Education must not aim merely at
skills and knowledge to nurture humans to become good citizens of a certain
country, as suggested by John Dewey.
Moreover, education must not focus merely on teaching humans to be good
at certain skills that will enable them to secure jobs and thus survive
life. But, education must aim at
educating humans to be true humans. J.J.
Rousseau attempted to define what true human being is, but he failed to
understand the basic theological foundation that humans fell into sin. Thus he only portrayed human being as
naturally good and blamed society as the source of sin. Understanding the concept of Imago Dei is
extremely important for laying the foundation of education. George Knight reminded his readers to capture
the essence of our humanity as the image of God and thus to comprehend
education. Education, therefore, must
aim at educating humans to become true image of God. However, this task is not easy due to the
fall. Bringing the broken Imago Dei back
to become true Imago Dei is an uphill battle.
But this is the task of true education.
God instructed Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 for His people, the twelve
tribes of Israel, to be educated according to God’s way of life. Our Lord Jesus Christ instructed his
disciples to educate His people in his teaching and commandment. And Jesus Christ is the true Imago Dei, in
whom we are created. Thus the task of
true education is to educate human being to be like Jesus Christ, the true
Imago Dei, the Son of God.
The following three sections are my philosophy on
Christian Education, my view on teaching/teacher, and contemporary issues.
Christian Education
Christian education
is distinct from any other education
because it is education that
embraces Christian values. Christian education presupposes the God of the
Bible, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. The aim of the educational practice in
Christian education must
be directed toward God’s will for the whole creation. God’s will is for the entire creation to
experience shalom. But we also know that
the fullness of shalom is not going to be achieved until the second coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore when
aiming at shalom, we also aim at the struggle for shalom. To aim at shalom humans need to learn how to
live in God’s world. Therefore Christian
education must also direct its course to
educate for life. Not any life, but a
certain kind of life as God wants humans to exercise. Here is where we look more closely at the
Scripture for guidance and direction of what kind of life God intends for all
of us.
Christian education does not merely teach values
that are accepted universally, such as love, wisdom, goodness, justice,
etc. But rather Christian education educates its entire community
in particular, and witness to its surroundings as much as possible, and also
testify to those impacted by the educational
community in its broadest sense, about the one true God who is love, who is
wise, who is good, who is just, and the fact that human beings are created in
God’s image to reflect His glory on earth.
Therefore, Christian education is the kind of education that sets its course on the
path to glorify God. And of course, when
the entire educational
community grows together to the maturity in Jesus Christ, the educational institution truly
glorifies God. Christian educators are
called to set the learning environment to assist the entire educational
community to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The task of Christian education, then, is to provide the
learning environment where the entire educational
community may grow together in Jesus Christ, exercise the life as God wants it,
that aims at shalom, for the sole purpose of glorifying God forever and ever.
Teacher
A teacher is a person that leads, accompanies,
and continuously supports his/her students for their growth and development as
noble and skillful human beings in the world.
Furthermore, a teacher is a person that
leads his/her students in their journey to maturity in Jesus Christ – to become
like Jesus, which is to become the image of God as God has designed them to
be. A Teacher is
absolutely much more than merely a bank of information. And a teacher is much more than an instructor
who guides and directs students in the shaping of their skills and
knowledge. A teacher is also a moral and spiritual model for the
students. Therefore teachers’ spiritual maturity, moral
integrity and sound values are very important because students look at them and
learn from them. In short, a teacher
must be a noble person who is skillful in teaching students the necessary
skills and knowledge to live in the world, and
more importantly a spiritual person who continuously grow in and to be like
Jesus Christ in every way possible.
Personally my teaching aims at the
betterment of humanity in the perspective of
shalom. Thus I strive to
create a learning environment that helps students think of how to use all their
skills and knowledge to contribute to the effort of creating a better life,
where justice and goodness is held up high.
Therefore the teaching and learning process must not focus on the
mastery of skills and knowledge only for the sake of it, but must focus on
mastering the skills and knowledge so they can be used for improving human life and striving for shalom.
When students struggle in their
learning, teachers should be there for the students. A good teacher struggles together with
his/her students so that the students can achieve the learning goals
successfully. A good teacher does not
neglect his/her students’ needs, but instead he/she must attempt to discern how
to respond wisely to the students’ needs.
A wise teacher is able to say the
right word and do the right thing at the right time to the right person. Teachers’ criticism and pointers as well as their encouragement and guidance
are very much needed by the students for their growth and development. But wise teachers are careful to understand
each student so the criticism and pointers will not be considered humiliating
or degrading and thus destroying the student’s self esteem and motivation to
learn. In the same
way, wise teachers are careful in giving guidance and encouragement in such a
way that not crippling their students.
The balance of criticism-pointer and encouragement-guidance is critical
in the healthy growth of students.
Finally, a good teacher allows
students to freely explore and discover their own interests, styles, life
purpose, and limits. Students are also
human beings that are innately creative and dignified beings. A good teacher gives students room to
exercise their freedom responsibly.
Teachers’ intervention must be discerned very cautiously so not to
hamper students’ growth and development.
Contemporary
Issues
One
of the most important challenges today is the fact that schooling mentality has
got the mind of many Christians in the way they treat spiritual formation in
the church. One of Christian Smith’s
findings in Soul Searching and Soul in Transition shows this
condition. Many Christians consider
spiritual formation ends when they profess their faith. Profession of faith has become a graduation
ritual from “the school of spiritual formation.” Spiritual formation is no longer considered
to be lifelong, but something they can graduate from, just like school. This view sees that after the profession of
faith, Christians are free to do whatever they want with the “diploma” of their
Christian faith.
The
idea Ivan Illich discusses in “Deschooling Society” might need to be heeded at
some level. However, I’m not suggesting
to destroy all schools in order to fix this problem. But the schooling mentality has become our culture
today. This culture somehow dictates our
way of life, even to the level of our spirituality. Christian formation must find a way to break
through such schooling mentality and helps Christians understand the call of
lifelong learning in order to be formed to be like Christ Jesus.
There
are many other challenges in our contemporary world today that threatens the
formation of our Christian faith. Gay
movement for one. Extreme inclusivism
that challenges the core identity of being Christian is another. Postmodern pedagogy that swings the pendulum
too far to the point of subordinating cognitive domain under physical
experience and feeling is also a growing challenge in Christian formation
today. One of the implications of the
postmodern pedagogy is that it threatens to diminish the sermon portion in a
worship service.
All
those challenges are to be answered and dealt with properly so Christians may
grow to be like Christ according to the will of God.
Liberal Arts Education
All truth is God’s truth. When thinking about liberal arts education,
“all truth is God’s truth” comes to mind immediately. When humans find truth out of anything in
this world, such truth belongs to God.
The reasoning is simple, Genesis 1:1 – God created the whole world. For me it is important to have our education
presupposes the doctrine of creation.
God created the entire universe, and thus all knowledge, skills, and
arts belong to God. Avoiding liberal
learning in Christian education just because such learning does not directly or
explicitly speak of Jesus Christ betrays the doctrine of creation. In John 1 we find that the entire world is
created in Jesus Christ. And so what we
commonly call as secular actually belongs to Jesus Christ. It is true, however, that sin has depraved
everything in this world. All knowledge,
even theology is influenced by our depravity.
But that doesn’t mean that everything becomes unusable. The fact that Jesus came into the world to
reconcile the entire world to God brings redemption of all things
possible. As Jesus’ agents in this
world, Christian educators’ task is to redeem all knowledge and offer them back
to God.
Arthur Holmes took it to the next level and
said: “When liberal learning is offered to God, it becomes an act of worship.”[1] Indeed it is an act of worship. As agents of Jesus Christ, we are sent into
the world to reclaim “the land” belonging to God. When we offer it to God, we worship God. But liberal arts can’t be allowed to run by
themselves. Allowing them to run solo
would not glorify God in the end.
Theology must be used as an integrating force to bring all knowledge and
arts to their proper place, which is under the lordship of Christ. Holmes cited John Henry Newman and pointed
out that “Liberal learning without theology lacks the wisdom that comes from an
overall vision, a worldview that unifies all branches of learning and elevates
them to the contemplation of God.”[2] Since God is the God of all knowledge,
therefore when we study God in Christian universities and colleges, we must not
omit knowledge that we consider to be secular just because it does not
explicitly speak of Jesus Christ. When
we study God, it is important that we also study all other knowledge that is
not scriptural in nature, but that is found in the general revelation. Thus, liberal arts education becomes
necessary for Christian education.
Christian education by nature is holistic
education. When Christian colleges and
universities strive to educate their students to gain specific skills and
knowledge necessary for their professional careers, liberal arts education must
be in view. Moreover, liberal arts
education not only is theologically and philosophically necessary, but also
practically important. To have a broader
mind and understanding of how all knowledge is actually connected to each other
is very important. One of the failures
of education that is built by industrial revolution is that it isolates a
particular knowledge or skill or art from all the others. When I went through formal education in
Indonesia, the education system there isolated each student within the
confinement of each major being studied.
Upon graduation I became a professional of one specific art but being
ignorant of all the others. When the
world suddenly changed and no longer in need of that art, practically all the
students and graduates of that art suddenly became useless in the
workplace. Secondly, creativity was
severely limited to the specific art being study. This situation hinders the development of
that art, and more importantly hinders the development of the whole person
studying to be a professional of such art.
Challenges in the world often, practically, are not clearly defined by
specific art. But instead they are often
found mixed of many arts. Thus even for
practical reasons, liberal arts education is very important to meet the
challenges in the real world.
For a higher reason, the development of the
whole person is very critical in education.
I believe it was Rousseau that pointed out the main call of education as
educating humans to be humans and not merely educating them to be lawyers or
doctors, etc. John Calvin showed in his
Institutes of the Christian Religion that the most important knowledge that
becomes the foundation of all knowledge is the knowledge of God and self. Now, if knowledge of God is foundational,
then it is important to learn liberal arts, for without them our knowledge of
God would be severely partial. Secondly,
in order for true professionalism to be developed, one cannot merely study the
dominant art in the profession he/she is pursuing. Isolating the art of the profession from all
other arts would be a betrayal of the unity of all knowledge. Cross departmental dialogue would become
impossible to do if professional knowledge is isolated from all others. This situation would diminish our capability
to communicate with others, more specifically with those who have different
professions. As a community, when we are
isolated, our whole being suffers and we can’t grow properly.
Theologically, if the goal of education is for
people to live the way of life that God wants them to live through the
realization of God’s word, then it is important to educate people of the world
where they live. The world is also
created by God and through it God reveals himself – general revelation. So, Christian education can’t just focus on
the word and neglect the study of the world.
We need to learn both at the same time.
The divorce of Christian faith and whatever is considered secular is a
sad condition. Our world belongs to God,
and so the divorce is a failure, a failure of realizing “the Lordship of
Christ” (Kuyper). Liberal arts learning
is an important vessel where the integration of God’s word and world is made
possible.
All truth is God’s truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment