“The ‘Educere’ in Education”

Bill Stevens, Headmaster
Wilmington Christian School, Delaware

That's what we do . . . we educe. Now all of us can see the root word here, but not many may know the true meaning. It's Latin, educere, for "to draw out", "to elicit", "to deduce". We truly educate when we are drawing out what is from within. It's a delicate balance of giving information and getting response. Too often, (even our) education is pumping in what we want to be there and then testing to elicit the desired answer. What makes a Christian education so distinctive is that this drawing out centers upon what God has already instilled, created in a young person. As Psalm 139 so vividly proclaims, we have been created with a frame of reference already built-in. If we truly believe that, then why do we settle for an inferior version of learning? Why don't we (homes & churches) put all our resources into seeing that our children receive an education that centers on what's been centered naturally in them?

Let me get anecdotal to this point. The other day was a special day in our elementary school. It was Young Reader's Day. Our guest reader was also an author, and someone from our own community! Mrs. Donna Aviles (daughter Estella is a sophomore) has written several books about her family history gained from conversations. She was sharing with our little ones about how they would collect oral histories of their own families. She asked the kids what they would ask their grandparents if they were writing a history of their lives? After several responses that we'll keep to ourselves for a small fee . . . one 3^rd grader uttered, "They could tell us when they asked Jesus into their hearts . . ."

OK, so after we all ran for the Kleenex, the emotionalism turned to realism. This was a natural response coming from a little person who felt comfortable enough to just let it out. I thought to myself, "Now would this deduction be expressed in a secular educational setting? I doubt it. And what would be the response given that would reinforce what was felt in the heart? No, this is not a trivial Sunday School lesson, but rather a facet of the complete life for us to grasp how wide, and long and high and deep is the love of God . . . a
love that surpasses knowledge.

When Jesus told his disciples, "Let the little ones come to me", I do not think he was simply saying to let them come sit on his lap, or don't push them down the mount so just the big folks can hear him. No, I think he was speaking to the kingdom of God that exists in a child, and if we mature, sophisticated, intellectual types don't recognize this and respond to it in kind . . . we won't enter it!

Allow me to "educe" from you a thought . . . looking ahead a generation and writing your own family history, what would you elicit from your children as important to include?