Education is a Life

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

School Education Chapter 6: Some Educational Theories Examined

This blog post is part of an on-going daily series this month as I read (very quickly) through School Education by Charlotte Mason. Join me! Pick up your book and read a chapter, or find it free online at Ambleside Online.

Summary

Charlotte Mason continues to evaluate different educational psychologies current in her day using the criteria she set out in the previous chapter. In this chapter, she examines educational theories of Pestalozzi and Froebel, as well as Herbart. Finding both wanting, she turns to the philosophy she herself has been working out in the PNEU and elaborates on how it meets each requirement.
Adequate - it is broad enough to encompass any advance in science or philosophy.
Necessary - she cannot judge whether there is not or ever will be an equally good philosophy of education, but she is satisfied that any such philosophy will, like hers, take into account the child as a whole person and also the results of scientific research.
In Touch with the Spirit of the Age -
The Sacredness of the Person - She saw children as whole persons, body and soul together.
The Evolution of the Individual - She believed in the "science of relations," and that teachers should foster those relationships by presenting ideas, by forming habits, and by getting out of the way.
The Solidarity of the Race - She put students "in living touch" with thinkers of different historical periods using literature, poetry, and other subjects.

Quotes

"It is just possible that bringing unbiassed minds and a few guiding principles to the task, we have, not joined the parts of the puzzle, but perceived dimly how an outline here and an outline there indicate, not so many separate psychologies, but shadowings forth of a coherent, living, educational principle destined to assume more and more clearness and fulness until it is revealed to us at last as the educational gospel, the discovery of which may be the destined reward and triumph of our age. Let me try to set forth, though with diffidence, what we have done, knowing that no man and no society can say of educational truth, 'This is mine and that is thine,' for all is common, and none of us can know how much he gives and how much he takes." (p. 62)

"For years we have worked definitely and consistently upon a psychology which appears to me fairly adequate, necessary, and in touch with the thought of our age. Children brought up on this theory of education, wherever we come across them, have certain qualities in common. They are curiously vitalised; not bored, not all alive in the playing-field and dull and inert in the schoolroom...There is unity in their lives;...there is continuity in their education. ...there is no transition stage, but simple, natural, living progress." (p. 63)

"What do we understand by a person? We believe the thinking, invisible soul and acting, visible body to be one in so intimate a union that--'Nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul.'" (p. 63)

"For the rest, we believe that the person wills and thinks and feels; is always present, though not always aware of himself; is without parts or faculties; whatever he does, he does, all of him, whether he take a walk or write a book. It is so much the habit to think of the person as a dual being, flesh and spirit, when he is, in truth, one, that it is necessary to clear our minds on this subject. The person is one and not several, and he is no more compact of ideas on the one hand than he is of nervous and muscular tissues on the other." (p. 64)

"...quick and living thought is as necessary for the full and happy development of the body as it is for that of the soul." (p. 65)

"...we believe that our educational doctrine is adequate, because, while following the progress of biological psychology with avidity, and making use of every gain that presents itself, and while following with equal care the advance of philosophic thought, we recognise that each of these sees the chameleon in a different light, and that the person includes both and is more than both;..." (p. 65)

"We cannot say that our doctrine is necessary, but we do say that some educational theory which shall include the whole nature of man and the results of scientific research, in the same or a greater degree, is necessary." (p. 65)

"The person of the child is sacred to us; we do not swamp his individuality in his intelligence, in his conscience, or even in his soul; perhaps one should add to-day, or even in his physical development." (p. 65)

"...education considers what relations are proper to a human being, and in what ways these several relations can best be established; that a human being comes into the world with capacity for many relations; and...we, for our part, have two chief concerns--first, to put him in the way of forming these relations by presenting the right idea at the right time, and by forming the right habit upon the right idea, and, secondly, by not getting in the way and so preventing the establishment of the very relations we seek to form." (p. 66)

"We study in many ways the art of standing aside." (p. 66)

"...we do not endeavour to give children outlines of ancient history, but to put them in living touch with a thinker who lived in those ancient days. We are not content that they should learn the history of their own country alone; some living idea of contemporaneous European history, anyway, we try to get in; that the history we teach may be the more living, we work in, pari passu, some of the literature of the period and some of the best historical novels and poems that treat of the period; and so on with other subjects." (p. 67)

Thoughts

Reading the last two chapters, I think that as good students of Charlotte Mason, we should not only be reaching into the past and studying her ideas. We should also be paying attention to the educational theories of our own day, evaluating their soundness, extracting what is good, learning what we can from them. I don't really know where to start with this! For now, it's just something I'm open to.

Links

The Education of the Whole Person
A True Education is a Relational Education from Snowfall Academy
(Let me know if you or anyone else you know has blogged through Vol. 3 and I'll include the link!)

Monday, July 17, 2017

School Education Chapter 5: Psychology in Relation to Current Thought

In Charlotte Mason's day, as a century before (and as now!), people placed a high value on education. However, in contrast to the enthusiasm of the late 18th century, people in the late 19th century were feeling dissatisfied with the direction education had been taking. They were beginning to recognize that "results cannot be in advance of our principles." (p. 45) As a result, many people were developing psychologies of education. The problem was, many of them contradicted each other. Charlotte Mason saw the need for a way to discern between all the different psychologies, and she lays out what she sees as the requirements of a sound system of psychology in this chapter.

1. It must be adequate, "covering the whole nature of man and his relations with all that is other than himself."
2. It must be necessary, "no other equally adequate psychology should present itself."
3. It must touch at all points the living thought of the age; it must "be in step with the two or three great ideas by which the world is just now being educated."
These ideas are:
A. The Sacredness of the person.
B. The Evolution of the individual: "making the very most of (the) person, intellectually, morally, physically." Education must be assimilated, becoming part of a person.
C. The Solidarity of the race: a sense of oneness with people of every time and place.

After setting out these criteria, Charlotte Mason evaluates two systems of psychology: Locke's "states of consciousness" and modern physiological psychology. She does this very humbly: "we do not presume to do this as critics, rather as inheritors of other men's labour, who take stock of our possessions in order that we may use them to the most advantage." (p. 49) Still, she makes it clear that neither of these psychologies takes into account the full humanity and potential of the person, especially the modern physiological view, which reduces man to the physical.

"We have reason to keep watch at the place of the letting out of waters, that is, the psychology upon which our educational thought and action rest." (p. 55)

Quotes

"One thing we begin to see clearly, that the stream can rise no higher than its source, that sound theory must underlie successful work. We begin to suspect that we took up schemes and methods of education a little hastily, without considering what philosophy or, let us say, psychology, underlies those schemes and methods; now, we see that our results cannot be in advance of our principles." (p. 45)

"...like all science, psychology is progressive. What worked even fifty years ago will not work to-day, and what fulfils our needs to-day will not serve fifty years hence; there is no last word to be said upon education; it evolves with the evolution of the race." (p. 46)

"Next we demand of education that it should make for the evolution of the individual; should not only put the person in the first place, but should have for its sole aim the making the very most of that person, intellectually, morally, physically. We do not desire any dead accretions of mere knowledge, or externals of mere accomplishment. We desire an education that shall be assimilated; shall become part and parcel of the person;..." (p. 47-48)

"The American poet, Walt Whitman,...tells us how he conquers with every triumphant general, bleeds with every wounded soldier, shares the spring morning and the open road and the pride of the horses with every jolly waggoner--in fact, lives in all other lives that touch him anywhere, even in imagination. This is something more than the brotherhood of man; that belongs to the present; but our sense of the oneness of humanity reaches into the remotest past, making us regard with tender reverence every relic of the antiquity of our own people or of any other; and, with a sort of jubilant hope, every prognostic of science or philanthropy which appears to us to be the promise of the centuries to come." (p. 48)

"Let us consider now some three or four of the psychologies which have the most widespread influence to-day. But we do not presume to do this as critics, rather as inheritors of other men's labour, who take stock of our possessions in order that we may use them to the most advantage. For the best thought of any age is common thought; the men who write it down do but give expression to what is working in the minds of the rest. But we must bear in mind that truth behaves like a country gate allowed to 'swing to' after a push. Now it swings a long way to this side and now a long way to that, and at last after shorter and shorter oscillations the latch settles. The reformer, the investigator, works towards one aspect of truth, which is the whole truth to him, and which he advances out of line with the rest. The next reformer works at a tangent, apparently in opposition, but he is bringing up another front of truth. Then there is work for us, the people of average mind. We consider all sides, balance what has been done, and find truth, perhaps in the mean, perhaps as a side issue which did not make itself plain to original thinkers of either school. But we do not scorn the bridge that has borne us." (p. 49)

(speaking of the "Modern Physiological-Psychology) "Where there are no persons, there is no possibility of that divine afflatus which we call enthusiasm; for that recognition of another on a higher plane which we mean when we say 'I believe in so and so,' for that recognition of the divine Being which we call Faith. We become devitalised; life is flat and grey; we throw desperate, if dull, energy into the task of the hour because we shall so, any way, get rid of that hour; we are glad to be amused, but still more glad of the stimulus of feverish work; but the work, like ourselves, is devitalised without the living idea, without consecrating aim." (p. 54)

Thoughts

I have written before about my concerns with her using "the spirit of the age" as something to evaluate psychologies by. I'm not sure I follow everything in this chapter. However, I do think this is a beautiful chapter to show Charlotte Mason's humility in her attitude towards other philosophies of education. She evaluates them respectfully, acknowledging any area where there is good, and firmly rejecting all that do not measure up to what she believes are the attributes of a sound psychology.

It is also interesting to see her enthusiasm for the progress of humanity. I presume this was pre-war. I seem to remember a sadder attitude in Volume 6, which was written later in her life.

Links

Evaluating Psychologies
From Snowfall Academy: Acknowledging the Whole Person

Friday, July 14, 2017

School Education Chapter 4: Rights of Children as Persons

Quick Summary

There are a few areas in our children's lives where we can practice "Masterly Inactivity":

Play - Give them freedom of choice, and time and space to use their imaginations.

Work - Allow them to stand or fall by their own efforts. Let them suffer the consequences of not doing their work rather than constantly prod them with reminders or incentives.

Friends - Trust them to choose good friends, and to realize for themselves in time if they have made a mistake in this area.

Spending Money -Teach them good principles of money management, saving and spending, and then leave them free to make good decisions (or suffer the consequences of bad decisions.).

Opinions - Carefully form your own opinions, and hold them strongly, but do not try to control the opinions of your children. Instead, teach them the principles, and leave them free to apply them and form their own opinions at the right time.

Quotes

"There is a little danger in these days of much educational effort that children's play should be crowded out, or, what is from our present point of view the same thing, should be prescribed for and arranged until there is no more freedom of choice about play than that about work." (p. 36)

"Boys and girls must have time to invent episodes, carry on adventures, live heroic lives, lay sieges and carry forts, even if the fortress be an old armchair; and in these affairs the elders must neither meddle nor make." (p. 37)

"We all know...the pleasure children take in doing anything which they may do their own way; anything, in fact, which allows room for skill of hand, play of fancy, or development of thought. With our present theories of education it seems that we cannot give much scope for personal initiative. There is so much task-work to be done, so many things that must be, not learned, but learned about, that it is only now and then a child gets the chance to produce himself in his work. But let us use such opportunities as come in our way." (p. 37-38)

"'They felt their feet,' as the nurses say of children when they begin to walk; and our non-success in education is a good deal due to the fact that we carry children through their school work and do not let them feel their feet." (p. 38)

"...we do not let children alone enough in their work. We prod them continually and do not let them stand or fall by their own efforts." (p. 39)

"What we must guard against in the training of children is the danger of their getting into the habit of being prodded to every duty and every effort... Marks, prizes, exhibitions, are all prods; and a system of prodding is apt to obscure the meaning of must and ought for the boy or girl who gets into the habit of mental and moral lolling up against his prods." (p. 39)

"It would be better for boys and girls to suffer the consequences of not doing their work now and then, than to do it because they are so urged and prodded on all hands that they have no volition in the matter." (p. 39)

"Where many of us err is in leaning to much to our own understanding and our own efforts, and not trusting sufficiently to the dutiful impulse which will carry children through the work they are expected to do." (p. 40)

"With regard to the choice of friends and companions, again, we should train children so that we should be able to honour them with a generous confidence; and if we give them such confidence we shall find that they justify it." (p. 40)

"The parents who do not trust their young people in this matter [spending pocket-money], after having trained them, are hardly qualifying them to take their place in a world in which the wise, just, and generous spending of money is a great test of character." (p. 42)

"It is our duty to form opinions carefully, and to hold them tenaciously in so far as the original grounds of our conclusions remain unshaken. But what we have no right to do, is to pass these opinions on to our children. We all know that nothing is easier than to make vehement partisans of young people, in any cause heartily adopted by their elders. But a reaction comes, and the swinging of the pendulum is apt to carry them to a point of thought painfully remote from our own." (p. 42)

"Perhaps this pious mother would have been saved some anguish if she had given her children the living principles of the Christian faith, which are not matters of opinion, and allowed them to accept her particular practice in their youth without requiring them to take their stand on Evangelical opinions as offering practically the one way of salvation." (p. 42)

"Children are far more likely to embrace the views of their parents, when they are ripe to form opinions, if these have not been forced upon them in early youth when their lack of knowledge and experience makes it impossible for them to form opinions at first hand." (p. 43)

"We all admire spontaneity, but this grace, even in children, is not an indigenous wild-flower. In so far as it is a grace, it is the result of training, --of pleasant talks upon the general principles of conduct, and wise 'letting alone' as to the practice of these principles." (p. 43)

Thoughts

The portion of this chapter on work was very convicting to me, and I need to think about how I will apply it. It is true, as a good Charlotte Mason disciple, I do not "prod" with incentives. However, I think I still do too much work together with my oldest son, and this is preventing him from developing his own initiative and "standing or falling by his own efforts." I need to consider how I can help him grow in taking ownership of his own work. It is past time to start making that transition. I am blessed in that he is naturally quite dutiful, and has a strong sense of "ought." I think he will do well when I practice some more "Masterly Inactivity."

I wasn't so sure what to think about the part of this chapter on children forming their own opinions. Read in a certain way, it could seem that she's saying we should not catechize our children in the distinctives of our own faith, but just teach them the broad principles of Christianity (ie. the things all Christians agree on). I'm not sure if that's what she's saying or not. In any case, I do agree that we should not try to control what our children think, and we should expect that our children will take what we teach them and what they learn elsewhere and form their own opinions. I also agree that we need to be careful to let them understand that good, godly Christians hold differing viewpoints on such issues as baptism (while agreeing on its necessity), end times (while agreeing that Christ will return), and many others without endangering their salvation, so long as they have put their whole trust in Christ for salvation. However, I see no problem with teaching my children what I believe, even in the minor points. What do you think Charlotte Mason is saying here?

Links

Practical Masterly Inactivity
Masterly Inactivity: On Knowing When to Let Go from Snowfall Academy

I will be taking a break over the weekend, and will be back Monday with Chapter 5.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

School Education Chapter 3: Masterly Inactivity

I have not read Sarah MacKenzie's book Teaching from Rest, but I have a suspicion that Charlotte Mason's often misunderstood concept of "Masterly Inactivity" means, if not exactly the same thing, at least something strongly related to it. If you have read Teaching from Rest, I'd love it if you would read chapter 3 of School Education as well and let me know in the comments if I'm onto something here. (Charlotte Mason's title would probably be Parenting from Serenity.)

Quick Summary of Chapter 3

Parents feel burdened and anxious with a strong sense of responsibility. "People feel that they can bring up their children to be something more than themselves, that they ought to do so, and that they must;" (p. 26) and that everything depends on them. They become "fussy and restless," (p. 27), forgetting that "purposeful letting alone is the best part of education." (p. 28)

Masterly inactivity is necessary in education to allow ideas to work themselves out in thought and action. An equivalent phrase is Wordsworth's "wise passiveness." The parent is able and willing to act, but wisely restrains himself when it is better to do so.

Elements of Masterly Inactivity:

Authority - "They are free under authority, which is liberty; to be free without authority is license." (p. 29)

Good Humour - as opposed to complacency and just giving in to whatever the children want to do.

Self-Confidence - "Parents should trust themselves more." (p. 29)

Confidence in the Children - Trust the children to live up to your expectations.

Omniscience of Parents and Teachers - They know what's going on, without interfering too much.

Free Will - "He is free to do as he ought, but knows quite well in his secret heart that he is not free to do that which he ought not." (p. 32)

Serenity of a Madonna - If mothers "would only have courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense," (p. 33) and even give themselves some leisure "without the children," they would find themselves much more able to maintain this attitude of masterly inactivity with their children.

Leisure - "Leisure for themselves and a sense of leisure in those about them" (p. 35)

Faith - We must trust that God Himself is working in the training of our children and realize that it does not all depend on our constant effort. Only then "We shall give children space to develop...and shall know how to intervene effectually..." (p. 35)

Quotes

"We ought to do so much for our children, and are able to do so much for them, that we begin to think everything rests with us and that we should never intermit for a moment our conscious action on the young minds and hearts about us. Our endeavours become fussy and restless. We are too much with our children, 'late and soon.' We try to dominate them too much, even when we fail to govern, and we are unable to perceive that wise and purposeful letting alone is the best part of education." (p. 27-28)

"...once we receive an idea, it will work itself out, in thought and act, without much after-effort on our part;..." (p. 28)

"Parents should trust themselves more. Everything is not done by restless endeavour. The mere blessed fact of the parental relationship and of that authority which belongs to it, by right and by nature, acts upon the children as do sunshine and shower on a seed in good soil. But the fussy parent, the anxious parent, the parent who explains overmuch, who commands overmuch, who excuses overmuch, who restrains overmuch, who interferes overmuch, even the parent who is with the children overmuch, does away with the dignity and simplicity of that relationship which, like all the best and most delicate things in life, suffer by being asserted or defended." (p. 29)

"Every time a child feels that he chooses to obey of his own accord, his power of initiative is strengthened." (p. 31)

"...it is precisely the distinction which we are aware of in our own lives so far as we keep ourselves consciously under the divine governance. We are free to go in the ways of right living, and have the happy sense of liberty of choice, but the ways of transgressors are hard. We are aware of a restraining hand in the present, and of sure and certain retribution in the future. Just this delicate poise is to be aimed at for the child. He must be treated with full confidence, and must feel that right doing is his own free choice, which his parents trust him to make; but he must also be very well aware of the deterrent force in the background, watchful to hinder him when he would do wrong." (p. 32)

"...the nervous, anxious, worried mother...will find them fractious, rebellious, unmanageable, and will be slow to realize that it is her fault; not the fault of her act but of her state." (p. 33)

"If mothers could learn to do for themselves what the do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play! If she would only have the courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day, out in the fields, or with a favourite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures, or in bed, without the children, life would go on far more happily for both children and parents." (p. 33-34)

"When we recognise that God does not make over the bringing up of children absolutely even to their parents, but that He works Himself, in ways which it must be our care not to hinder, in the training of every child, then we shall learn passiveness, humble and wise." (p. 35)

Links

My post on this chapter from a few years ago: Masterly Inactivity: A Matter of Trust
Jen Snow's posts: Masterly Inactivity: What is It? and Masterly Inactivity: How Can We Live It?

See you tomorrow with chapter 4!

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

School Education Chapter 2: How Authority Behaves

Quick Summary of Chapter 2

Autocracy and Authority are two very different things. Autocracy is self-derived, Authority is God-derived. You can recognize autocracy by its fruits: "impatient and resentful, on the watch for transgressions, and swift to take offence." (p. 16) It also has many rules and harsh and arbitrary punishments. In contrast, authority is both gentle and firm: "easy to be entreated in all matters immaterial, just because she is immovable in matters of real importance". (p. 17)

We teach children the habit of obedience when they are young in order that they will have self-discipline when they are older. But wouldn't it be better to teach children to choose to do what is right based on conscience, rather than mere habit? We must do both: every habit of obedience takes away the constant effort of decision from the child and provides practice for when they do face moral choices, as of course they will. But it is not too late if you have not trained a young child in the habit of obedience. Older children often respond well to patient leadership and "the stimulus of an idea".

Authority is an aspect of love. It means self-denial for the parents, and "quiet rest and gaiety of heart" for the children. We would do well to meditate daily on where our authority is derived from.

Quotes

"This, too, is the position that our Lord assumes; He says: 'I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.' That is His commission and the standing order of His life, and for this reason He spake as one having authority, knowing Himself to be commissioned and supported." p. 16

"Authority is not uneasy; captious, harsh and indulgent by turns. This is the action of autocracy, which is self-sustained as it is self-derived, and is impatient and resentful, on the watch for transgressions, and swift to take offence. Autocracy has ever a drastic penal code, whether in the kingdom, the school, or the family. It has, too, many commandments." p. 16

"Authority is neither harsh nor indulgent. She is gentle and easy to be entreated in all matters immaterial, just because she is immovable in matters of real importance; for these, there is always a fixed principle." p. 17

"Authority is alert; she knows all that is going on and is aware of tendencies. She fulfils the apostolic precept--'He that ruleth (let him do it), with diligence.' But she is strong enough to fulfil that other precept also, 'He that showeth mercy (let him do it), with cheerfulness'; timely clemency, timely yielding is a great secret of strong government." p. 17

"...if we wish children to be able, when they grow up, to keep under their bodies and bring them into subjection, we must do this for them in their earlier years." p. 19

"...one must, before all things, have practice; one must have got into the way of working it involuntarily, without giving any thought to the matter: and to give a child this power over himself --first in response to the will of another, later, in response to his own, is to make a man of him." p. 20

"The man who can make himself do what he wills has the world before him, and it rests with parents to give their children this self-compelling power as a mere matter of habit. But is it not better and higher, it may be asked, to train children to act always in response to the divine mandate as it makes itself heard through the voice of conscience? The answer is, that in doing this we must not leave the other undone. There are few earnest parents who do not bring the power of conscience to bear on their children, and there are emergencies enough in the lives of young and old when we have to make a spiritual decision upon spiritual grounds --when it rests with us to choose the good and refuse the evil, consciously and voluntarily, because it is God's will that we should." p. 20

"...ninety-nine out of a hundred things we do, are done, well or ill, as mere matters of habit." p. 21

"...it is startling and shocking that there are many children of thoughtful parents whose lives are spent in day-ong efforts of decision upon matters which it is their parents' business to settle for them." p. 21

"On the other hand, children are before all things reasonable beings, and to some children of acute and powerful intelligence, an arbitrary and apparently unreasonable command is cruelly irritating. It is not advisable to answer children categorically when they want to know the why for every command, but wise parents steer a middle course. They are careful to form habits upon which the routine of life runs easily, and, when the exceptional event requires a new regulation, they may make casual mention of their reasons for having so and so done; or, if this is not convenient and the case is a trying one, they give the children the reason for all obedience--"for this is right." In a word, authority avoids, so far as may be, giving cause of offence." p. 22

"Nobody knows better than the wise mother the importance of giving a child time to collect himself for a decisive moment." p. 22

"...authority is just and faithful in all matters of promise-keeping; it is also considerate." p. 23

"Let us not despise the day of small things nor grow weary in well-doing; if we have trained our children from their earliest years to prompt mechanical obedience, well and good; we reap our reward. If we have not, we must be content to lead by slow degrees, by ever-watchful efforts, by authority never in abeyance and never aggressive, to 'the joy of self-control,' the delight of proud chivalric obedience which will hail a command as an opportunity for service. It is a happy thing that the 'difficult' children who are the readiest to resist a direct command are often the quickest to respond to the stimulus of an idea." p. 23

"Authority is that aspect of love which parents present to their children; parents know it is love, because to them it means continual self-denial, self-repression, self-sacrifice: children recognize it as love, because to them it means quiet rest and gaiety of heart. Perhaps the best aid to the maintenance of authority in the home is for those in authority to ask themselves daily that question which was presumptuously put to our Lord --"Who gave Thee this authority?" p. 24

Thoughts

I want to encourage you if you find this all very idealistic and intimidating when you are faced with real life and real children. If you take nothing else from this chapter, remembering and thinking about the fact that our authority as parents comes from God will give us guidance when we are faced with daily situations. This will help us remember that our authority is not optional when we are tempted to let something go. It will help us realize again and again that their disobedience is not about us and we do not have to take it as a personal insult.

I am reminded of Psalm 103:13-14.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

14 For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

Links

From me a few years ago: Who Gave You This Authority? (I really like this one.)

From Jen Snow: The Power of Routines

If you know anyone else who has blogged through School Education, let me know and I'll include links here.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

School Education Chapter 1: Docility and Authority

Quick Summary

Parenting styles have changed. In the past, parents were generally autocratic and distant, now (in Charlotte Mason's time and in ours) they are more "intimate, frank, and friendly" with their children. In many ways this rejection of the arbitrary authority of parents is a positive change, but it would be wise to examine the underlying philosophical reasons for it.

Locke's "doctrine of infallible reason," that individual reason is the ultimate authority, has led inevitably to Herbert Spencer's conclusion that (in Charlotte Mason's words): "The enthronement of the human reason is the dethronement of Almighty God...From the dethronement of the divine, follows the dethronement of all human authority, whether it be of kings and their deputies over nations, or of parents over families." In other words, all authority can be rejected as arbitrary.

In contrast, Charlotte Mason believes in God and his divine authority. No one inherently has a right to exercise authority unless God has given that person authority. Even then, authority is limited by the fact that the one in authority is also under authority.

Quotes

"...truer educational thought must of necessity result in an output of more worthy character." p. 4

"But it is much to a child to know that he may question, may talk of the thing that perplexes him, and that there is comprehension for his perplexities. Effusive sympathy is a mistake, and bores a child when it does not make him silly. But just to know that you can ask and tell is a great outlet, and means, to the parent, the power of direction, and to the child, free and natural development." p. 4-5

"So long as men acknowledge a God, they of necessity acknowledge authority, supreme and deputed." p. 6

"...none of us has a right to exercise authority, in things great or small, except as we are, and acknowledge ourselves to be, deputed by the one supreme and ultimate Authority." p. 7

"But, because philosophic thought is so subtle and permeating an influence, it is our part to scrutinize every principle that presents itself. Once we are able to safeguard ourselves in this way, we are able to profit by the wisdom of works which yet rest upon what we regard as radical errors." p. 8

"It is not only one good custom, but one infallible principle, which may 'corrupt a world.' Some such principle stands out luminous in the vision of a philosopher; he sees it is truth; it takes possession of him and he believes it to be the whole truth, and urges it to the point of reductio ad absurdum. Then the principle at the opposite pole of thought is similarly illuminated and glorified by a succeeding school of thought; and, later, it is discerned that it is not by either principle, but by both, that men live." p. 11

"We know that a person in authority is a person authorized; and that he who is authorized is under authority. The person under authority holds and fulfils a trust; in so far as he asserts himself, governs upon the impulse of his own will, he ceases to be authoritative and authorized, and becomes arbitrary and autocratic." p. 12

Links

I wrote about this chapter three years ago as well: It's Not Because I'm the Mom.

Jen Snow's commentary is here: Approachability and Rightful Authority

If you know of someone else who has blogged through volume 3, please let me know so I can include the link.

This post is part of a daily read-through of Charlotte Mason's Volume 3: School Education. It's not too late to jump in and read with me! If you do not have the book, you can read it for free online at Ambleside Online. They even have a modern paraphrase, if you feel a bit intimidated by the original.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Please Join Me in Reading School Education

"As a stream can rise no higher than its source, so it is probable that no educational effort can rise above the whole scheme of thought which gives it birth..." (Charlotte Mason, Preface to the 'Home Education' Series)

As I plan for our next school year, I am beginning by reading through Charlotte Mason's Volume 3: School Education. I have read through this volume before, and blogged on parts of it. This time I am hoping to read through it within about a month, a chapter a day on weekdays.

I will blog through the process, but don't expect anything profound! I'm using my energy and time for reading this time, not writing. I will share some quotes and possibly some thoughts from my day's chapter every day. If you'd like to read this volume too, jump in and join me. Even if you have not read any of Charlotte Mason's own books before, this volume is a great one to start with if you have children between the ages of 9 and 12. (If your children are under 9, Volume 1 is a good starting point, or else Volume 6 is a great summary of Charlotte Mason's philosophy and method.)

Here is my plan:
July 10-14: Preface and Chapters 1-4
July 17-21: Chapters 5-9
July 24-28: Chapters 10-14
July 31-Aug. 4: Chapters 15-19
Aug. 7-11: Chapters 20-22, Appendix II, III-IV
Aug. 14: Appendix V

I will not be doubling up if I fall behind, so you may come back and find me a bit behind at some point. However, I hope to keep plodding on, a chapter a day.

Today:

Today I read the Preface to the 'Home Education' Series and the Preface to School Education.

Quote:

The sort of curriculum I have in view should educate children upon Things and Books. Current thought upon the subject of education by Things is so sound and practical, and so thoroughly carried into effect, that I have not thought it necessary to dwell much here upon this part of education. Our great failure seems to me to be caused by the fact that we do not form the habit of reading books that are worth while in children while they are at school and are under twelve years of age. The free use of books implies correct spelling and easy and vigorous composition without direct teaching of these subjects.

Pages

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Monday, July 17, 2017

Friday, July 14, 2017

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Quick Summary of Chapter 2

Quotes

Thoughts

Links

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Quick Summary

Quotes

Links

Monday, July 10, 2017