Opus 2013-63: The Kink in the Philosophy of Education

Why is education going down hill?  In my last post I talked about the one thing I would do to improve education.  Even as I wrote I realized that my suggestion would never be followed.  The reason is that the basic philosophy of our educational system has changed.  It is part of the change that has been going on in our culture.  It is a good discussion of which came first, the change in education or the change in culture.

It goes back to the view of the nature of man:  Original sin verses innate goodness.  Up until around the 1960's the prevailing view in most people was that of the Judeo-Christian world view.  Man was a sinful creature.  He was fallen and in need of redemption.  Without the intercession of God things would be hopeless.  The impetus behind the quest for literacy and education for the masses was Christianity.  We are people of the Book.  If you can’t read it you are cut off from God’s way of communicating.  The earliest Sunday Schools in the 18th century were literally that, schools on Sunday for working children who only had that day off.

The current, post-modern, New Age, secular view is that the nature of man is basically good and the problem is the culture that surrounds him.  This is nothing new, it was one of the differences between the American Revolution and the French Revolution and the results thereof.  It was one of the differences between Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.  If Thomas Jefferson had been the first president our country would have dissolved long ago.  Because his philosophy is now dominant, the crumbling is well on its way to completion.

Education believes that children are really good and the problem is such things as self-esteem, poverty, racism and old fashioned teachers.  I sat in a meeting yesterday where a young lady was called in to meet with the teachers and her parents.  We were not there because she was doing well.  The counselor went to great lengths to explain to her that we were not there to make her feel bad or because she had done anything wrong.  We were there to help her be successful.

Right and Wrong. 

We were there to help her be successful.  We were there trying to help her because she was lying to her parents and doing no work.  In one breath the parents told us she lied to them all the time.  In the next breath they said all she did at home was text her friends.  In the next breath they said they had taken everything from her and it did no good.  In the next breath they said she was even texting her friends in church and would not give them the phone. 

Sorry.  She was being bad.  She was being rebellious and no adult in her life is serious about solving the problem.  She has bigger problems than self esteem.  But her parents, the school and the culture refuse to see that.

Which side are you on?  How is that working for you in your daily life?

homo unius libri