Practical Paideia

“To promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness”. These are the first few words of the United States’ Department of Education’s mission statement. At first glance, they sound pretty good. As parents, teachers, and citizens, we want our students to be high achievers, to be prepared for the future. But if you look more closely, you might notice something. The focus is almost entirely on information and outcomes rather than formation and character. The pedagogical principle of formation vs. information is rooted in the belief that education is primarily concerned with shaping who students become rather than merely what they know. 

As students move through middle school and high school and towards college and the work place we repeatedly hear the question “what will this education do for me?”. But the more important question is, “what will this education do to me?” How is the education our children receive today, shaping the men and women they will become tomorrow? Socrates captured it well when he said that education is “the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” 

Practically speaking, this principle requires us to slow down. Formation rarely happens when our goal is moving through material as quickly as we can. Instead, formation happens when we take the time for difficult conversations, when we allow students to wrestle with important questions, and when we choose discipleship over efficiency. 

So whether you’re a parent or an educator, join me in remembering what the ultimate aim is. It’s not reading more books than the next person, doing more activities after school than our neighbors, or taking as many practice SAT tests that we can get our hands on. In the end, education is not just about what our students know. It is about who they are becoming.