner towards its author. Who is this person called Jesus? Why does he get praise for all things? Why would Jesus want me, a student, to know him, to know the Trinity? How do I learn more about him and how does the Spirit direct and instruct me in my education? What purpose does Jesus have for us through our learning?
Attached to this month’s newsletter is a document called “The Stages of Christian Education”. This document, based on Bloom’s taxonomy, displays six levels of escalating thinking. Bloom and other educational critics have decried the fact that students in our schools do not get past the 3rd stage:
– failing to progress to the essential stages of analysing and application. Educational programs are filled with “fill in the blanks” and “true or false” type learning and assessments. They examine, for the most part, the students ability to memorize – a regurgitation method - not a bad thing in and of itself, but what is needed is to have the student examine, sift, contrast, assess and wrestle with the validity of conclusions drawn from that information – an education system that understands world views at an appropriate level for the student. Within our culture, the modern day media “prophets” paint a picture of life which does not require or even encourage higher thinking skills. Critics of modern education cry out for a new kind of education which causes students to do more than memorize, regurgitate and obtain mounds of information. Higher level or critical thinking skills require much effort on behalf of the teacher and student. The challenge, indeed, is greater but so too is the reward.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” ~ Proverbs 9:10
The answer to the education problem is Jesus Christ. When I consider education, it is clear that Christian educators have the answer – it is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The same Christ, who died on the cross and rose again to answer the dilemma of mankind’s sin also answers the dilemma of education. The man Jesus, who was the great teacher, who cared deeply about those around him, who provided a model of how we should live, this Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all of life, the One who created every molecule, who commends every atom to move where and when He purposes, and who commands us to put on the mind of this Christ.. This Christ who is life himself – the Way and the Truth, would not allow us to naively stop at the 3rd stage of thinking. Not only is he the redeemer but also the Truth and nothing happens apart from him.
“Education is not about filling a bucket, it’s about lighting a fire.” ~ William Yeats
Christian teachers, whether it is parents at home or teachers in the “classroom” who proclaim this Christ will find it hard NOT to emphasize the three higher stages of thinking. With Christ at the center of my teaching about every aspect of life, my assignments and my questions will require an examination of the how’s of osmosis, photosynthesis, and the circulatory system and the why’s of planetary movement.
Our students should be wrestling with why Nazism took hold in Germany, reflecting on mankind’s desire for power and control, along with why Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go, and along with why the Middle East today is such a powder keg. This teaching will be an education where students are not content to restate someone else’s perceptions, ideas or beliefs, but where they are constantly questioning, discerning, evaluating, defending, and refuting! – Talk about higher level thinking!
Students in this environment will feel the security of a Christ who leaves the 99 to seek the one who is lost and be amazed at the depth of a love he offers, a totally undeserving, and a grace so encompassing. Students in this setting will be confronted by both the intricacy and complexity of life. If, at the end of the day, our students have gained a pile of information but have not been awed by the intricacy and complexity of Christ’s movement of each and every molecule, the question needs to be asked, have they received an inferior education? Christian education done properly is a two handed activity. In one hand, the student holds the textbook, or the test tube or any part of the educational process and in the other hand, the learner holds open the Word of God, searching for the mind of Christ.
BMBO? - The Bible Must Be Open! Students need to be continuously examing what he or she is learning with the truth before them. The mandate comes from;
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deutronomy 6:4-9
And
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. Psalm 78:4
Therefore, the very heart of education is, as Paul says, to set our minds on things above and set our hearts on things above (Col. 3). In previous newsletters, I’ve exhorted that if we look at subjects such as Math and Spelling, their design is to point to a sovereign God who is loving, kind and in control. When Jesus, the very heart of education, is torn out what are we left with?
C.S. Lewis said, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”
Chris McGrath,
cmcgrath@onlineschool.ca