Foxes and Hedgehogs

Several years ago a friend gave me a book of essays. One of those essays was Isaiah Berlin's essay, The Hedgehog and the Fox. The essay is a discussion of Leo Tolstoy's theory of history. The fragment used for the title is from the Greek Poet, Archilochus. He states, "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing."

Berlin masterfully used this to build on the idea that writers and thinkers only fall into one of two categories: hedgehogs, who view the world through the lens of a single defining idea, or foxes who draw on a wide variety of experiences and for whom the world cannot be boiled down to a single idea. Berlin asserts that Tolstoy postulates in way that makes it difficult to put him in either camp. After reading the essay in full, I was lead to believe that Tolstoy knew he was a fox, but spent his life working towards that of a hedgehog.

For many years I have dwelt on this metaphorical concept in thought and prayer and have arrived at some thoughts. These I share with you now for no other reason than to expose my flawed thinking and my journey of thinking in all ways Christ.

1. We, as Christians, ought to be hedgehogs for one simple reason: Christ. He is "the big thing" that governs all of creation, therefore it is Jesus Christ that ought to be our big idea, and that which motivates us in all things.
2. We are by nature foxes because we are fallen and sinful. Every selfish desire that we employ exposes our fox-like nature.
3. We live in world of foxes run by foxes. Postmodernism has turned this world into a fox's lair and given permission to celebrate those traits that are fox-like: selfishness, inconsistent worldviews, and pride just to name a few.

To further expose the flawed nature of my mind, I now take these concepts that I have applied individually and apply them collectively. You would think that to apply these concepts in a collective way would be problematic. That has proven not to be the case.

I believe that most schools are foxes in nature because they believe that is their natural state. Instead, I propose that the more natural state of a school is that of a hedgehog. In every way educationally, to be a hedgehog is to be in a better position to educate and disciple students. No one person or one entity can be all things to all people; each must decide what to do well and work to do it exceptionally well. This is why we at Westminster Christian Academy strive to do all things in Christ and to do all things with excellence; we believe that what we do is dictated by a Holy God, and that He calls us to do it in the very best way.

As we all go forward day by day, may we do so not as the fox that scurries from one urgent thing to the next; instead, may we do so as the hedgehog and go forward with resolve and perseverance to always do things in Christ and with excellence.

Now for Something Completely Different...

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Grove City College's Dr. T. David Gordon and Media Ecology

This past weekend Grove City College graciously loaned out one of their own to those of us at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, AL. Dr. T. David Gordon, a Grove City College professor and good friend of our pastor, Dr. Wingard, spent the weekend educating those of us in attendance on...media ecology. I hear all of you collectively asking, what is media ecology? Glad you asked!

Dr. Gordon defines media ecology as the interest in human environment and the many new different media's impact on that human environment. Media ecologists are interested in the effect of the intake of multiple kinds of media, and what that intake does to a human being. They are not interested in the effect of the content on the human, but instead, they are interested in the effect of the process and prolonged exposure to that process on the human.

The conference made me think deeply about my use of television, music, and certain communication devices, like my blackberry. Dr. Gordon spoke on the whole idea of news as not really being news. News, he stated, has become a commodity and is dictated by money. What is news today is not news, but instead, it is that which will sell newspapers, air time, and the such.

Dr. Gordon forced me to think about priorities. My priority right now is to go to sleep which forces me to only leave you with some of his random comments. I assure you, he was not random; in fact I believe he is a brilliant mind. We may not agree on all things, but he motivates me to a deeper walk with my Savior.

I now leave you with some of Dr. Gordon's thoughts. Dwell on them for some time instead of answering that cell phone or watching that television show, and let me know if your life was richer or poorer for it

Random Thought 1: We make tools and tools make us.

Random Thought 2: What was once distant is now proximate and now the proximate is less important (think of how many times you interrupt a conversation to answer your cell phone).

Random Thought 3: Television can only handle the inconsequential; nothing of significance can be attained from television.

Random Thought 4: Pictures always lie; pictures deceive us in multiple ways.

That is all for now. Happy thinking!

The Problem of Doing

Nicholas Wolterstorff makes the case for liberal arts education in his article, Why Doing Isn't Everything. This weekend I was part of a discussion about liberal arts education. The discussion hung with me and reminded me of this article by Wolterstorff.

His premise in this article is one belonging to all human beings. Wolterstorff argues, "given the nature of human beings and their odyssey on earth, the existence of liberal arts education is one of the most natural things in the world."

He goes into a lengthy explanation of what liberal arts education is, but let me save you some time. Wolterstorff arrives at the idea that liberal arts education is "education aimed at inducting the student into that enduring, socially transcendent cultural heritage - into the philosophy, the literature, the art, the music, the science that is handed down to us." For Wolterstorff the debates will rage, but the reality is that the essence of liberal arts education is still induction into our cultural heritage. That, for Christians, is the crux of the issue.

He goes on to write about what it means to be human, and how this makes his case for liberal arts education to be natural rather than problematic. The reason he makes this case is to simply prove that to be human is to be enculturated. He goes on to say that one's enculturation is always into some specific culture and always manifested in the "doing" of something more than something merely vocational. There are always additional engagements with the rest of the planet for which we must also be prepared.

He writes about some of the assumptions and myths associated with culture, and shatters one the most protected myths by stating unequivocally that "no one is enculturated into human culture in general, since there is no such thing as human culture in general."

There is more to read regarding liberal arts education and induction into cultural heritage, but for our purposes, let me advance to his conclusion. Wolterstorff brings his premises together in one statement: "liberal arts education in some form or other is inevitable." And Wolterstorff asserts that no one really wants to avoid being inducted into their cultural heritage, therefore liberal arts education will never disappear because it is one of the most natural things on earth.

Having reached this point, I must ask one final important question: what are the implications to those of us who are parents currently considering our children's educational future knowing that liberal arts education has to do with encultration into Christian cultural heritage? I believe that the decision on where to educate my children is one of the most important decisions I will ever make on their behalf for their future Christian walk! My advice to you if your asking: make that decision after much prayer in conjunction with a Holy God!

Click on the article title to read the article in its entirety; it is well worth the time.

The Unwanted Trait

G.K. Chesterton wrote that teaching a child involves "disruption and a kind of educational violence."

Chesterton goes on to state that "education is violent; because it is creative. It is creative because it is human. It is as reckless as playing on the fiddle; as dogmatic as drawing a picture; as brutal as building a house. In short, it is what all human action is; it is interference with life and growth."

I believe Chesterton is right; education is violent because it directly involves the correlation of growth and life. This violence is the entry point into the educational process; there is no other door. Our problem in the west is that we do not want education to bear this trait, yet if this trait is not present there is no hope to reach the summit and take in the beautiful view.

At Westminster we believe in the process as much as the product. In order to provide our students with the best possible education, we must make sure that our students first understand that education is hard work. We all remember that first plight of hard work that produced results. Our job as educators is to foster vigor, diligence, and pride in the ability to work hard. The world is a pragmatic place that expects results, and in most instances, those results are only achieved through hard work.

But there is another reason, and James give us that reason in James 3:6-15. There he implores us to "withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly" and to "not grow weary in doing good." As Christians, our students need to understand that hard work is part of their calling and that calling is not of this world.

I leave you with this awesome quote by G.K. Chesterton and invite you to dwell on it for a moment and consider the implications for your situation.

"Dead things flow with the current; only living things swim upstream."

Multum non Multa

The more time I spend inside the educational process the more I wonder about the principle of multum non multa: not many things (multa), but much (multum). I have often wondered about curriculum and its growth as more good items are added to it. Let me share with you my thoughts, as bizarre as they might be.

I believe I have come to believe (how about that statement) that curriculum should never be static but alive. But, there is a problem (is there not always)! If curriculum is alive then it is ever changing. The problem then becomes the change; curriculum must change, but I believe that change must be qualitative instead of quantitative. Quantitative change involves the addition or the subtraction (quality equates to volume here) of the pieces that make up the collective curriculum. Those pieces are disciplines, but the problem lies with the type of change. It does not matter if the school is good or poor the change that will occur will be quantitative and almost always involve an addition to the curriculum. I give an A for effort here as addition is almost always good, except in this case.

This is where the principle of multum non multa comes into play. Teaching many things inside a curriculum, in my opinion, waters down the amount of time spent on the really necessary parts of a curriculum. If a school's goal is to teach in depth and breadth then it is virtually impossible to do this with a wide variety of academic offerings. Disciplines should be taught in relation to one another as this is in itself a higher category of thought. With bundles of options no one option will ever be taught in the depth and breadth needed to produce the product a school should be producing. The next question naturally becomes, what then is primary to the curriculum? That is for another time.

I welcome other opinions as I think out loud about this. I have read several good articles regarding this principle. Please click HERE for one of the best. Oh, by the way...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!