Who Says… We Need To Follow A Program?

Part of the series Who says…
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-01-05.

When we look at creation, do we see diversity or nothing more than variations on a theme?

Building on a foundation that God is, that He created the universe and that He ultimately is responsible for our children’s being, should provide ample substance upon which to build our faith. This lengthy series will identify the secular thinking that has eroded that faith.

Bible Reference: Matt. 15:9

Scheduling and subjects is such a part of the overall education processes that few question the need to ask for a reasonable application in life. It can be argued that scheduling prepares a child for the real world, but we mistake the child’s world for an adult one, and fail to consider how much we feel trapped by the very schedule we subject our children to. Learning the importance of knowing a schedule actually only takes a few seconds. The first day a student shows up late for work should teach a lesson not soon forgotten! Good arguments can also be made for the need to focus on a subject, as long as it is part of a whole and not an end in itself. When schedule and subjects are combined, we get a program, which can and should be questioned.

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word program is the schedule for tonight’s performance at the theater. Perhaps, because of my appreciation for technology, the other thing I see when confronted with that word, is computers. It is, therefore, easy for me to see a program as a schedule of events in the school, but what are the events presented? When considering that educational programming assumes that all students of a given age in a certain place should study said topics in a subject, I begin to think of computers. Every make and model of computers such as the one I am presently using, is the same. There may be a few minor differences, such as memory and processing, but essentially they are clones with slight variations. Once purchased, they arrive as empty boxes. They are able to function as computers, but will only be of use to you once you have programmed them to do what you want them to do. Are you getting the picture?

Consider that without God, children can only be accidental products of nature and as such essentially come as empty boxes, able to function as children but incapable of doing anything productive until they have been programmed to do what we want them to do. The bible talks of training and teaching, but does not use the word “program”. Training implies repetition to enforce behavior which can be misunderstood as programming, but it ends once the lessons have been learned. Educational programs, whether secular or Christian, are all based on the assumption of naturalistic creative processes and therefore, common “makes and models” of students and their “common” abilities and interests. Programming built on these assumptions advance “common” goals and objectives, which are based on secularism rather than biblical directives, regardless of statements assuring otherwise.

Who says we need programming? Those who see children as lifeless computers that need to be programmed to think and to do according to the programmer’s agenda. While it should be obvious that God creates diversity, advancing programming based on false assumptions actually insists on a conformity which God does not celebrate.

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