Educational Nonsense
Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Psalm 34:11 ESV
Teach – lamad, the Hebrew verb translated “teach” or “learn,” includes the idea of training, not merely verbal or written transfer of information. In Hebrew, the action implicit in the instruction is just as important as the instruction itself. In fact, without the action, teaching has not occurred. On the other hand, Greek education is essentially information transfer. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have serious implications. It does. It’s just that the implications are not spelled out in the teaching itself. What this means is that Greek-based education is like theory without consequence. You can learn the information without the requirement of putting it into practice. But unless you spell out the consequences, sometimes the information given isn’t seen in its full light. It looks good because it is disconnected from reality, but once the reality is uncovered, the information shows itself to be misdirected or false.
This difference presents enormous obstacles for education in conformity with God’s instruction. Our Western system of education no longer embraces a sacred view of creation. Therefore, information gathering and dissemination can occur without recognition of the larger consequences in a sacred world. For example, economics can be studied as a mathematical model rather than a means for assisting in the caretaking of God’s world. And it can be studied in textbooks and classes rather then in the streets of Mumbai or the animal tracks of Brazil. The Greek worldview of Man as the external observer of nature (i.e., nature is everything that exists outside of Man) lends itself to disengagment from consequences. Decisions I make about theoretical problems in the classroom are never actually applied in the real world where thousands of other factors influence outcomes. Perhaps that’s why Hebrew education in Torah never really moved into the classrooom model. It was one-on-one mentoring while walking. It was constantly about life as it is. Hebrew education is about how to live, not necessarily about how to think.
Some time ago I was asked to look at some material being taught in schools in England. What I found was disappointing and disturbing, a collection of mistakes, assumptions, political correctness and false conclusions passed on a fact. So I thought I would draw out the implications of this material. I offer this to you because what is being taught as fact in England is undoubtedly also being taught in other places in the world. In my humble opinion, this is indoctrination, not education, since it lacks any real engagement with the ideas as they play out in the real world. But you can decide for yourself, if you wish to take the time to read the analysis. If you don’t have the time, just tuck this away somewhere so that when your children come home from school spouting one of these half-baked facts you will have something to refer to. You can read the whole thing here.
Topical Index: education, England, nonsense, Psalm 34:11
