When parents are looking for a school for their children, they generally ask about the curriculum (what is taught), which is certainly important. But the greater half of the formula is the pedagogy, which is the how of teaching—the methods, practices, and PURPOSES of teaching.
The word pedagogy comes from the Greek root paideia--the goal of the teacher “who walks with students and trains them in manners, academics, and virtue.”1 It is the culture passed on to the next generation; the core from which decisions are made; the values on which choices are based; and is similar but more encompassing than worldview. Simply defined, it represents the “deeply seated affections, thinking, viewpoints, and virtues embedded in children at a young age, or more simply, the rearing, molding, and education of a child.”2
The differences between the Western Christian Paideia (WCP) and the American Progressive Paideia (APP) are profound.
WCP: a lifelong search for greater meaning in life.
APP: search for a job
WCP: seek wisdom
APP: seek facts
WCP: study history and classics
APP: there is nothing worth knowing that wasn’t just thought of
WCP: teach the application of reason
APP: preach the acceptance of indoctrination
WCP: there is divine order, revealed in Christ
APP: there is humanist anarchy3
Parents get one short window of opportunity to shape and teach their children, and their decisions have eternal consequences.
1 2 3 Hegseth and Goodwin, Battle for the American Mind (2022).
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