HOMESCHOOLING
Below is a critique of
http://www.brandonstaggs.com/biblical-reasons-to-home-school.html which is
typical of most Christian fundamentalist home schoolers' erroneous beliefs
on education ...mainly based on Old Testament proof verses.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Offered here are just a handful of verses from God's word
This is one of the reasons homeschoolers should be very careful! Home
schooling has a large contingent of fundamentalists who do not value
learning
for the sake of learning. Fundamentalists think the bible is the "Word of
God'
when in fact it is an ancient collection of books about people's experience
of God. If one reads all the bible it clearly states that Jesus is the Word
of God (John 1: 1) Such verses seem not to be read by literalists. For a
fuller treatment on why the bible is NOT God's Word read John Shelby Spong's
"Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism".
> There are hundreds of reasons to reject the usage of the government
education >system, including social, moral, academic, ethical, political,
and "religious" reasons. >For a Christian, especially a Christian who values
the authority of Scripture, God's own >words on the matter should settle the
issue.
This is much the same type of introduction that Christian School advocates
give for their system to be the "one and only Christian way" to educate
children. It is simply not true in any aspect whatsoever. This is an
unsubstantiated biased claim based on subjective opinion on bible proof
verses taken out of context.
The bible cannot be used to back any particular school system.
Early Christians sent their children to classical schools. Educational
concerns about the classical schools (primary or secondary) Christians sent
their children to was not an issue in any of the New Testament letters. The
letters also fail to recognise anything concerned with church as schooling.
As William Barclay correctly pointed out:
"The New Testament lays down no kind of curriculum of training for the
child; the New Testament knows nothing about religious education and nothing
about schools; for the New Testament is certain that the only training which
really matters is given within the home, and that there are no teachers so
effective for good and evil as parents." (William Barclay, Educational
Ideals in the Ancient World, Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House: 1974., p.
236)
That is NOT to say that parents are naturally good at teaching academic
subjects! While professional teachers are best at teaching facts, concepts
and skills, the changing of attitudes and value inculcation is best done by
parents who are not trained in teaching facts, concepts and skills. Use the
people best suited for what you want to achieve. It should be noted that
most home schoolers have no formal teaching qualifications whatsoever. It
is like refusing to send your child to a qualified professional surgeon to
have an operation and performing the task yourself on your kitchen table
because "as a parent I know the child better ... and surgery is only using a
knife ...which I use to cut up the meat and veg every day ... simple!" DIY
surgery is a metaphor of homeschooling.
In the 4th century the Emperor Julian challenged the Christians to take
their children out of the classical schools, where other gods were taught,
and to retreat to their own schools where they could be taught out of
"Matthew and Luke". He was determined to force on Christians the educational
consequences of the New Testament. The Emperor Julian uses the word
"anetos" to describe the children of Christian parents ... it means
"mindless". He suggested that they be cured by an Hellenistic education.
However, children were not penalised because of their parent's beliefs and
the classical schools remained open to all people. Two people named
Apollinaris (father and son) converted the bible into pseudo-classical
literature with the Pentateuch as a Homeric epic and the gospels as Platonic
dialogues because Julian compelled Christians to to work from texts written
in sub-classical Greek.
In subsequent centuries Christians developed a quasi-educational system to
teach the New Testament but this did not come into conflict with classical
schooling in any practical manner. basil, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia,
wrote "To Young Men on the Advantages of Greek Literature" which suggested
that pupils need not be corrupted by their work, but the onus was upon
parents (and also secondarily teachers) within the church to train them in
Christian belief after school.
The historical fact is that Christians educated their children fully within
the secular system for the first four centuries after Christ's death in
spite of any contradiction that might have posed. They contradicted any
negative influence by biblical training at church and home.
Alternate schooling by fundamentalists, including home schooling, is a
reaction of their intimidated by pluralism and modernity. Jesus speaks of
being salt and light in the world not of running away from it. There would
be far fewer home schools if the world was stuck back in the 1950s where
fundamentalists wish to drag everybody.
> So here we attempt to explain a conviction we have through the only
objective way >possible: Holy Scripture.
Actually this is a very biased way which only works if you are a
fundamentalist. Other Christians, like myself, do take the bible as the
final word on anything. A Christian is meant to use their God given brain.
This explanation is also not useful for Moslems, Buddhists, Jews, Atheists,
Agnostics, etc etc etc.
Universal schooling is a modern invention and a culturally determined
phenomenon. As a result direct appeal to the bible as "proof" for a
schooling system is inadmissible.
The bible uses terms associated with the teaching ministry within a church
and educational metaphors but these cannot be honestly transposed to support
any Christian schooling concept. The Greeks had discussed education in much
the same terms as we do today by the time of Jesus ... but this is NOT what
the New Testament mentions.
The sacrifice that pleases God is that which engages the mind. (Romans
12:1).
> a heathen school
They are PUBLIC schools open to all, not "heathen" schools .... which is a
pejorative term. Should one also refer to home schooling as "home skooling"
in the same manner?
There are many well educated professional teachers working in the public
schools who are Christians. I was one of them!
It saddens me that there are so many Christian parents in home schooling who
refuse to critically reflect on their choice of homeschooling and who
constantly demonise anyone who disagrees with them. I have been referred to
as a "troll" by people far less qualified to speak on the matter of
education and who have far less understanding of the bible.
Furthermore, there seems to be no professional educational reading of any
high quality done by homeschoolers. Having refused to even consider
criticism their
refuge is in poorly written fundamentalist "books" which no worthy academic
educational journal would consider publishing. As a result they are left to
wander in a sea of mutual ignorance. It is not their ignorance that
worries me as much as the damage they do to innocent children who deserve
much better than the amateurish witchdoctor type "edjakashun" of home
schooling.
I have pointed out some of the many huge problems in DIY amateurish
homeskoolin' which include:
- the erroneous notion that anyone can educate a child
- the concern over fundamentalist / conservative theological opinions being
dominant in educational practice
- indoctrination rather than education
- faulty premises in philosophy of education
- poor socialisation
- no accountability
- lack of teaching supervsion
- lack of quality controls and quality assurance
- lack of importance given to educational record keeping
- over protection in a "mommy bubble"
- over reliance on wives to homeschool causing an imbalance of male / female
role models
- the seige mentality of homeskoolin' (us vs them)
- the conspiracy theory of state intrusion
- lack of adequate training
- lact of critical reflection to remediate indequacies and incompetencies
- lack of reflective practice
- confusion between testing, assessment and evaluation
- reliance on phonics for reading
- the erroneous notion that creation psdeudo-science can replace science in
a good educational curriculum
- over reliance on commercial resources
- in ability to choose best and most appropriate commercial resources
- erroneous opinion that the state has no right to impose a minimum
competency in the education of children
- erroneous opinion that they can experiement with children to find out if
homeskoolin' works and then, with they find it doesn't, place the children
back in proper education
Maybe homeschool is just amateurish "I feel I can teach it so I'll have a go
and see what happens". Like DIY brain surgery .... "I FEEL I can do brain
surgery so I will experiment on my kids to find out ....I've read several
DIY brain surgery books .... and attended several DIY brain surgery seminars
....Here we go! ... Oops! Made a mistake! Better take them to a DIY brain
surgery hospital ........Oops! The DIY brain surgery hospital made a
mistake~! .... Better send the kids to a real hospital with professional
doctors who know what they are doing ...Oops! Too late! The kids are dead."
Anyone care to discuss?:think:
Below is a critique of
http://www.brandonstaggs.com/biblical-reasons-to-home-school.html which is
typical of most Christian fundamentalist home schoolers' erroneous beliefs
on education ...mainly based on Old Testament proof verses.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Offered here are just a handful of verses from God's word
This is one of the reasons homeschoolers should be very careful! Home
schooling has a large contingent of fundamentalists who do not value
learning
for the sake of learning. Fundamentalists think the bible is the "Word of
God'
when in fact it is an ancient collection of books about people's experience
of God. If one reads all the bible it clearly states that Jesus is the Word
of God (John 1: 1) Such verses seem not to be read by literalists. For a
fuller treatment on why the bible is NOT God's Word read John Shelby Spong's
"Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism".
> There are hundreds of reasons to reject the usage of the government
education >system, including social, moral, academic, ethical, political,
and "religious" reasons. >For a Christian, especially a Christian who values
the authority of Scripture, God's own >words on the matter should settle the
issue.
This is much the same type of introduction that Christian School advocates
give for their system to be the "one and only Christian way" to educate
children. It is simply not true in any aspect whatsoever. This is an
unsubstantiated biased claim based on subjective opinion on bible proof
verses taken out of context.
The bible cannot be used to back any particular school system.
Early Christians sent their children to classical schools. Educational
concerns about the classical schools (primary or secondary) Christians sent
their children to was not an issue in any of the New Testament letters. The
letters also fail to recognise anything concerned with church as schooling.
As William Barclay correctly pointed out:
"The New Testament lays down no kind of curriculum of training for the
child; the New Testament knows nothing about religious education and nothing
about schools; for the New Testament is certain that the only training which
really matters is given within the home, and that there are no teachers so
effective for good and evil as parents." (William Barclay, Educational
Ideals in the Ancient World, Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House: 1974., p.
236)
That is NOT to say that parents are naturally good at teaching academic
subjects! While professional teachers are best at teaching facts, concepts
and skills, the changing of attitudes and value inculcation is best done by
parents who are not trained in teaching facts, concepts and skills. Use the
people best suited for what you want to achieve. It should be noted that
most home schoolers have no formal teaching qualifications whatsoever. It
is like refusing to send your child to a qualified professional surgeon to
have an operation and performing the task yourself on your kitchen table
because "as a parent I know the child better ... and surgery is only using a
knife ...which I use to cut up the meat and veg every day ... simple!" DIY
surgery is a metaphor of homeschooling.
In the 4th century the Emperor Julian challenged the Christians to take
their children out of the classical schools, where other gods were taught,
and to retreat to their own schools where they could be taught out of
"Matthew and Luke". He was determined to force on Christians the educational
consequences of the New Testament. The Emperor Julian uses the word
"anetos" to describe the children of Christian parents ... it means
"mindless". He suggested that they be cured by an Hellenistic education.
However, children were not penalised because of their parent's beliefs and
the classical schools remained open to all people. Two people named
Apollinaris (father and son) converted the bible into pseudo-classical
literature with the Pentateuch as a Homeric epic and the gospels as Platonic
dialogues because Julian compelled Christians to to work from texts written
in sub-classical Greek.
In subsequent centuries Christians developed a quasi-educational system to
teach the New Testament but this did not come into conflict with classical
schooling in any practical manner. basil, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia,
wrote "To Young Men on the Advantages of Greek Literature" which suggested
that pupils need not be corrupted by their work, but the onus was upon
parents (and also secondarily teachers) within the church to train them in
Christian belief after school.
The historical fact is that Christians educated their children fully within
the secular system for the first four centuries after Christ's death in
spite of any contradiction that might have posed. They contradicted any
negative influence by biblical training at church and home.
Alternate schooling by fundamentalists, including home schooling, is a
reaction of their intimidated by pluralism and modernity. Jesus speaks of
being salt and light in the world not of running away from it. There would
be far fewer home schools if the world was stuck back in the 1950s where
fundamentalists wish to drag everybody.
> So here we attempt to explain a conviction we have through the only
objective way >possible: Holy Scripture.
Actually this is a very biased way which only works if you are a
fundamentalist. Other Christians, like myself, do take the bible as the
final word on anything. A Christian is meant to use their God given brain.
This explanation is also not useful for Moslems, Buddhists, Jews, Atheists,
Agnostics, etc etc etc.
Universal schooling is a modern invention and a culturally determined
phenomenon. As a result direct appeal to the bible as "proof" for a
schooling system is inadmissible.
The bible uses terms associated with the teaching ministry within a church
and educational metaphors but these cannot be honestly transposed to support
any Christian schooling concept. The Greeks had discussed education in much
the same terms as we do today by the time of Jesus ... but this is NOT what
the New Testament mentions.
The sacrifice that pleases God is that which engages the mind. (Romans
12:1).
> a heathen school
They are PUBLIC schools open to all, not "heathen" schools .... which is a
pejorative term. Should one also refer to home schooling as "home skooling"
in the same manner?
There are many well educated professional teachers working in the public
schools who are Christians. I was one of them!
It saddens me that there are so many Christian parents in home schooling who
refuse to critically reflect on their choice of homeschooling and who
constantly demonise anyone who disagrees with them. I have been referred to
as a "troll" by people far less qualified to speak on the matter of
education and who have far less understanding of the bible.
Furthermore, there seems to be no professional educational reading of any
high quality done by homeschoolers. Having refused to even consider
criticism their
refuge is in poorly written fundamentalist "books" which no worthy academic
educational journal would consider publishing. As a result they are left to
wander in a sea of mutual ignorance. It is not their ignorance that
worries me as much as the damage they do to innocent children who deserve
much better than the amateurish witchdoctor type "edjakashun" of home
schooling.
I have pointed out some of the many huge problems in DIY amateurish
homeskoolin' which include:
- the erroneous notion that anyone can educate a child
- the concern over fundamentalist / conservative theological opinions being
dominant in educational practice
- indoctrination rather than education
- faulty premises in philosophy of education
- poor socialisation
- no accountability
- lack of teaching supervsion
- lack of quality controls and quality assurance
- lack of importance given to educational record keeping
- over protection in a "mommy bubble"
- over reliance on wives to homeschool causing an imbalance of male / female
role models
- the seige mentality of homeskoolin' (us vs them)
- the conspiracy theory of state intrusion
- lack of adequate training
- lact of critical reflection to remediate indequacies and incompetencies
- lack of reflective practice
- confusion between testing, assessment and evaluation
- reliance on phonics for reading
- the erroneous notion that creation psdeudo-science can replace science in
a good educational curriculum
- over reliance on commercial resources
- in ability to choose best and most appropriate commercial resources
- erroneous opinion that the state has no right to impose a minimum
competency in the education of children
- erroneous opinion that they can experiement with children to find out if
homeskoolin' works and then, with they find it doesn't, place the children
back in proper education
Maybe homeschool is just amateurish "I feel I can teach it so I'll have a go
and see what happens". Like DIY brain surgery .... "I FEEL I can do brain
surgery so I will experiment on my kids to find out ....I've read several
DIY brain surgery books .... and attended several DIY brain surgery seminars
....Here we go! ... Oops! Made a mistake! Better take them to a DIY brain
surgery hospital ........Oops! The DIY brain surgery hospital made a
mistake~! .... Better send the kids to a real hospital with professional
doctors who know what they are doing ...Oops! Too late! The kids are dead."
Anyone care to discuss?:think:
