It appears to have began long ago with Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the patron saint of Roman Catholic theologians. He studied Greek, Arabic and Hebrew philosophers and incorporated some of their thinking into Christian theology. His major innovation was the idea that God and truth are not solely revealed by the Bible, but that man by … Continue reading Humanism as the established religion
Learning
Do Intelligence and Irresponsibility go together?
I was reading several years before I started school, I always did well in school and through reading I began to accumulate a very eclectic storehouse of information. I began to develop confidence that I could figure things out on my own. It happened one day that a counsellor presented me with an aptitude test, … Continue reading Do Intelligence and Irresponsibility go together?
Public Schools: mediocrity is the goal
There was a time, about 120 years ago, when almost everyone in Canada could read and write well, could do the math calculations needed in their daily life and work, often without pencil and paper, knew a good bit about world history and understood how governments worked. It is not that way today. It is … Continue reading Public Schools: mediocrity is the goal
Universities and free speech
Students at Carleton University in Ottawa set up a “Free Speech Wall” on Monday in an attempt to prove that free speech was possible on the university campus. The “wall” was a 1.2 x 1.8 metre (4 foot x 6 foot) wooden board covered with paper. Felt markers were provided. One of the students involved … Continue reading Universities and free speech
Quotes on schooling
“My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself.” - George Bernard Shaw “My grandmother wanted me to have an education, so she kept me … Continue reading Quotes on schooling
No-fault schooling
A friend told me how he had applied for a job as a technician at a chemical plant, claiming diplomas that he did not have. When he got the job, he spent the weekend cramming with chemical textbooks, started work on Monday and quickly became an expert technician. After a number of months, he told … Continue reading No-fault schooling
The decline and fall of public education
Chris was 17 when we got married and had just finished Grade 11. She enrolled in Grade 12 that fall and rode the school bus to the nearest large town with a high school. It didn’t last long — she was in a new community where she didn’t know any of her fellow students, she … Continue reading The decline and fall of public education
Kids are different today
"Kids are different today," I hear ev'ry mother say Mother needs something today to calm her down And though she's not really ill There's a little yellow pill She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day. For readers not … Continue reading Kids are different today
Problematic behaviours in children and adolescents – Our family’s experience
I listened with bemused interest as my daughter described racing the Moose Jaw city bus to the end of the block. There was a bus stop in front of the second house on our block and she would wait there on the sidewalk with her trike until the bus left the stop and then pump … Continue reading Problematic behaviours in children and adolescents – Our family’s experience
Illiteracy in Elementary and Secondary Schools
[The decline in the public education system did not begin yesterday. These paragraphs are excerpted from a book published almost 60 years ago. The difference today is that most people accept this as normal - they don't remember a time when things were different.] Is it possible that this timidity, this excessive appeal to "interest", … Continue reading Illiteracy in Elementary and Secondary Schools
Flatlander Faith 