Thoughts on Education
My apolgies for not posting recently. I've been neck deep in school work.
I'm enjoying most aspects of it, except the humanist philosphies on education and human development. My classes are all online, which is a great way to go. It's not for the faint of heart. The workload is about 15-20 hours a week, and that's just for one class. I have been able to use the classroom as a witnessing opportunity. It's a great challenge, because it's masters level in education, so we're not dealing with dummies. I enjoy trying to share the gospel in a relevant and thought provoking manner, although I don't know that I'm very good at it. Here's a sample post regarding developmental stages:
"I must confess, the various stages of psychosocial development, as defined by Erikson, are disconcerting to me. Because I am a Christian, I hold to a distinctly Biblical worldview of how children are to be trained and how they should develop. In other words, I believe that we are born with a sinful nature, so the natural tendency is to be defiant and selfish. I don't believe that the best way to help children develop emotionally and socially is to surround them with other rebellious and selfish children. For the most part, they learn to develop in a manner that is acceptable to their peer group rather than what is best for them. It's no wonder that teens want to experiment with drugs, sex and alcohol when most of their friends are pressuring them into it. Especially when studies would seem to indicate that kids with the strongest family bonds have the higher ability to reject peer pressure. Doesn't that tell us something? That maybe the expectation for kids to rebel against authority wouldn't be as strong if parents would foster an accepting yet definitive behavior pattern within the home? That is why I not only have difficulty with the notion, "Oh, they're just teenagers, they're going to rebel", I flat out reject it! Throughout the course of history, we haven't had the problem of adolescent peer pressure at any time like we do now because in times past, the social expectation was that when you reached that age you were expected to be responsible. We are going to rebel (at any age) because we are by nature sinners and our instinct is to do wrong."
Surprisingly, the feedback has been, for the most part, very positive.
posted by AKA @ 4:25 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
We are not born destined to rebel, that's a lie of the devil. People ask me about the social aspects of homeschooling, how it must be terrible to rob a child of such bonds. The world is so deceived! Good post--glad you are able to witness to your class : )
Nanny Kate,
I didn't mean that people in general never rebel...I was speaking in terms of "adolescents" and how as soon as people become teenagers they are expected to rebel against their own homes and families. I apologize for not making my meaning clearer. We are born sinful, and are therefore destined to rebel against God, but our society definitely pushes the term of "teenage rebellion" as though it is something dreadful we have to expect as soon as they turn thirteen. Thanks for pointing that out! : )
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