91原创

A friend passed on to me , editor of WORLD magazine. Our vision at 91原创 lines up wonderfully with what Mr. Olasky shares.

E = R3WCG
By Marvin Olasky

E=mc2 is a simple equation compared to the mystery of what goes into good education. But I鈥檒l take a shot at proposing an education equation.

(1) Start with the three Rs, reading, 鈥檙iting, and 鈥檙ithmetic.

(2) Move quickly to the opening line of a great John Newton hymn repopularized by Jars of Clay: 鈥淟et us love and sing and wonder.鈥� If children don鈥檛 develop a sense of wonder about this astounding, God-created world, they鈥檒l miss a lifetime of excitement. Music, art, history, science, foreign languages, and more should all make school wonder-full.

Our new testing regime doesn鈥檛 leave much time for wonder, and educators pay attention to the W only if they answer accurately a basic question: Who are my students? Are they animals with above-average intelligence (compared to horses and caterpillars, but maybe not dolphins)? Are they low-grade computers with below-average memory and above-average weight (compared to a MacBook Air)? Or are they human beings created in the image of a God of wonder?

(3) Add a C for specifically Christian education, for only in Christ do all things hold together. If students don鈥檛 understand that God created us, they are likely to become practical atheists. If they don鈥檛 understand that God gives history meaning, they are likely to become nihilists. Schools cannot give kids faith in Christ鈥攐nly God can鈥攂ut they can help students recognize their need, yearn for meaning, and not be content with wasting their lives.

Please do take Christian education seriously: No other work is more important.
If teachers want to be educators rather than prison wardens, it鈥檚 vital for them to think Christianly about their students. If they see students as bucking broncos, they鈥檒l think the job of schools is to break them. If they see students as fleshly computers, they鈥檒l want to perform an information dump. But if they understand that students are God鈥檚 children and have souls that never die, they鈥檒l understand that just teaching to the test fails the biggest tests.

(4) The G is for the four-letter word that more than any other determines educational and occupational success: grit. University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Duckworth developed a 鈥済rit scale鈥� and found that undergraduates with determination were more likely to obtain high grades than those with higher SAT scores but less grit. The grittiest West Point students she tracked did better in cadet training than those who scored higher on traditional aptitude tests.

Part of grit involves fighting the desire for immediate gratification, an impulse measurable at age 4 via the marshmallow test, which starts with a small child in a room with a marshmallow and an adult. The adult tells the child he鈥檚 leaving the room to run a short errand. During that time the child is free to eat the marshmallow鈥攂ut if he waits until the adult comes back, he can then eat not only that marshmallow but a second one as well.

Children鈥檚 ability to wait for gratification varies enormously. When Stanford psychology professor Walter Mischel, inventor of the test, looked in on those 4-year-olds a decade later, he found the impatient eaters had 鈥渓ower SAT scores, higher body mass indexes, problems with drugs and trouble paying attention.鈥夆�� The seconds of time preschool children were willing to delay for a preferred outcome predicted their cognitive and social competence and coping as adolescents.鈥�

Another study showed self-discipline to be twice as important as IQ in predicting grades of eighth-grade students. One large study, which traced about 1,000 New Zealanders from childhood through age 32, similarly found that those with less childhood impulse-control were more likely to be alcoholics or drug abusers, overweight or unhealthy鈥攁nd were more than three times as likely to have been convicted of a crime. So, schools along with teaching the three Rs, W, and C need to do all they can to develop G for grit.

So, that鈥檚 my formula: E=R3WCG three Rs times Wonder times Christian understanding times Grit. We need all of those elements: A Christian school that has chapel yet doesn鈥檛 encourage wonder and grit among its students is wasting money and lives. But don鈥檛 take school formulas too seriously: Kids are individuals and flexibility is important. Please do take Christian education seriously: No other work is more important. May God bless all those who make large sacrifices to bless other parents and children.