'Why Do We Educate?' from SpunkyHomeSchool

I read the following post about two months ago and the author strikes me as a dedicated parent who truly believes in what she is doing and knows why she is doing it. In this blog a mother of 6 homeschooled children talks about what education should mean. She has many biblical and very inspiring insights into homeschooling and parenting.

Chris O'Donnel and ExPat are having a blog conversation on education. ExPat threw out this challenge.

So I ask you, Mr. O'Donnell, do you know why you are teaching your children what you are teaching them?

Well, I'm not Chris and I don't attempt to speak for him (He does very well on his own.) but I thought I'd jump in and share a little about why we educate our children. Here goes. (For long time readers this is a slight revision of an earlier post.)
Who defines the "educational goal"? Before we can ever begin to think about how we are to teach a child, we must decide why we are to teach a child. What is a "well educated child"?

I had a mother call me sometime ago. She had received my name from a mutual friend and she wanted to home educate her son. He was currently enrolled in the local public school. Her first question was what she needed to buy to home educate. Before answering, I asked her a few questions. My first question was "Why do you want to educate your son?

She responded with a series of reasons on why she no longer wanted him enrolled in the local school. "Okay, so you are dissatisfied with the public schools", I replied, "But that doesn't answer my question. Why do you want to educate your son?"

She then replied with the some of the benefits of home education and how they do so much better that the public school. I responded again, "I am glad you want to home educate but you still haven't told me why you want to educate your son?"

She was getting a little frustrated so I rephrased the question this way "Move past the method of education and ask yourself , "Why do you care that your son knows anything about anything?"

She paused mementarily and then said, "Well, I guess I would like for him to make a good living for himself so that he can afford to do the things that he wants to do and to be happy. And a good education will do that won't it?"

"Sure it will, but let's take that and move forward about 30 years. Your son is now a famous millionaire who can afford to travel the world. You are back here in Michigan sitting in a nursing home. He pays all your bills but only visits sporadically. He is happy but you are ignored and miserable. Would you consider yourself a success at the education you have provided?"

"No", she admitted. She began to realize that academics was only a part of a well educated adult.

She then turned the tables on me and asked me why I educate my children.

I responded, "My children's success is not determined by a degree or a dollar. That a well educated child is one who knows and loves the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loves their neighbor as themselves."

She acknowledged that these were not her goals but that she didn't really know what an well educated child would be for her. This is sad.

The point of this story is not to convince you that my educational goal should be this mother's educational goal but to illustrate that the goal must be defined before the methodology can be determined. I could have given her a list curriculum to buy but she probably would have found it unworkable for her (maybe even offensive!).

WHY we educate must be determined before we decide HOW to educate. The public schools have a reason to desire a uniform, "equal", edcuation for its citizens.

But an equal education is a fallacy because we will never all have the same educational goal. Thus, what one may call a success another would call a complete failure. This is the great dilemma of the public schools. "Equal education" only works with a uniform goal. A goal which works well for the state but usually leaves the individual out in the cold.

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