Why are you educating your child?
How to find YOUR purpose for education!
One of the biggest questions we have failed to ask regarding education is what is the purpose? Generation of the status quo have led to traditions we no longer understand why we do what we do. Sadly, out of all the industry sectors out there, education has remained unchanged for decades and centuries.
Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a fan of the classical education model. I find it hard to comprehend why we are modeling an education system that has its roots in Henry VIII society. I have visited Leeds Castle, which is one of his palaces. His first wife’s bedroom has been restored to how it was in the 1500s. Trust me, the life that it portrays is different from what we currently experience. Running water was not an available luxury; we would not choose to live in a house without a flushable toilet. So why are you willing to continue educating in that manner?
All the studies show that for this generation of kids, 65% – 85% of them will have careers that have not yet been invented. So how we educate this generation is the key to their success. However, the problem with education lies here, even in Henry VIII’s court. What is the purpose of education? What is the goal of education?
The Industrial Revolution
During the Industrial Revolution, as everything became standardized and efficient, someone had the bright idea to do the same to education. When industry adopted Taylorism, it was a game-changer. For example, Henry Ford was a genius and innovator for standardizing the manufacture of the car, and it truly changed the world. But we cannot apply the same principles to children. There is nothing standard about children, the future, and how they learn.
While a standardized process may have worked for manufacturing, it did not produce the same results for education. Instead, we have been left with a system that at best helps a few kids of each generation thrive. At worst, countless children never reached their potential or embraced all they were meant to be.
And yet here we are in 2022, still putting lipstick on this education pig and calling it glamorous. I know some of the most amazing teachers in our area. Their passion and heart for their students are unquestionable. However, they work within an outdated system with the wrong focus. The purpose of education has been negated for results.
A Biblical Perspective
When I read Proverbs 22:6 in the Amplified version of the Bible, it opened the scripture to me in a new way. Inside the parenthesis, it says, “teaching them to seek God’s wisdom and will for their abilities and talents.” Reading this triggered a life-changing light bulb moment for me.
Jeremiah 1:5 says, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” In Psalm 139:16, it says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed”.
The Bible is so clear that God has a plan for each and every one of our lives before we were even born. He knew the abilities and talents we would have because He gave them to us. He knew why He gave them to us and what His will and purpose were for them. So when we talk about ‘training up a child in the way they should go,’ we are not talking about lower-level skills like memorizing State Capitals or multiplication tables. In contrast, it is talking about ‘teaching them to seek God’s wisdom and will for their abilities and talents.’
The problem with this is that each child has unique abilities and talents. Each child has a unique purpose that is God’s will for them. The only standard is finding salvation and loving God with all their hearts. From that one point, the possibilities are as limitless as the stars in the sky. Like each snowflake, though it falls from the sky in the same manner, each is so intricately unique no two are identical.
So I don’t believe for one second that education was meant to be this standard one size fits all model. Some children will thrive in a classical environment, which is their ability and talent. However, for other children, this is stifling and irrelevant.
Our Responsibility
We have a responsibility to each and every child the moment they are born to “teach them to seek God’s wisdom and will for their abilities and talents.” So for one child, they might find the traditional school environment perfect. However, we have to be willing to set aside tradition and standardized norms. Instead, acknowledge that the ‘seeking’ may look different and involve different things.
A few skills are essential for life, but past that, forcing children to ‘seek’ another’s abilities and talents is wrong. Education is such a personal thing that out of everything else in our lives, it should not be standardized. We need to teach them HOW to learn, not WHAT to learn. Once we teach them to seek God’s wisdom and will, then He will show them what their abilities and talents are. Our job as parents is to facilitate. As scary as it sounds, God will provide what they need. Remember, before you even found out they existed, God already had a plan for every one of their days. Our job is not to fill their days with endless knowledge and tasks but to make them seekers of God’s will and purpose.
It’s time to stop making poets out of biologists, chemists out of musicians, blue-collar workers out of programmers, writers out of mathematicians. Instead, we need to let children find out what their talents and abilities are and then let them excel. We would not plant a cypress tree in the middle of the desert and expect it to thrive.
How to find YOUR purpose for education!
So how can you regain your focus and make sure you know your purpose for educating your child? We have created a special PDF Challenge Sheet for you to help you find your purpose. Simply fill in the form below and you will receive the PDF.
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