The responsibility of the school towards the child
On
the horizontal level one other institution comes into view when discussing the
various spheres of responsibility with which the child comes into contact, and that
is the school.
A Christian school is given its responsibility by the parents
and community that established it. This responsibility flows from the parents/community
to the board, principal, and teacher.
A
public school is given its mandate from the provincial government and the
voters. The ballot containing the names of candidates for mayor and councillors
will also present names for candidate school trustees. Because the public
school is not parent run, as the Christian school is, parents have little
recourse to effect change at the public school. When the government introduces antichristian
curricula and demands (cf, what is presently happening in Alberta) the parents have little recourse, other than on
election day.
But
let us continue speaking of how it is at the Christian school.
What
is the responsibility of the school towards the child? What is the place of the
school in light of the biblical principle that God gives parents the task to
raise the children that he gives them? We
ought not to identify Christian education with Christian schools. Christian education
is bigger than the Christian school. If parents leave all the education of
their children to the schools, then the children, the families, the churches, and
the schools will be frustrated. The school is part of the picture, but not
the total picture. And the parents' role must remain primary, also in the instruction
of their children.
Since
it is primarily the task of parents to train their children it makes sense that
the parents, and the broader community of the church, will band together to
establish a school, form a board, and hire a principal and teachers to help
them fulfill their task. Parents may opt either to home school or to establish a day school.
Establishing a day school
Since
the education of the children is of greatest importance, it is essential for
church, home, and school all to be pulling in the same direction. The image of
a triangle is well known and useful: church, home, and school form a triangle
where all seek equally and cooperatively to train the child in a biblical way.
Your
children are the only “things” you have been given that will last for ever. Everything
else you have is borrowed stuff which will all burn on the last day, but your
children will live for ever, either in heaven or hell. Raise them carefully!
If
the community of Reformed churches and believers at all have the possibility
they will establish a confessionally Reformed school. Teachers, who have the children
in their classrooms for many hours per
day, will significantly impact the children, for good or for ill. For that
reason parents, through the board, will be careful when hiring teachers.
The
purpose and goal of the school is to teach the students, to impart to them
knowledge, and to help them develop skills that they may become better citizens
of the kingdom of God and of the country in which they live. It is the task of
parents and of the church to lead the little ones to Christ, and the teacher
will help the parents and the church pursue that goal.
Reformed
parents send their children to a (Reformed) Christian school in order for the
children to receive good academic instruction in all the necessary disciplines
by well-trained teachers who are unequivocally committed to the Reformed faith
and who will strive to teach the students from within the framework of a
Biblical (i.e., Reformed) view of God, man, and creation.
As
Reformed confessors we want the teachers of our schools to know and to love the
Reformed confessions, and to teach our children from that perspective. The goal of the school ought to be to impart to
the student knowledge and skills within the framework of a consistently
Reformed view of God, man and creation. We want the school to train our
children to live in this world able to use their God-given talents to the glory
of God and the well-being of the neighbour.
Conclusions
1.
The child belongs to the parents. God calls parents to take care of every
aspect of their children's lives—physical, spiritual, moral, ethical, social,
educational. This is the divine calling of parents.
2.
The church also has a divine calling towards the children. The children are
lambs of the flock. The church must care for them and teach them.
3.
Reformed believers who are members of Reformed churches will want to establish confessionally
Reformed schools. They will want their children taught by teachers who stand with
them foursquare on the Reformed faith as it is confessed in the Reformed
standards.
4.
Reformed schools must be based upon the biblical teaching and the Reformed
confession of:
a.
God.
- God is the transcendent God of the universe who is absolutely sovereign over creation (Belgic Confession articles 1, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 36, 37);
- God is the immanent God who has come near to us in his Word, and in the fullness of time, in his Son and Holy Spirit (Belgic Confession articles 2-7, 9-11, 17-21, 25, 26);
b.
Man.
- Man was created in God's image (Belgic Confession article 14);
- Man fell radically and totally (Belgic Confession article 15,);
- Man's only hope is to be recreated (regenerated) by God in the image of Jesus Christ by the Word (Belgic Confession article 14, 16, 17, 22-24, 27-35);
c.
Creation.
- God has created and sustains all things (Belgic Confession article 12, 13);
- God is the Lord of history (Belgic Confession article 13, 37;
5.
The teacher at a Reformed school will:
a.
Know and love the Triune God, the Word of God, and the Reformed confession;
b.
Love children;
c.
Be well-trained and academically up-to-date.
May
God bless Reformed Christian parents everywhere in the world. May God bless all
the schools that they, with the help of their church communities, establish.
The
government of the Province of Alberta is demanding ungodly principles and
actions of all the schools in the province. Schools that do not comply with the
demands of the ministry of education may lose both any funding they receive
and accreditation. The latter is worse than losing funding because graduates
would not be able to pursue post-secondary education. Their diplomas would not
be recognized by colleges or universities. There may be a task here for the
Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and/or the Association for Reformed PoliticalAction.
-----------------------
- Abbreviated version of conclusion of speech delivered at CRTA--West Teachers' Conference in Coaldale, Alberta, March 22, 1996.
