Arguing Against the Defense of the Christian Private School Bubble

[marta_bee]

Over at ChristianityToday‘s Hermeneutics blog, Andrea Palpant Dilley wrote an interesting defense of her decision to put her kid in a private school. Her main point, and I think it’s usually a good one these days, is that we need to tone down the vitriol and actually see the complexity, the nuance in peoples’ situations.

To that end, Mrs. Dilley

Comments

[dreamflower02]

I've never really thought of the subject in this manner before, though I've often thought that the way our educational system is set up is wrong, whether in public or private schools.

In an ideal world, all parents would be educated enough and have the requisite skills and wisdom to homeschool their own children--but the world is far from ideal, and sadly a lot of homeschooling parents don't know enough themselves to be trying to educate their kids.

(I say this as a parent whose one regret has been that I did not have the courage to homeschool my child when it would have been the best thing for him. But I was afraid that I would mess up. But some children simply do not thrive in a school setting, and mine was one of these.)

And in a less than ideal world, it's best that the educational opportunities that will benefit the most children be the ones to receive the most resources.

I do think traditional education needs a major overhaul, though.

[marta_bee]

You know, I have majorly mixed feelings about homeschooling for a variety of reasons. I think some people who do it do a very good job of it, in fact I know this is true for some particular friends so I'm a bit hesitant to criticize it. But I've also seen the way not learning as part of a larger group really stunts some kids educationally in specific ways. Or at least makes them have different weaknesses than people coming out of group education. There's also the issue that for a huge part of society, it's just not feasible for one parent to stay home and educate the kids. So... yeah. I'm not sure I think homeschooling is the answer at a large scale. That doesn't take away from the very real problems with the way we do education, though! I really sympathize with parents trying to work out how to navigate this, because it's seriously messed-up in many ways and there aren't always good answers. I'm trying not to villify this blog writer or other parents in her position and I really am very sympathetic

[dreamflower02]

The best homeschooling parents find ways to socialize their children. One of my friends who homeschools just came back from taking her daughters to a debate tournament. But sadly, it won't work on a large scale because many parents simply don't know what to do, or they would have an agenda, or there is already a strain on their relationship with their children.

But if public schools are the best alternative, then some major changes are needed. Schools should be smaller, class sizes should be smaller, teachers should have the time to develop a relationship with their pupils, and I am not altogether sure that segregation by age is the best way either.

I'd like to see small neighborhood schools, the smaller the better, run by teams of teachers who basically would teach all the ages, and were assisted by older students helping with the younger ones, and with parents also having to help out with their time.

That's just a few of my notions.

[fractalwolf]

The faith/learning integration argument reminds me of an experience I had in 7th grade or so. Long story short, I found out that a significant chunk of my peers, including honors students, thought that rocks were alive. It's not that they were stupid - they had actually logicked it out. Rocks must be alive, because they grow, and they must grow because where else would you get boulders from