{"id":262,"date":"2011-09-17T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2011\/09\/education-and-indoctrination\/"},"modified":"2012-08-07T21:17:51","modified_gmt":"2012-08-08T01:17:51","slug":"education-and-indoctrination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2011\/09\/education-and-indoctrination.html","title":{"rendered":"Education and Indoctrination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Today I ran across a post called \u201cWelcoming Doubt to Christian Education\u201d<\/a> on the Christianity Today blog. The author discusses the pitfalls and failures of Christian education, and then differentiates between education and indoctrination as follows: <\/span>\n

Human history is a series of pendulum swings from one extreme to another. This can be as true of individual growth as it is of culture, and some swings should not be prevented. But in the faith journey, perhaps such severe swings point to a systemic problem more than a personal one. Perhaps the deepest systemic weakness in conservative Christian education is the failure to distinguish between <\/span>education and indoctrination<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>
\n<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To <\/span>educate<\/span><\/a> means to bring out or lead forth. Education opens up. It frees as only truth can.<\/span><\/p>\n

To <\/span>indoctrinate<\/span><\/a> means to imbue with an idea or opinion. Indoctrination closes in. It debilitates like a sweet poison drunk deeply.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the pursuit of truth, education leaves no stone unturned. It sallies forth bravely, unafraid to encounter or examine notions, politics, facts, and beliefs that might challenge previous learning. Education is a <\/span>gentleman<\/span><\/a> who recognizes that <\/span>all truth is God\u2019s truth<\/span><\/a>, and that truth is to be held dear no matter what stone it might be found under or what star might illuminate it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indoctrination \u2014 which need not be intentional in order to be indoctrination; in fact, indoctrination might be most nefarious when it goes unrecognized \u2014 pursues dogma not truth. Indoctrination is a bully who cowers or bristles before contradiction, pummeling it when possible, fleeing when it proves too great to fling off easily. <\/span><\/p>\n

Several educational \u201cblind spots\u201d identified in a recent <\/span>article<\/span><\/a> in a homeschooling magazine illustrate powerfully the differences between education and indoctrination. These include emphasizing outward form, depending on authority and control, relying on formulas, and sheltering students. Such an approach to education, among its other dangers, discourages young people from healthy exploration of doubt. <\/span><\/p>\n

And it appears that doubt is a key to lasting faith. According to a fascinating <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> by Fuller Theological Seminary, young people who are allowed to express and explore doubt are more likely to keep the faith as adults. It seems like a no-brainer (although apparently, it\u2019s not), but, as one of the study\u2019s authors explained, \u201cIf all we\u2019re doing is preaching at them and telling them what to believe, their faith doesn\u2019t become their own.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The students I know who have been disillusioned by their once unblinking faith represent an array of faith backgrounds and experiences. But they all feel that doubt was an aspect of faith that dare not speak its name.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if it\u2019s true, as <\/span>\u201cJesusy\u201d Anne Lamott<\/span><\/a> has observed, that the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty, then perhaps it\u2019s certainty, not doubt, that\u2019s the real enemy of both faith and Christ-centered education.<\/span><\/p>\n

Education embraces doubt in an awkward dance that grows ever more graceful with each step in time; indoctrination, a shrinking wallflower, shuns doubt until the ball is over and goes home. <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

This article is an excellent intervention.\u00a0I love the distinction made between education -opening the mind \u2013 and indoctrination \u2013 closing the mind.\u00a0But the thing is, <\/span><\/span><\/span>when it comes to educating children rather than indoctrinating them, you have to do more than just play lip service. You have to mean it.<\/em> My parents had always said they wanted to educate me, not indoctrinate me. They told me that I should follow truth wherever it led, to always ask questions. But in practice, they didn\u2019t mean it. In practice, they were so certain that they were right, that they had Truth, that if I questioned it or felt led in a different direction, I was automatically wrong. If you\u2019re going to educate your children rather than indoctrinating them, you have to be aware that they may come to different conclusions than you have, and you have to be able to accept that. <\/span><\/span>I also like the point that doubt is not a bad thing. Because it\u2019s not. I would argue that parents \u2013 even devoutly religious Christian parents \u2013 should encourage their children to explore doubt and ask questions. Why? Because h<\/span><\/span><\/span>ow can you ever be sure of what you <\/span><\/span>believe<\/span><\/span> if you don\u2019t question it, don\u2019t turn it inside out, don\u2019t think even the difficult parts of it through? The idea that doubt is the enemy seems so backward to me. If you believe something simply because you have never questioned it or thought it through, your faith is fragile indeed. <\/span><\/span>\n

My parents saw doubt as something that should be stamped out in the face of certainty. When I first started questioning some of their beliefs it was like they suddenly, overnight, ceased to be the supportive parents I had always known and became my opposition. <\/span><\/span>If parents don\u2019t leave room for their children to have express doubt and have questions, they risk pushing their children away and alienating them. The result is that children must choose between pleasing their parents (by parroting their views) and being intellectually honest (exploring doubts and questions and deciding for themselves what they believe). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The goal should not be indoctrinating your children \u2013 passing on your beliefs without question \u2013 but educating them \u2013 giving them the tools to search for truth themselves. Expressing doubt and asking questions does not necessarily lead to an abandonment of faith; rather, it can also lead to a stronger and more mature faith. However, if you educate your children, you <\/span>do <\/em><\/span>run the risk that they may choose different beliefs from yours, and you need to be prepared for that. This is likely why some parents feel that it is safer to indoctrinate their children than to educate them. Yet while i<\/span><\/span>ndoctrination may work well in the short run, it involves imprinting your ideas on your children rather than letting your children form their own beliefs, and beliefs that are imprinted <\/span>on <\/em><\/span>a person rather than formed <\/span>by <\/em><\/span>that person are naturally weaker and more shaky. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I ran across a post called \u201cWelcoming Doubt to Christian Education\u201d on the Christianity Today blog. The author discusses the pitfalls and failures of Christian education, and then differentiates between education and indoctrination as follows: Human history is a series of pendulum swings from one extreme to another. This can be as true of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,48],"tags":[134,130],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","category-homeschool","tag-indoctrination","tag-questions"],"yoast_head":"\nEducation and Indoctrination<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today I ran across a post called "Welcoming Doubt to Christian Education" on the Christianity Today blog. 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