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| Posted: May 05 2008 at 8:58pm | IP Logged
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Test Everything: Hold Fast to What is Good.
As homeschoolers we are often faced with a variety of educational philosophies and pedagogies from which to choose and develop our approach. Sometimes there is concern that an approach is not Catholic or was promoted by those who do not share the Faith. What do we include? Are there guidelines? Is it okay to take elements or ideas from a variety of approaches? How can the Church help us in our discernment?
Our Church gives us great freedom in many areas, while it gives us restrictions only where they are necessary to preserve something more valuable.
As Catholic GK Chesterton said said,
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| "The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden. An optimist who insisted on a purely positive morality would have to begin by telling a man that he might pick dandelions on a common and go on for months before he came to the fact that he might throw pebbles into the sea. In comparison with this positive morality the Ten Commandments rather shine in that brevity which is the soul of wit." |
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Here are some guidelines mentioned by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Divini Illius Magistri
The Church entrusts parents with the ultimate right and responsibility to oversee their child's education.
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| The family therefore holds directly from the Creator the mission and hence the right to educate the offspring, a right inalienable because inseparably joined to the strict obligation, a right anterior to any right whatever of civil society and of the State, and therefore inviolable on the part of any power on earth.....this right is inviolable. |
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With this freedom and solemn right comes a responsibility. Here are a few of the things the Church has said in regard to proper education of children:
All education must be directed towards eternal things
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| Whatever a Christian does even in the order of things of earth, he may not overlook the supernatural; indeed he must, according to the teaching of Christian wisdom, direct all things towards the supreme good as to his last end; |
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Because of this, it is important to recognize the role of grace and the presence of sin in human nature, when dealing in educational matters.
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| Every method of education founded, wholly or in part, on the denial or forgetfulness of original sin and of grace, and relying on the sole powers of human nature, is unsound. Such, generally speaking, are those modern systems bearing various names which appeal to a pretended self-government and unrestrained freedom on the part of the child, and which diminish or even suppress the teacher's authority and action, attributing to the child an exclusive primacy of initiative, and an activity independent of any higher law, natural or divine, in the work of his education. |
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Educational methods do change to fit the requirements of the times.
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| These noble traditions of the past require that the youth committed to Catholic schools be fully instructed in the letters and sciences in accordance with the exigencies of the times. |
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However, the good things about the old methods of teaching should be preserved.
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Hence in accepting the new, he will not hastily abandon the old, which the experience of centuries has found expedient and profitable.
This is particularly true in the teaching of Latin, which in our days is falling more and more into disuse, because of the unreasonable rejection of methods so successfully used by that sane humanism, whose highest development was reached in the schools of the Church. |
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| ... the doctrine imparted (must) be deep and solid, especially in sound philosophy, avoiding the muddled superficiality of those "who perhaps would have found the necessary, had they not gone in search of the superfluous." |
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Pope John Paul II's motto was "Be not afraid"; the tradition of the Church has been to allow plenty of scope for exploration and venture into new territory. Faith is always compatible with "the good, the true and the beautiful".
However, vigilance is also required:
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| It is no less necessary to direct and watch the education of the adolescent,....in whatever other environment he may happen to be, removing occasions of evil and providing occasions for good in his recreations and social intercourse; for "evil communications corrupt good manners." |
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| More than ever nowadays an extended and careful vigilance is necessary, inasmuch as the dangers of moral and religious shipwreck are greater for inexperienced youth. Especially is this true of impious and immoral books, often diabolically circulated at low prices; of the cinema, which multiplies every kind of exhibition; and now also of the radio, which facilitates every kind of communications. |
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Though discipline properly understood is a large part of Catholic tradition, coercion and tyranny are not. Our model in parenting and teaching is God, who went to great lengths out of love for us.
Our goal for our children is that they will gradually increase in cooperation in their own development and education.
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| if the intention is to banish from education despotism and violence, which, by the way, just punishment is not, this would be correct, but in no way new. It would mean only what has been taught and reduced to practice by the Church in traditional Christian education, in imitation of the method employed by God Himself towards His creatures, of whom He demands active cooperation according to the nature of each; for His Wisdom "reacheth from end to end mightily and ordereth all things sweetly." |
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4RealModerators
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Taking the Choicest Bits
In the encyclical on Christian Education, Divini Illius Magistri, Pope Pius XI makes a distinction between false philosophies, which are to be avoided by Christian educators, and the methods and practices, which can be adopted if they are good and wholesome in themselves.
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| ....the Christian teacher will imitate the bee, which takes the choicest part of the flower and leaves the rest, as St. Basil teaches in his discourse to youths on the study of the classics. Nor will this necessary caution, suggested also by the pagan Quintilian,in any way hinder the Christian teacher from gathering and turning to profit, whatever there is of real worth in the systems and methods of our modern times, mindful of the Apostle's advice: "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good." |
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For further clarification, Pope Pius XI continues:
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| Every method of education founded, wholly or in part, on the denial or forgetfulness of original sin and of grace, and relying on the sole powers of human nature, is unsound. Such, generally speaking, are those modern systems bearing various names which appeal to a pretended self-government and unrestrained freedom on the part of the child, and which diminish or even suppress the teacher's authority and action, attributing to the child an exclusive primacy of initiative, and an activity independent of any higher law, natural or divine, in the work of his education. |
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These quotes highlight our ideal practice in Living Learning -- to evaluate and discern through a Catholic filter; adopt what is good and true, and leave the rest.
Educational Philosophy is where we discuss philosophies and their underlying benefits and drawbacks. Living Learning is where we discuss the practicalities of how to implement these ideas in our homes. Please feel free to ask questions, raise concerns, and share information. As always, please remember to "speak" courteously and gently, offering clarification in charity and assuming the best intentions of other members.
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