Chapter 1: The Nature and Purpose of Schooling

Summary: 

This chapter can be split into five sections, of which I will focus on three. This chapter focuses on the nurturing and education of children, especially in a Christian school context.

Three Main Agencies of Christian Education

Van Brummelen uses the analogy of a three-legged stool (see graphic) to show that if one of the agencies of Christian is neglected or one is overemphasized that the stool will not be able to stand firm. Therefore, if a child is learning contradictory information in different agencies, they will be confused
and find difficulty standing. 

1. Family/Home
1. Have the primary responsibility of the education of their children. Ephesians 6:4 shows that training in the way of the LORD must start at home.
2. 
   While this training is mostly informally done through parental modelling, there is also the calling to explicitly teach your children about the Bible. 
2. Church 
1. The emphasis should be going from elementary knowledge of God to more in-depth understanding. 
2. Focuses on the areas of 
1. what we belief 
2. how it applies to our lives
3. how we function as part of God's church 
3. School
1. Based on Psalm 78:4 and Deuteronomy 6, the responsibility of training children in the ways of God is a communal responsibility. Therefore having Christian schools are necessary for showing that God's ways to the youth. 

Function and Vision of Christian Schools: 

Van Brummelen states that the fundamental function of a school is "As much as possible, the function of school should be to educate children and youth for a life of responsible discipleship in Jesus Christ" (2). He believes that education is never neutral. 

Van Brummelen sees the vision of education as consisting of three main principles.

1. Christ's teachings are the central theme of the Kingdom of God, and therefore, Christian schools
2. Christian schools should help prepare children to be and become citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The educational implications of this are:
1. Students are called to make a personal commitment to faith in God. 
2. All students are members of the Church and therefore should use their God-given gifts to serve the community.
3. Following the call of Matthew 28, teachers are to teach how the Word of God applies to all areas of life 
4. Students should live a life of love, service, and truth. There should be opportunities to put their faith into practice in school. 
5. Schools must be a light in the word and show that Christ claims all areas of life 
3. Although Christian schools are not perfect, the staff and students are called to live and work for God's glory 

The Aims and Goals of Christian Education 

The aims of teaching and learning in a Christian context are: 

1. It must be done in humble dependence on God
2. It should aim to teach student's the laws of God, also those in nature (eg. law of gravity), and how to apply them. 
3. Help and guide students to be and become responsible disciples of Jesus Christ 

The goals of Christian education are: 

1. To reveal the basis, framework, and implications of a Christian vision for life 
1. Grows the student's awareness of the world around them and their responsibilities in it. 
2. Analyze and critique other prevalent views and philosophies
2. To foster the development of concepts, abilities, and creativity 
1. To glory in the marvel of God's creation 
2. Encourage students in the application of their God-given talents 
3. Let students experience living out their Christian worldview so that they can make 
1. A personal and communal decision from a Biblical perspective 
2. Develop values and practice dispositions following Christian Principles 
4. Encourage students to commit themselves to Jesus Christ and a Christian way of life. 
1. An eagerness to serve God and the community around them. 

Reflections

Overall, I enjoy the structure of this book. The chapters include examples and case studies along with descriptions and explanations. There are discussion questions at the end of the chapter and a section for recommended resources. This helped me to understand the information in a more holistic manner. 

One oft-discussed issue that arose in this chapter was whether Christian children should be educated in distinctly Christian schools. I agree with Van Brummelen's argument that the Christian community has the God-given responsibility to ensure that the next generation is trained in the ways of God based on Psalm 78:4. Psalm 78:4 says,

"We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done." 

In my home province, Ontario, this is not accomplished in the publically funded schools, and the publically funded Roman Catholic schools do not ascribe to the same teachings as the Reformed, Protestant Churches to which I belong. I believe that the stool analogy helps here, as having fundamentally different philosophies of belief in different areas of a child's life, while endorsing all of them, is confusing! I believe that children should learn about other beliefs and develop critical thinking skills. However, having different fundamental philosophies will not help children develop their own philosophy, but will simply cause confusion. 

I also appreciate Van Brummelen's emphasis that students are not going to school only to prepare for life after school, but also their Christian walk right now. This is an area that I see neglected often. I believe that students are an integral part of our Christian community from a very young age and therefore they should be included and their walk of life should reflect this! 

Finally, I agree with Van Brummelen's statement that Christian schools are not perfect, but are still called to seek to do the best of their abilities to reflect a Christian lifestyle. This attitude should flavour the atmosphere in the classroom, the halls, board meetings, staff meetings, and parent-teacher communication. I think the description of teachers as "servant-leaders" is helpful because it shows that teachers must have high expectations along with humility and a desire to lead through service. There needs to be a willingness to listen to each other and extend grace when mistakes are made. This is part of implicitly modelling a Christian walk of life. 

Implications for Education

• Schools must work together with the Church and families. This requires clear and frequent communication! 
• Children are an essential and valued part of the Church community. This needs to direct our aims in Christian education and the atmosphere we create at schools. 
• Teachers are called to be servant-leaders. I plan to explore this concept further as I continue to read and reflect. 

After skimming through several articles on what it means to be a servant leader, here are the words that appeared most often.