Education: The Problem Is…

MON., OCT. 28, 1991, 5:46 AM
FARM, STUDY

Well, o son, you know what to expect as this Teaching develops on a dark, dreary, rainy morning. Yes, I shall assert that the main problem with education is a lack of spirit in the teaching-learning process. Money can’t buy specific quantities of this necessity, but money can be part of the reward to teachers and administrators who have capacities to generate spirit in schools and in classrooms.

One of the firm principles of good education is repetition… a revisiting of ideas or processes learned before. This lesson shall be essentially one of these repeats, but because you did not take the opportunity of offering these insights in the class yesterday morning I shall, with patience, offer them to you again.

Spirit is essential to good, lasting education. There are several forms of this. I’ll commence with the most important. When the individual spirit in a person, even a young child, is relatively mature and is being nurtured with love in a home and at school, this spirit facilitates intellectual work. Simply said, the mind functions better when spirit is strong, is growing, and is being encouraged by the spirits in others. Spirit develops best when there is knowledge of Me, as God and as Jesus. Children who participate fully in Sunday School are more likely to learn up to their capacities in public school than are those who don’t have this regular experience in learning about Me, reinforced by teaching in the home, prayers before meals and bed, and other evidences of connection with Me.

You can see why there tends to be a better educative atmosphere in a private, religiously-based school. Spirits can be openly nourished, at various times in the school day and thus the atmosphere for learning tends to be improved. Much depends on the adult staff, but teachers in such schools tend to have strong, nurturing spirits.

Yes, the spirit in the teacher and teachers is the next critical element. A committed Christian, who lives and teaches with her hand in Mine, is the most likely to teach in ways that encourage real, lasting learning. Oh, I realize that in the upper grades knowledge of subject matter is important. I’m just saying that a math or science teacher with a weak, unnourished spirit and lots of personal knowledge may be matched or surpassed by a teacher with less knowledge and more spirit… in getting students to learn.

I always emphasize learning how to learn, for in these times and in your culture learning must continue throughout most of life. The best teacher is the one still learning and who has and communicates a joy in that learning. When there is an attitude… yes, I’ll call it a spirit… of mutual learning young people have the greatest incentive to learn and to help others learn.

The best learning takes place when the classroom spirit is a happy, accepting one. Oh, I admit that when all of the learners have a strong Puritan attitude that encourages them to learn to avoid shame and punishment then shame and punishment may be effective in the learning process. Without this attitude, however, (and most present day American children have little of it) shame and punishment detract from the learning process. Encouraging progress tends to be better than emphasizing weakness and poor performance.

The atmosphere of the school is a factor, dependent upon the actual physical plant and the spirit of those who administer. Then there is the home atmosphere and that of the neighborhood, the district, or the community.