Sunday, August 30, 2009

Cookie cutter education is not the answer

No Child Left Behind, while good-intentioned, created a system in which every student is forced to comply with the same set of expectations. Individual needs and abilities are not considered. As C.S. Lewis put it in his classic Mere Christianity:

"When you find yourself wanting to turn your children, or your pupils, or even your neighbors into people exactly like yourself, remember that God probably never intended for them to be that. You and they are different organs, intended to do different things."

We are all part of the 'body' of Christ, yet we are not all toes, or kneecaps, or little fingers. That would certainly make for a weird looking body. No one part is more important or valuable than another. We all have different talents and gifts and have different roles in God's will for our lives and in contributing to the kingdom of God.