“Train Students to Be
Thinkers, Not Mere Reflectors “
Thinkers do more than accept passively the thinking of others; they endeavor
to master what others have said or discovered. Thinkers “contemplate the great
facts of duty and destiny”; they are “masters and not slaves of circumstances
[possessing] breadth of mind, clearness of thought, and the courage of their
convictions.”
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How does one fulfill this lofty goal? Ellen White expressed certain
principles that “thinkers” should understand:
Thinkers understand the perils of competition. Why one wants to excel is
the defining question.
One of her constant themes is the call to excellence, to reach the highest
level possible in whatever field of study or lifework one is engaged.
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But a core problem of prevailing educational systems is that it urges
excellence for the wrong reasons and its attainment by the wrong methods. Mrs.
White asked the question, “What is the trend of the education given?” Then she
answered, “To self-seeking.” She described the goals of “true education” as the
antithesis of “selfish ambition, the greed for power, and . . . selfish
rivalry.” She observed that traditional educational methods “appeal to
emulation and rivalry . . . [and] foster selfishness, the root of all evil.”
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“Strife for supremacy” encourages “the system of ‘cramming’” and often
“leads to dishonesty.” By driving students to compete, “discontent . . .
embitters the life” and “helps to fill the world with . . . restless, turbulent
spirits.”
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What feeds this spirit of rivalry and the desire for supremacy? Ellen White
pointed to the content of much literature: Students “drink . . . from the wells
of paganism . . . fed by the corruptions of ancient heathendom. . . . And of
how many modern authors also might the same be said!” In the sciences she saw
the effects of “evolution and its kindred errors” that tend “to infidelity.”
Further, she saw that the “work of ‘higher criticism’ . . . is destroying faith
in the Bible as a divine revelation . . . robbing God’s word of power to
control, uplift, and inspire human lives.”
Ellen White saw that when “youth go out into the world” motivated by the
assumptions of non-Biblical thought, they have no barriers to meet the
prevailing sentiments that “desire is the highest law, that license is liberty,
and that man is accountable only to himself.” Youth catch the spirit of society
flawed by rivalry and competition and, unless made aware of the price of
competition, they have no safeguards to maintain “individual integrity. . .
purity of the home, the well-being of society, or the stability of the nation.”
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For Ellen White a world of difference separates excellence and competition.
This distinction rests on the purpose of education: to “restore the image of
God in the soul.”
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Men and women are to “reach the highest possible degree of excellence,” but
this goal cannot be reached by a “selfish and exclusive culture; for the
character of God, whose likeness we are to receive, is benevolence and love.”
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To reach the Biblical goal of education, Mrs. White observed, would require
a “radical change in some of the current methods of education. Instead of
appealing to pride and selfish ambition, kindling a spirit of emulation,
teachers would endeavor to awaken the love of goodness and truth and beauty—to
arouse the desire for excellence. The student would seek the development of
God’s gifts in himself, not to excel others, but to fulfill the purpose of the
Creator and to receive His likeness.”
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The inherent flaw in using the spirit of competition to motivate students in
the classroom or on the playing field, (or to arouse pastors to reach certain
goals and congregations to raise funds, etc.) is that competition is not a
principle of God’s kingdom of love—cooperation is.
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To fulfill the purpose of education, to restore in men and women the image of
their Maker, “the temptation to be first would be quenched in the lessons daily
learned in the school
of Christ.”
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Modern educational psychologists have recognized that competition is not a
valid motivator. They point out three basic flaws. Flaw One: That young people
need competitive experiences in order to enter a competitive society. Flaw Two:
That competition is an effective motivator. Granted, they say, competition is
“valuable as a motivator only for those people who believe that they can win.”
But those who do not believe that they can win are not so motivated; they are
further “discouraged and disillusioned.” Flaw Three: The stress on competition
leads to morality breakdown and to the compelling rule that the end justifies
the means.
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Thinkers (both students and teachers) have learned that mere memorization
is insufficient. Thinking is a learned event. Learning to think is a joint effort
by thinking teachers and eager students. Ellen White urged Bible teachers
especially “to make the students understand their lessons, not by explaining
everything to them, but by requiring them to explain clearly every passage they
read. Let these teachers remember that little good is accomplished by skimming
over the surface.”
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Dynamic discussion with students repeating the teacher’s explanations “in
their own language” so that it can be determined that “they clearly comprehend”
their lessons may be “a slow process,” but it is of “ten times more value than
rushing over important subjects.” Not only will students better understand the
subject, they will be better prepared to explain the material to others.
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Thinkers will appreciate a “moral taste in love of work.” To modern
minds, this hardly seems to be a factor in developing thinkers, but it lies
close to the root of Ellen White’s philosophy of education. In the
establishment of the Avondale school in the late 1890s, she urged a principle
that she had been emphasizing for at least twenty years—that students must be
educated to be
masters of labor, and not
slaves of labor. She
wanted students to see the “science in the humblest kind of work,” to see
“nobility in labor.”
As we have shown on p. 346 “manual occupation . . . is essential” in order
to balance and strengthen mental activity. Minds are “abused” when the physical
powers are not “equally taxed.”
Further, “habits of industry will be . . . an important aid to the youth in
resisting temptation.” “Pent-up energies . . . if not expended in useful
employment, will be a continual source of trial to themselves, and to their
teachers.”
For these reasons, Ellen White declared that those whose goal is to obtain a
“transformed mind and character” will develop “a new moral taste in love of
work.”
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Thinkers understand that perseverance and commitment are the price of
excellence. To excel in any line of work requires an eye not easily
distracted by “the voice of pleasure” and other diversions. Ellen White pleaded
with parents and teachers to instruct young people that good intentions “will
not avail,” that “no excellence is gained without great labor.” Furthermore, no
great achievement is reached quickly or by ignoring “present opportunities.”
Those who reach the “height in moral and intellectual attainments . . . must
possess a brave and resolute spirit.”
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Source: Herbert E. Douglass.
Messenger
of the Lord.
