Over years of learning, unlearning, and teaching I often ask myself, “What do we mean by education?”
Growing up in India, neighbours, acquaintances, and associates often asked me two questions. Firstly, “What rank do you get in your school?” and secondly, “Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up ?”
I struggled to answer both the questions. Firstly, I was not necessarily the “best student.” So rank or merit was out of the question. But I understood early, that people thought it was something glorious and desirable.
As for my career choice, I remained indecisive about it until the end of my education at school. I knew I did not want to become a medical doctor. I was far more passionate about history than science. But no matter what I chose, I already felt inadequate because of the clear value assigned to some career paths over others.
Since I could not answer either of the questions, I embraced the lie that I was not going to achieve much or do very well in life. It made me wonder what kind of education do we want for our children.
A Misguided Sense of Education
In India, the idea of education for our children is equated with the idea of success, rank, or performance. You are “educated” if you have earned a degree from a respectable institution, or if you crack a national level exam. Then you can get into any university in the world, and draw a big salary from a well established firm. Then you are “successful.”
In our pressure-cooker education system, students accounted for 8 per cent (13,089) of the total suicides in the country in 2021, with “failure in examination” listed as one of the reasons. Aspiring parents say things like, “We had decided to send him/her to IIT when he/she was born.”
Working with qualified, educated people from various sectors I have realised how we have a misguided idea of education. It has made me ask myself, “What is a whole life education? And how can Christians provide this to our children?”
As Indians, we are deeply focused on academics and a particular learning methodology. This has its strengths and weaknesses. We can thrive in certain fields and excel in them. But it is certainly not the only pathway to a fruitful life.
Whole Life Education is More Than A Report Card
A whole life education for our children is more than just marks, results, report cards, or admissions into good colleges. “Doing well” in school is more than performance and mastering a few skills. It is primarily learning how to learn.
Children become curious and learn to satisfy their curiosity. It is training their minds to acquire knowledge, challenging them to understand the world, recognising their gifts and inclinations, and using them to make a contribution to change the world for the better.
As John Piper says, “Education is the instilling of habits of mind and habits of heart that incline and enable students for the rest of their lives to thus observe and understand and evaluate and feel and apply and express reality for the good of the world.”
But do today’s schools or colleges have this vision of education for our children? Can they take on this huge responsibility alone?
We must recognise that a person can be highly educated and still have a rusted, rebellious heart. Without Christ, education can enlighten us but it cannot drive us. To make a difference in our world, we all need the gospel. We need Christ to educate our hearts. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
The Whole Life Education of Moses
I was encouraged by a woman in the Bible named Jochebed. She is the mother of Moses. Her humble, sacrificial, and powerful contribution in raising her son is inspiring. After giving him up to save him, the Lord gives him back to her for a time (Ex. 2:1-4).
“Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son ( Ex. 2:7-10).
Moses grew up in a royal family. Pharaoh’s palace gave him all the benefits, learning, and education of Egyptian writing, philosophy, and history. Egypt was one of the most academic and scientific societies of its time. He was “instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (Acts. 7:22).
The Egyptians gave him the best of academic, emotional, and physical training. He was most certainly introduced to the Egyptian gods, goddesses, and belief system. But the Lord’s hand was on his chosen servant.
“One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people” (Ex. 2:11).
“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Heb. 11:24-26).
We can give our children the best of knowledge, put them in the best of schools, offer them the best of physical training and train their minds to conquer the world. But teaching them to guard their hearts is a greater responsibility for Christian parents. Even more so, the Lord has authority over their hearts. We can turn to him to turn their hearts to him.
A Whole Life Education at Home
A whole life education is not about what mechanism or methodology we choose—large schools, small schools, private schools, homeschooling, or unschooling. Anyone, anywhere can influence them for better or worse. But what parents or caregivers do at home, with everyday and heart to heart conversations, is exceptionally powerful.
This whole life education for our children involves, primarily two things: introducing our children to Jesus and making Jesus a real part of our everyday life and decision making.
Talk about Jesus
Speak to your children about how we live in a messy world. Discuss current affairs with them in an age-appropriate way. Reflect and give examples of how we have fallen far from God and tend to run away from him. Show how sin brings decay to our world, our hearts, and our relationships. Be sensitive to opportunities to repent and believe the gospel in your prayers. In every possible way, show how your hope as a family is in Christ alone.
Reflect on Life
Help your children see the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Lean on God to make wise choices, to listen to the wisdom of the Spirit in your heart. Everyday there is an opportunity to invite reflection, like, “Do you think that was the right way to talk to him?” or “Is there another way to get this project done together?”
Thrive to Learn
Learn with joy because God calls us to do our job diligently, not to impress parents or peers. He wants us to enjoy the process as a way to please God. So, we love to learn not to pass an exam. We want to learn because it is my joy to do my work well.
Pray for Help
When those math questions seems challenging, or when the daunting fear of exams get real, turn to God in prayer together. He is not someone we visit only on Sundays. But he is a real help, especially through the hard times. Show them how the Lord is near. Talk to him about all the little and the big things of life, and he will be there.
Lead By Example
Children learn to be what we are, not to do what we say. This is the hardest thing for parents to learn. We may throw our words around thoughtlessly, talk about giving while hoarding up earthly treasure, while they are watching us and learning from us.
In our failings, we may doubt ourselves and question our qualification to lead by example. But this is where we must trust the gospel. Our calling, qualification, and righteousness is in Christ, not in ourselves. Though we fall short in many ways, we stand in Christ alone.
Our shortcomings can become opportunities to show them how to repent and trust in Christ alone. Learning is a beautiful process. Truth be told, I have learned more from children than from adults. God wants us to be just like those little children. We learn to be like Jesus by always looking to Jesus. So keep your gaze fixed on him and let him educate you into his likeness.
