Education and the Dialectic Process: Introduction

I have invited a friend and respected educator, to post a series of articles on the dialectic process in education. Denise has done extensive research into issues surrounding education, including trends becoming prevalent in christian education. These articles are intended to illuminate some of the issues surrounding education today, and as an encouragement for parents who choose to homeschool, or who do thorough research on their own.

Education and the Dialectic Process: Introduction

Christian Schools are graduating students who cannot be philosophically distinguished from their public school counterparts the 2004 N.E.E.T. tests reveals. Their behavior is no different, and beneath their Christianese vocabulary, neither is their world philosophy. The blame is placed by some on poor biblical parenting, homes split by divorce, the influence of the secular media etc. All of these reasons are legitimate, but not sufficient to explain the across the board, secularization of students graduating from Christian schools.
As an administrator of a midsize christian academy, I struggled with the obvious lack of Christian students in the school. We had the best Christian curriculum, a fabulous staff of believers, and wonderful Chapel services: yet our student body consisted of fewer than 10% of actual students who were Christians. I take seriously the warning in Matthew 18:6 but whosoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck,, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. So with the fear of the LORD in my heart I started on a quest to discover the answer to my one simple question: What the heck is going on?
What I found at the bottom of it all was a simple and ancient human philosophy that has been around since the Garden of Eden and first implemented by the serpent as he seduced Eve. This philosophy may be simple but it is a powerful and deceptive tool to change culture. It has been called by various names through out history: one of the most common titles it carries is dialectic. I hope to unmask the secret quality of this human philosophy by giving you the facts of its history, modus operandi, and to then discuss education that is uniquely biblical.