God’s Perfect Curriculum
In modern educational circles there are five basic philosophies of education.[1] Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and in a perfect world, these philosophies can be balanced and to create a well-rounded education for a student.
While some of the names for these philosophies are new and the techniques have been honed by educational scholars, we can find each of these philosophies in Old Testament.
These are the five educational philosophies and examples of them in Scripture:
Transmissive Education - The purpose of education is to relay facts and proven knowledge.
The Israelites were to teach the commands of God to their children.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.
Cognitivism - The purpose of education is to develop a student’s ability to think and reason for themselves.
God’s Law instructs the Israelites how to evaluate the things that they hear and evaluate their truth.
Proverbs 14:15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Humanism - The purpose of education is to foster an environment of asking questions and exploring.
God knew that children would ask questions and instructed the Israelites to encourage those questions.
Joshua 4:4-7 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.
Developmentalism - The purpose of education is to use knowledge is a tool to make sense of the world.
The books of Wisdom are filled with people trying to make sense of the world, and the answer they always come to is that the answers are found in the Law of God.
Psalm 119:26-27 I told you about my life and you answered me; teach me your statutes. Help me understand the meaning of your precepts so that I can meditate on your wonders.
Ecclesiastes 11:13 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, for this is for all humanity.
Reconstructionism - The purpose of education is to make learning an agent for social reform.
If the Israelites had followed the moral and civil laws put forth in the Law of Moses, they would have had the most socially reformed society the world has ever seen.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing. You are also to love the resident alien, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.
Since God is the Ultimate Creator of all, he knows better than anyone how the human brain works and learns, and when he instructed Israel to teach their children to Love God and Keep His Commandments, he gave them the perfect curriculum with which they could accomplish the task.
Even the most faithful generations of Israelites failed at this. Very rarely in Scripture do we see more than one generation follow after God. The Israelites consistently failed to implement God’s perfect curriculum, but that does not nullify its effectiveness. And just as God’s Word was sufficient to educate Israelite children in the Law of God, so God’s Word is sufficient to educate our children in all things pertaining to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)
[1] Mark Cannister, Terry Linhart. Teaching the Next Generations. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016.