Testing....1..2..3

Don't you just love it when someone gets up to a microphone to determine if it is working? "Testing….1, 2, 3…" Why don't people say, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," or "Honor your father and your mother," or "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us"? All kidding aside, I believe our culture places the wrong emphasis on testing – as if one test, or a series of them, can determine competence.

What are tests, in the modern academic sense? They are ways of measuring whether or not someone has grasped the material studied. But do they indicate whether or not the person who can give the correct answer will apply that correct answer when called upon to do so? Most definitely not. Biblically, a test is an opportunity to see if one's profession matches one's confession. Consider the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Levite and the priest would have been able to give the correct answer regarding whether a person injured on the side of the road should be helped. But, their actions betrayed their actual beliefs and their application of them.

I do not deplore using tests to measure material grasped. I'm merely suggesting that there are other means of determining (much better than written tests) how much of what you've taught has been learned. For example, discussion and pertinent exploratory questions often reveal much more than a series of True/False or multiple choice responses. Although essay writing is a valuable skill and one that should be mastered, that particular method of demonstrating understanding has more to do with practicality (one teacher can't talk at length with 20 students) than being the quintessential measuring stick of understanding.

The other problem with testing is that it reduces learning to a "make it or break it" point in time whereby one gets to the next step (or not) depending on how well the test questions are answered. It gives the test-makers an inordinate amount of power over others, not to mention an almost divine status, in that it says they know the best questions to ask. By isolating all that was learned into a time of testing lasting 1 – 3 hours, a false priority is given to "giving the right answer" when nuance or circumstances could change a response drastically. In short, it makes the test-taker more concerned with proving his knowledge rather than applying his knowledge.

Testing has become so entrenched in modern academic pursuits that it is hard to imagine a time when this method will fall into disuse. However, while preparing students for PSATs, SATs, ACTs, and all the “alphabet” tests, it is vital that those areas which will have most relevance to their everyday lives as adults receive the proper focus and attention. In truth, our children will more likely be called upon to determine the character of a future employer or employee than determining whether or not various triangles are congruent. They will be faced with political promises from aspiring candidates and need to be able to effectively judge the truth or falsity of their claims and premises rather than be able to recite from memory the various parts of a eukaryotic cell.

The testing that ultimately matters involves meeting the challenges of everyday life in such a way that our actions and decisions, as well as those of our children, are obviously and deliberately being premised on the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Word of God.

Conclusions

Teaching is a risky business. What if your students do not really learn the truths you wish to convey? Worse yet, what if they come up with the "wrong" conclusions about what you instructed – perspectives quite different from your own?

If you are a teacher in a day school setting, you might file this under the category of the cost of doing business. But if you are a home educator, your graduates don't migrate away only to return for periodic school reunions. As a parent/teacher you get to see them and interact with them on a regular basis for the rest of your life. You’ll even be playing with their children someday.

It is precisely for this reason that the homeschool needs to be the place where all things are taught from and related to the Word of God. As in the parable of the sower, the home schooling parent is responsible for sowing good seed and must be more concerned with sowing than on the ground where the seed lands. Nowhere in that parable does Jesus hold the sower responsible for the ground on which the seeds end up. If one's children don’t see eye-to-eye on all matters and concerns, it isn’t a failure on the part of the teacher. By the same token, if children see everything in alignment with their parents without any deviation or disparity, it could mean that both parent and child are mistaken. My point is what they end up thinking does not validate or invalidate the teaching you provided. What we are called to be is faithful; the regenerating and sanctifying work in their lives is under the control and jurisdiction of the Holy Spirit.

I have very definite views on current events that my adult children don't always agree with. Rather than make it so we cannot discuss these things, we often have lively debates that result in potent food for thought. Rarely do we alter our positions entirely, but I am continually amazed at how well reasoned out their arguments are. Just recently, after one such dialogue with my son via email, I inquired, "How did you get to be so smart?" His reply, "My teacher made me think too much!!"

R. J. Rushdoony exemplified teaching the Word of God rather than merely transmitting his own conclusions. His writings and lectures did not have as a focus persuasion. No, his work and mission were much more vital than that. He was convinced that if he presented the Word of God faithfully, the Holy Spirit would lead his listeners into all Truth. We homeschooling parents can learn a lot from him, not only from his message (the Bible speaks to all areas of life and thought), but his also from his method (unabashedly premising all perspectives from an orthodox, biblical perspective). In the end, that's the kind of legacy that is worth recording on one’s lifetime resume: Were we found faithful in raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

Straining Definitions

Definitions serve the purpose of designating not only what something is but also what it is not. For example, a glass can be defined as a clear receptacle used for drinking that holds liquids that are cold or room temperature. This definition makes a glass different from a plate which is a receptacle that is not designed to hold liquids whether they are hot or cold. Thus, one would use a glass for water, milk, or wine, but use a plate for food. It isn't so much that you can't use one in the other's place, but when you do, you alter its purpose and usefulness.

Recently while at a golf tournament, I walked around with a young man there in support of a girl who was paired with my daughter. I asked how he happened to know Jessica -- was he a brother, a boyfriend, or just a friend? He answered that he was her brother -- her stepbrother. Since a round of golf takes a good 4+ hours, Mark and I had a long chance to talk. I discovered that he was an athlete who competes in the junior Olympics for track and field and that he had just graduated from high school. Midway through the round I asked how long he and Jessica had been stepbrother and stepsister. He answered, "Well, we're not actually brother and sister at all. Our parents have been engaged for nine years, so we sort of call ourselves that. I don't know why they haven't gotten married yet…I guess they want to be sure."

So, how do you define brother and sister? These young people were forced to adopt a relationship that wasn't really theirs. No doubt, they wanted to fit into some recognizable category. When I discussed this with my daughter, she looked at me dumbfounded and said that Jessica had identified Mark as her boyfriend, indicating a dating relationship. When I told her what he had told me, my daughter responded, "That's gross! Dating your brother!"

But think about it. Assuming you have no issue with dating in general, what exactly was "gross" about their relationship? They really aren't brother and sister at all. The fact that they had been thrown together since they were nine and seven years old respectively set up a confusing and non-defined relationship. I let my daughter know that the fault lay with their respective parents who, no doubt, were more interested in gratifying their own desires than caring for the well-being of their children.

Is it any surprise that the definition of marriage is under assault when the definitions of father, mother, brother, and sister have been strained and muddled over the last four decades? The Bible takes great pains to list the lineages of both the righteous and the unrighteous in terms of their biological roots rather than the "blended families" of our era. Moreover, for us to truly understand the idea of the Church being the "family of God," we must understand that, just as the biological family has members who are clearly defined, so too being a member of God's family is not a matter of adorning oneself with a label, but an act of our Sovereign Savior.