Philosophy of Education: Part 3--Life, the World, Purpose, Meaning, Truth, and Values

What I believe about life, the world, purpose, meaning, truth, and values. 

In addressing the spiritual component of life and the world, I believe that the Holy Spirit can play a vital role in the lives of students (even those who do not know or acknowledge God) and that praying for them makes a difference.  If that is bothersome in the arena of public schooling, this should not disqualify me as a potential candidate teacher.  It shows a commitment to the whole student rather than a compartmentalized view of him or her as simply a producer of school work and potential peer in the work force.  It allows me to consider the complexities in their lives and the tools they may or may not possess with which to navigate and conquer their struggles.   I believe God can be shared without ever uttering a single word.  St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times.  If necessary, use words” (Brainymedia.com, 2010).

Since truth does exist and can be known, it makes the most sense that these things would be revealed in a systematic fashion and the Bible serves as a very likely source for that truth (Pearcy, 2005).  Having said this, I understand that some may not believe that a dead guy walked out of his own grave (Arnold, nd) or that there even exists a God who is capable of the things credited to the one in the Bible.  Though this may be the source from which I extract truth and values, I am not opposed to opening the door for students to embark on a journey of discovery for themselves. 

While there is not a philosophical school of thought that encompasses this point of view, it contains flavors of Neo-scholasticism for its undeniable claim that faith does have reason.  It is also representative of Plato’s assessment of truth in that what is true and perfect exists in another reality that very few will ever realize.  I do not wholeheartedly subscribe to Plato’s philosophy of Idealism I do however detect elements of biblical truth woven throughout.  There is a perfection that exists.  “Plato defined truth as ‘that which is perfect and eternal’” (Knight, 2006).  If we were to test Plato’s conclusion against the grid provided in Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity, “the Fall [of man]” could be described as an inability to recognize or acknowledge perfection and “the Redemption [of man],” according to Idealism is learning to trust in the pureness of ideas which translates to perfection and truth (Pearcy, 2005).  A note of interest is that Plato taught about 400 years before Christ was born (Knight, 2006).  Though he was most certainly not awaiting a messiah or a means of redemption of a people to their God in the Biblical sense, he practically describes one in his Allegory of the Cave (Knight, 2006). 

To sum up what I believe about life, the world, purpose, meaning, truth, and values, it would have to be explained as a compilation of Plato, the Bible, Thomas Aquinas, John Dewey, Existentialist practice, and having lived enough years to experience life at its best and at its worst with the knowledge that what can be seen and experienced with the senses is not all there is to know, but it is a good start!

References

                                   

Arnold, Christyanna, (nd), Student at Liberty University: writer of this paper.

Brainymedia, (2010), http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/st_francis_of_assisi.html,
             retrieved July 7, 2010.

Brockway, Jody (Producer) & Deyoung, Annie & Enscoe, Max (Writers) & Haines, Randa
            (Director), (2006), The Ron Clark Story [motion picture], Echo Bridge Home
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Daniel, Eleanor A. & Wade, John W. (1999), Foundations for Christian education (Ch. 2),
             Joplin, MO: College Press.

Ginsburg, Kenneth R., (2006), A parent’s guide to building resilience in children and teens,
             Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics.

Hallahan, Daniel P., Kauffman, James M., & Pullen, Paige C., (2008), Exceptional learners:
            Introduction to special education, Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Knight, George R., (2006). Philosophy and education: an introduction in Christian perspective,
            Barrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press.

Pearcy, Nancy, (2005), Total truth: Liberating Christianity from its cultural captivity, Wheaton,
            IL: Crossway.

Schultz, Thom and Joani, (1993), Why nobody learns much of anything at church and how to fix
            it, Ch. 1, Loveland, CO: Group Publishing.

Slavin, Robert E., (2006), Educational psychology: theory and practice (Chs. 1 & 13). Boston,
            MA: Pearson.

Willis, Judy, (2009), What brain research suggests for teaching reading strategies, The
           Educational Forum, Vol. 73, 333-346.

Zondervan, (2009), Bible gateway website (Genesis, Daniel, Acts, Galatians),  
            http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%205&version=NIV, retrieved
            June 30, 2010.