This page is an overview of Christian
education for the whole person, for every aspect of life, for learning from
nature and scripture. Hopefully, it will help you participate more fully
and effectively in the exciting adventure of learning and thinking, so you
can better understand the fascinating world created by God, using minds given
by God.
There are three parts: Learning
and Thinking (Learning by Exploring, Learning from Others, Learning
and Thinking, Problem Solving in Life), Motivations for
Education (Are
you involved in education? Making it Fun Immediately, and Making it Useful
Eventually), and Christian Education (Bringing
Glory to God in Our Thoughts and Actions).
Learning by Exploring
One way to learn about nature
is to explore it yourself. You can do this in many ways, using all
of your senses. You can explore near and far, by studying plants in
your yard, birds in the park, and clouds in the sky, by looking out your
car window and letting what you see inspire questions about the geology and
biology, about the land and what's growing on it. Exploring is fun
at any age. It is interesting and motivating for children, and also
for adults who (as non-scientists, amateur scientists, or professional scientists)
are continuing their explorations of nature.
Learning from Others
When you explore, you learn from your
own experience. But you can also learn from the experience of others,
by letting them help you learn. This happens when you read, listen,
or watch what they have written, spoken, or filmed. Learning from others
is an easy way to learn a lot in a little time.
Learning is an Active
Process
Learning is an active process that requires
thinking. When you learn by reading, for example, your thinking converts
symbols on the page into ideas in your mind. Every time you learn a
new idea, you are actively constructing your own mental representations of
the idea in a personally meaningful form. And your new idea interacts
with your old ideas, as you try to combine the new and old into a coherent
system of ideas.
The process of active
reading is the theme when Virginia Voeks, in her book On Becoming
an Educated Person, explains how to learn more and enjoy more while reading: "Start
with an intent to make the very most you can from whatever you read. Treat
the author as you do your friends. When talking with a friend, you
listen attentively and eagerly. You watch for contributions of value
and are sensitive to them. You actively respond to his ideas with ones
of your own. Together you build new syntheses." When
you're an active reader, eagerly searching for new ideas, you will find them,
and reading becomes a stimulating adventure.
You can read passively or you
can make it an active adventure. Some of the most effective teaching
methods are designed to stimulate thinking, to replace boring passivity with
exciting
activity. For example, members of a class can have a pro-and-con debate
about the ideas in a book they are reading. This activity encourages
the mentally active reading that is recommended by Voeks. But if you "internalize
the action" you can always read with an active mind, whether or not
your reading will be followed by an external debate. You control the
quality of your learning.
We hope you'll read the rest
of our website actively. If you're eager to learn and you "listen
attentively and eagerly" it can be a stimulating adventure for
you, and you will be richly rewarded with understanding and enjoyment.
Problem Solving in
Life
We're made for thinking, and
it's exciting to use our minds skillfully. We'll
explore two ways to think: in design and science.
Design is a way to solve problems. In
common language, a "problem" is usually bad. But in design,
a problem is an opportunity to make a difference,
to make things better. Whenever you are thinking about ways to increase
the quality of life (or avoid a decrease in quality), you are actively involved
in problem solving.
In every area of life, creative
thinking (to generate ideas) and critical thinking (to
evaluate ideas) are essential. These mutually supportive skills are
combined in the problem-solving methods used in a wide range of design fields — such
as engineering, architecture, medicine, music, art, literature, philosophy,
history, law, business, athletics, and science — where the goal is
to design a product, strategy, or theory. In fact, design includes
almost everything in life.
If we define design as
the process of designing products or strategies, and science as
the designing of theories about nature, the main objective of design is to
improve what is humanly constructed, while the main objective of science
is to understand what is divinely constructed.
Design includes almost everything
in life, so you can find many ways to enjoy the excitement of design thinking,
to experience the satisfaction of solving a problem and achieving a practical
goal. Since the beginning of human history, people have been designing
strategies for better living, and designing products to carry out these strategies
more effectively. For example, strategies for getting food (by hunting
and farming) were more effective when using products (spears and plows). Design
continues to be useful in the modern world.
Science is also useful,
in two ways. First, the understanding gained by science is often used
by designers when they develop new products or strategies. The technological
results of "applied science" are familiar. Second, science
can help us fulfill a deep human need, because it is one way to search for
answers
when, inspired by our curiosity, we ask questions about what, how, and why. Most
of us want to know the truth, so an intrinsically appealing goal is the design
of scientific theories that are true, that correctly describe what is happening
now and what has happened in the past.
Creativity and Logic: How
do scientists combine these thinking skills in their efforts to understand? The
simplicity of using "reality checks" in scientific method is summarized in
an introduction to the
logic of science.
Curiosity and Delight: In
our search for truth in nature, we are motivated by curiosity and a desire
to
solve mysteries. Two scientists who played key roles in solving an
important scientific mystery, in 25 years of shared work, exchange letters
to express their shared delight: One writes, "I
am reading your paper in the way a curious child eagerly listens to the solution
of
a riddle
with which he has struggled for a long time, and I rejoice over the beauties
that my eye discovers." The other responds by agreeing
that "everything resolves itself with unbelievable
simplicity and unbelievable beauty, everything turns out exactly as one would
wish, in a perfectly straightforward manner, all by itself and without forcing." They
struggled with a problem, solved it, and were thrilled. It's fun to
think and learn!
Why would a scientist — while
reading about a new idea (*) — "rejoice
over the beauties that his eye discovers"? Find out in the
joy of science.
* Scientists enjoy the fascinating
world of ideas, and they also enjoy the magnificent beauty of our world
in the sky and sea, rivers and mountains, forests and meadows, plants and
animals.
You can also learn about the
joy of design — WHY it includes almost everything you do
(because when you make a decision in any area of life, you're designing a strategy
to help you achieve your
goals for life), HOW you can find a variety of ways to enjoy the excitement
of design thinking, WHAT are the similarities and differences between design
and science, and WHY we should teach design before science (because design
makes a connection with the past and future of students) — in
other pages, beginning with An
Introduction to Design.
Are you involved in
education?
Why should you care about education,
about the process of teaching and learning? If you're thinking "I'm
not a teacher" or "I'm not a student," your definitions of
teaching and learning are too narrow. You are a teacher of others whenever
you help them learn. And everyone is learning from life. If
you're wise you'll take responsibility for your own education, for the quality
of your own learning and thinking, in school and outside school, now and
in the future. In self-education, you (as teacher) are deciding how
to most effectively educate yourself (as student).
Most ideas about learning and
teaching are useful in a variety of settings, for education in the home (which
is
important for every family, whether children are in public, private, or home
school), in a church class, in a private school or public school, or outside
school in lifelong education at any age, young or old.
This page ends with the main
goal of Christian education — developing the motivation and ability
to glorify God in our thoughts and actions — that should be a "deep
desire of the heart" for every Christian. But we'll begin with
a simpler goal, just having fun.
Immediate Motivation:
Make it Fun
One of the most important things a teacher
can do is to motivate students so they want to learn, so they think learning
is fun and useful. Usually, it's best to begin with fun.
For children, a good way to have fun
while learning about nature is to explore. And it's easy. You
can find things to explore by just looking around your house and yard, on
walks in your neighborhood, or in local parks. Be aware of what's happening
in nature — blooming plants, interesting clouds, beautiful sunset,
awesome thunderstorm, mysterious fog, moon eclipse, meteor shower,... — and
take advantage of natural opportunities. Wake up early, watch the world
turn from dark to light, and visit a place where birds are singing. Take
time to notice trees budding in spring, thriving in summer, turning colors
in autumn, gleaming with snow in winter. During a trip, you can watch
the constantly changing land shapes and plant life, you can look for places
to stop and explore, and maybe you can escape the glow of city lights and
see the Milky Way plus millions of other stars. Find ways to use all
your senses, to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste.
When two or more explore together,
part of the fun is relational. To help a child develop a love for learning,
you don't have to be an expert who is providing technical information.
Just be there to share the experience and encourage, and occasionally call
attention to interesting details. Rachel Carson, in The Sense of
Wonder, explains that the main goal is motivation, not information: "A
sharing of adventures in the world of nature... is based on having fun together
rather than teaching,... just going through the woods in the spirit of two
friends on an expedition of exciting discovery." The beneficial
results of enthusiastically sharing adventure and conversation can last a
lifetime. "A child's world is fresh and new
and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. ... If a child is to keep alive
his inborn sense of wonder... he needs the companionship of at least one adult
who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of
the world we live in." (quotes are from The Sense of Wonder (1956)
by Rachel Carson, pages 10, 18, 42, 45) And the wonder is enhanced
for a Judeo-Christian believer because of our love for God, who created the
world we are
joyfully exploring.
We can also explore using second-hand
experience, by letting others help us learn from what they have learned. Children
of all ages can do this alone or with you. Share an adventure in the
world of ideas. Read a book together, listen to a tape, or watch an educational
film, and then talk about it.
If explorations have stimulated interest
in a topic, a curious child will want to learn more about it. If
watching clouds and thunderstorms leads to questions, learn more about weather
in a book, film, or website. Maybe reading a small book about nutrition,
about what we eat and how it helps our bodies work, will inspire a desire
to learn more by reading more. Getting a Roadside Geology book
for a state you'll be driving through will make your exploring of "the
land and its history" more educational and enjoyable. If a child
is fascinated by gadgets and asks "How does it work?", find out
in howstuffworks.com or
in a book.
How can you pick a topic? Usually,
just be aware of what a child finds interesting, and go with the flow. Occasionally,
provide guidance by encouraging exploration of a topic that you think will
be interesting or will be useful in life.
How can you find books and decide
which ones to read? Visit a library and explore it by yourself, then
ask for help. Librarians love books and learning. They want to
help you and will eagerly share what they know, along with their enthusiasm. A
wide variety of resources for all ages, including books and much more, is
available in your public library, the library of a church or school, a bookstore
(new or used), and on
the internet. This website provides high-quality information
about all aspects of
education
in the
home, church,
and school. { It contains some resources now, and its usefulness will
continue to improve as it is more fully developed. } It
includes ideas for exploration activities, resources (books and magazines,
tapes and
films,
websites and programs) for second-hand exploring, tips for teaching and learning
and thinking, ideas about design method and scientific method and careers
in design and science, ideas for learning and using mathematics, plus discussions
of frequently asked questions about Christian perspectives on nature and
science.
Exploring ideas is especially
interesting when, in an effort to get accurate understanding, you get the best
information
and arguments that all sides of an issue can claim as support. A conflict
of ideas is inherently dramatic, and the evaluative thinking it stimulates
is an opportunity to learn valuable skills for life. { a
personal example of a
high school teacher who changed the way I think } In contrast
with protective
isolation (by trying to avoid contact with all non-approved ideas), supported
exploration will help children learn the skills they need for intellectual
self-defense. They will be confronted with many challenging ideas from
peers, authorities, and media, while living in the modern world. Although
you cannot protect children from exposure to ideas, you can protect them against
indoctrination if you help them develop skill in evaluating the merits of different
ideas. Compared with protective isolation, supported exploration is more
educational because there is more learning and thinking. But exploring
ideas is educationally useful and spiritually edifying only when it is done
wisely and well, in a secure environment with adequate support. The level
of exploration should be adjusted for a child's maturity, since topics and
resources that are useful and edifying for an older child might not be appropriate
for younger children. You should provide emotional and spiritual support
through love and prayer, and intellectual support by showing that Christian
perspectives are rational and are useful for improving quality of life.
Many exciting "adventures
in thinking" are
possible in design. You can help a child
find problems to solve and projects to pursue in all areas of life, in all
school subjects and in everyday
living. Daily decisions become a "designing of strategies for
living" when you ask "what are your goals" and "based
on your observations and predictions, which strategy-options will produce
a closer match with your goals?" By practicing and reviewing the
principles of design, you can stimulate creative, disciplined thinking in
design and also in science. How? Logical "reality
checks" are used
in both science and design, so you can build an
educational
bridge from design to science and then, by using this bridge, learning design
method will
help a child learn scientific
method.
In all activities of learning and thinking,
while exploring the fascinating world of nature and ideas, you can help a
child develop motivation, and maintain it for the long term, by enthusiastically
sharing, consistently encouraging, and occasionally guiding.
Long-Term Motivation:
Make it Useful
Why should you, or those you are teaching,
want to learn? Early in the process of education, it's best to focus
on the intrinsic motivation of having fun now. Later, after a child
has experienced the joys of learning-and-thinking in a variety of contexts,
you can look for opportunities to explain how — in addition to being
fun — learning can also be useful. The ideal motivational situation
is when a student thinks educational activities are fun and useful, immediately
enjoyable and eventually practical.
We all know that beauty
is in the eye of the beholder. And utility is in the mind of
the beholder, so the personal goals of
an individual student should be the focus of long-term motivation. Will
your education be personally useful in the future? If you can say "yes"
and you have a forward-looking expectation that what you're learning now will
improve your life, you have a reason to learn. When you view learning
as an opportunity for self-improvement — so you can become the person
God created you to be, so you can fulfill God's wonderful plan for your life
— you'll want to learn. In this goal-directed intentional
learning, you want to achieve personal goals by transforming your current
state of knowledge (which includes all you know and all you can do) into a
future state of knowledge that is improved. For long-term motivation,
a good question to ask is, "What can I learn now that will help me in
the future?"
As a teacher, your question is "What
can I help them learn now that will be useful for them in the future?" With
your adult perspective, you see further down the road of life, and this lets
you provide valuable guidance. Your guidance can be personalized, because
you have seen the many ways in which abilities and personal goals vary from
one student to another. This understanding can help you motivate a
wider range of students with whole-person education for multiple
intelligences — linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial,
musical, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal — along
with spiritual development.
You can help repair any damage to a child's self-esteem that has occurred due to past experiences. Maybe a former teacher was overly harsh, or was simply wrong, in evaluating the child's abilities; or fellow students were unkind on the playground or in the lunchroom. Whatever are the personal histories and the sources of distortion in self-perception, you can help children develop a more accurate-and-edifying view of themselves (now) and what they are capable of becoming (in the future).
What about science? You can begin
by convincing students that learning science will be useful in the near future,
for the next exam. You can also emphasize long-term benefits by explaining
how learning science will be useful throughout life, for living and working
in a modern society that is powerfully influenced by science and the products
of science. For some students — but not others, since abilities
and motivations vary — learning science (plus mathematics and design)
could lead to a productive career in science, or in a related design field,
that uses abilities given by God and is honoring to God.
Although some Christians worry about
the spiritual effects of science, and there are legitimate reasons for concern. But
a page about The Compatibility
of Science and Faith explains why, if we recognize the limits of
science and use it to answer only the questions it is designed to answer,
the usual result of learning science — when we embrace science but
reject scientism — is stronger faith. When
we study science, we learn about the wonders of nature, and this helps us
appreciate God's intelligence (in designing the universe) and power (in creating
the universe). When we combine this knowledge with what we learn from
the Bible, which tells us that nature reveals only a fraction of God's omniscience
and omnipotence, we can more fully appreciate the glory of God's awesome
intelligence and power. We can enthusiastically share this appreciation
with others by explaining what we have learned, from scripture and nature,
about God and His wonder-filled creation. For all aspects of life,
including our witness to others, learning from both of God's revelations
will be useful.
Glorifying God in
Our Thoughts and Actions
God deserves glory because He
created everything, and He loves us: "You are
worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created
all
things, and by your will they were created and have their being. ... As high
as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who have reverence
for him. (Revelation 4:11, Psalm 103:11*)"
Our purpose in life is bringing
glory to God by the way we live, by joyfully doing what He commands: "Love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind. ... Love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Matthew 22:37,39*)" Our
primary relationship, with God, provides a foundation for our secondary relationships,
with people. In everything we do, we should be a witness for Christ
in our thoughts and actions: "Who is wise and
understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds
done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ... As often as we have the
chance, we should do good to everyone. (James 3:13; Galatians 6:10*)"
God has graciously provided us with
two sources of information about Himself and His creation. When we
learn from both sources, in scripture and nature, we can more effectively
glorify God in our thoughts and actions.
In Psalm 19, an appreciation of God's
dual revelations in nature ("the heavens declare
the glory of God") and scripture ("the
law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul,... giving joy to the heart")
inspires a personal dedication: "May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord,
my Rock and my Redeemer."
The main goal of Christian Education
is to develop the motivations and abilities needed to convert this dedication
into reality. For a Christian, the goal of life is learning how to
live by faith, with a trust in God serving as the foundation for all thoughts
and actions of daily living. We want to live in a way that glorifies
God.
This goal is featured in the ASA Statement
of Faith, which begins: "We accept the divine
inspiration, trustworthiness and authority of the Bible in matters of faith
and conduct." Notice the focus on using what the Bible
teaches for faith (what we believe) and conduct (what we do), for thoughts
and actions.
One aspect of Christian living is building
and maintaining a Christian worldview based on the Bible. But if a
worldview is "a view of the world, used for living in the world," our
real worldview is what we actually use for living in the world. How
we live each day is a reality-check to test whether what we claim to believe
is what we really believe. Is a trust in God really the foundation
for our thoughts and actions? Are we really motivated mainly by a desire
to please God, to think, speak, and live in a way that honors Him? {
How can we help students learn to think and live in this way? Some
useful ideas are summarized by Mark Witwer in Teaching
Students to Think Christianly. }
How should you respond to the glory and
goodness of God? Paul says, "Offer yourselves
as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This
is the true worship that you should offer." How can you please
God? "Do not conform yourselves to the standards
of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your
mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good
and is pleasing to him and is perfect." You are to "let
God transform you" because God wants to be the spiritual source
for your transformation and empowering. When you are willing to let God
transform you, beginning with prayer, "your lives
will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce,
for the glory and praise of God."
Both of the great commandments, to love
God and love your neighbor, are interpersonal. A personal relationship
with God — initiated by our repentant acceptance of God's grace, and
nurtured in prayer and worship — serves as the foundation for personal
relationships with other people. God wants us to participate fully
in life: "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn
with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. ... Do not
let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful
for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those
who listen."
What about motivation? "Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for
men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as
a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." The
ultimate long-term motivation to "work at it with
all your heart" is to imagine your joy in the future when, at
the beginning of your new life in heaven, Jesus hugs you in a warm embrace,
looks into your eyes, and says "well done, good
and faithful servant."
APPENDIX
Bible quotations in Section 3 are from New International
Version or (*) Today's English Version: Psalm 19:1,7-8,14, Romans
12:1,2*, Romans 12:15-16, Ephesians 4:29, Philippians 1:11*, Colossians
3:23-24, Matthew
25:23.
This website for Whole-Person Education has TWO KINDS OF LINKS:
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Copyright © 2004 by Craig Rusbult
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