A few days ago I wrote an article on the Guadalupe Radio Network (GRN). It is a Catholic network which continues to spread across the state of Texas. The programming is almost exclusively talk, and it addresses social and religious issues from a conservative pro- family Catholic perspective. A closes friend of mine was recently a guest on 910 am to talk about private and parochial education. The show is available for podcast by the way, and I recommend giving it a listen.
My friend Dr. Adam Muller, holds a PHD in Literature from the University of Dallas, and has been teaching at the Highland School in Dallas for the past six years. Dr. Muller’s purpose on the broadcast was to educate the listener on a philosophy of education; he referred to as classical education. (This is not a reference to the group that goes by the name American Classical Education). Too many private (and unfortunately) Christian schools fail to understand what it means to have a “philosophy of education.” For many of them, having a philosophy of education means requiring chapel class and including a scripture verse in their literature. They often employ the same modes and methods of memorization and indoctrination as the average public institution, while applying a religious bent. Dr. Muller was attempting to emphasize that the purpose of true education is not to program our children but to teach them to reason principally, and critically in pursuit of what is true. But is this Christian education? Emphatically Yes! All truth is God’s truth! To seek out truth honestly, will put the student on the path to an encounter with God. And remember, what is programmed can be unprogrammed. It’s an environmental problem. Why do so many young people lose their faith in college? I believe that in many cases it’s because they’ve been programmed with their religion, but they fail to grasp the truth and beauty of it. When they find themselves in a new setting with different influences, the old program seems unreal and unimportant. Now I should state that neither the good Dr. nor I are suggesting that there is anything wrong with a religious school requiring chapel or any other kind of religious services. In fact they can be extremely valuable. I only mean to reinforce the point that having a Christian school must mean more than introducing the trappings of faith into a typical institution. It should also be remembered that there is no perfect model that will ensure the salvation of our student’s souls. At the end of the day even the wisest, most intelligent among us can choose the life we want to lead.
As I listened in to the discussion, I found myself a little frustrated with the host of the radio show. He didn’t seem to follow the lesson Dr. Muller was trying to teach. I don’t know whether it was an issue of time constraints, he did have a second guess lined up for the bottom half of the hour, or whether he genuinely didn’t understand the depth of the Dr.’s lesson. Either way he seemed bent on directing the course of the conversation in a less informative way. Despite the fact that the interview could have been more than it was there is a lot in it to consider. As parents, educators and students prepare to return to school this fall, it’s important that we consider our own philosophies of education. Are our kids learning to reason, or are they just being programmed? To listen to this interview, visit the following web page at http://grnonline.info/, and look for the heading The Good News.