| |
Jesus'
first disciples came almost exclusively from the lower, uneducated levels
of society. For Jesus, what seemed important in a person was not how much
they knew, but how aware they were of their need to know. As the New English
Bible puts it, 'How blest are those who know their need of God; the Kingdom
of Heaven is theirs." (Matthew 5:3).
St Paul also emphasized that the first Christians would not necessarily
match up to traditional views of learning and that God's way was not necessarily
the way of the world: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than
man's wisdom." (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25). It would seem that
cleverness is not an important measure of worth within Christianity! Yet
many parents are obsessed with their children 'doing well' in school tests
and exams. Why is this? What are the students' own experiences? For example,
have they been promised financial or other rewards if they pass their GCSEs?
Younger students might like to imagine how they could 'measure' kindness
or generosity. Could they design some sort of x-ray machine - or even a
ruler! - that would measure such intangible, but essential, qualities? Or
what about designing a weekly timetable, sample exams and certificates for
a school which placed such values at the centre of its life?
the · In many folk tales, the foolish/simple (but kind) character
triumphs over clever (but nasty) rivals. Why not write a story based on
this model? Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes provides
a variation on this theme - the child exposes the hypocrisy of the adults.
A funny version of this story, Twigmuntus, Cowbellianus and Perchnosius,
in which a simple farm boy confounds a collection of learned pedants, can
be found at
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1641c.html#twigmuntus
This also gives links to similar tales.
|
