THE PRINCIPLE APPROACH TO EDUCATION –
THE PRINCIPLE APPROACH TO EDUCATION – |
RESTORING AMERICA THROUGH A RETURN TO |
In June 2010, the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC) in Pasadena, Maryland contacted me, saying, "You are graduating more people from these classes in southwest Ohio than anywhere else in the nation. What are you doing?" I told them that while John Eidsmoe was teaching students about the Constitution, I was teaching them how to use the Constitution.
As part of the IOTC curriculum, I was incorporating a system of learning known as the Principle Approach, the method of education used by our Founding Fathers. This enables the students to begin to think and reason for themselves from a biblical worldview. Unlike our current education system that teaches students what to think, the Principle Approach uses definitions from Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary, seven biblical principles and leading questions to help students search out the truth in any subject. This approach will be laid out in more detail in the pages following. For the IOTC classes, we used applications that relate to government and history.
The Principle Approach method is known as the “Four R’S” –
• Research - using the Bible, Webster's 1828 Dictionary and other primary sources, such as the founders’ original writings, so as to better define terms.
• Reason - using leading questions to identify truth or former misconceptions.
• Relate - relating this truth to history, a current event or any subject before us.
• Record - write it down or use it; i.e. contacting Congressman or speaking to others with Constitutional or principled arguments rather than opinions.
The Principle Approach was accidently endorsed by the Nehemiah Institute, a Christian research organization formed in the 1980s for the purpose of returning Americans to a biblical way of thinking. To that end they created the PEERS test, not an academic exam, but rather a diagnostic tool to identify and measure the students’ worldview in the areas of Politics, Economics, Education, Religion, and Social issues.
They expected to be able to dramatically demonstrate the difference in worldviews between Christians in the public schools versus Christians in Christian schools. What they learned instead was jolting: The results showed that while the Christian school students slightly surpassed the public schools in their proximity to a biblical worldview, there was one group of schools that was far superior to the average Christian school in its ability to develop a scriptural perspective on everything. Upon further investigation, they learned these outstanding schools were using a method called the Principle Approach, a name they had never heard before.
The data from the PEERS test was both enlightening and intriguing. While both the public and Christian school students’ biblical worldview was steadily plummeting through the years further into secular humanism and socialism, the Principle Approach students were growing stronger in their biblical worldview. The PEERS Trend Chart shows both of these stark developments very clearly.
Reading the PEERS Trend Chart (file located on this CD – “03-Intro-PEERS Test Results.pdf”)
Looking at the yellow box on the top right entitled, "PEERS Worldview Scale," one can see the correlation between the test scores and the various worldviews. Scores over 70 represent a biblical worldview, with scores below that identified in decreasing order as a moderate Christian, a secular humanism or a socialism worldview.
The Principle Approach schools, marked in green, consistently scored not only above the other schools, but grew in their understanding of a biblical worldview through the years. Conversely, both the public and traditional Christian schools declined in their understanding of a biblical worldview as the years passed. Perhaps the most alarming of all is that the traditional Christian school results were lower in 2002 than the public schools were in 1988.
Sample Test Statements
To better understand this data, below is the scoring method, along with a sampling of statements from the PEERS test with which students are to rate their level of agreement or disagreement:
• The concept of family, traditionally understood as a father, mother, and children, needs to be redefined to include other types of committed relationships.
• Because human nature is constantly changing, values and ethics will also change. Therefore, each generation should be free to adopt moral standards appropriate to their preferences.
• A primary function of civil government is to enact educational and social programs designed to prevent overpopulation of its land.
ChristianSecular
ConservativeLiberal
Possible AnswersStatementStatement
Strongly agree +5 -5
Tend to agree +3 -3
Neutral 0 0
Tend to disagree -3 +3
Strongly disagree -5 +5
Conclusion
The evidence is both clear and alarming: Public and traditional Christian schools are failing to create a biblical worldview in their students. The other evidence is equally clear, but inspirational: The Principle Approach schools are building citizens who can increasingly think and reason from a biblical perspective, an absolutely essential element in restoring America to its biblical foundations of limited, constitutional government.
How the Principle Approach Works
The Principle Approach is the form of teaching and learning our Founding Fathers adhered to and taught. It was this process of learning that led to the very documents and form of government that we are studying. It is a life long learning method that is slowly re-emerging in the educational arena. Because of the depth of it, there is neither time nor space here to teach the approach in its entirety; however a short example is set out below. (In the materials I have put in this manual, there are specific examples of how to incorporate this approach to both learning and application.)
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
Noah Webster was a master of 27 languages and dedicated years of his life to compiling the first American dictionary. His mastery of language and strong Christian underpinnings are two main reasons for using this specific dictionary, but the third and greatest reason is to overcome modern revisionist definitions. Words and their meaning matter! The following example will dramatically demonstrate this phenomenon:
right - conformity to standards or prevailing conditions. (Harcourt Brace Dictionary, 1968)
right - according to the will of God (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
The modern dictionary declares that right is determined by the circumstances in which we find ourselves. No absolute standard. Webster's 1828 sets forth an absolute truth.
Seven Biblical Principles
1. God’s Sovereignty
2. Man’s Individuality
3. Government [self – family – church – civil]
4. Property or Stewardship
5. Christian Character
6. Sowing and Reaping or Education
7. Unity and Union or Covenant
Leading Questions
The purpose of leading ideas or questions is to guide the student to the Biblical or Constitutional root of any issue, policy or law. Using the Four R’s (Research – Reason – Relate – Record) to answer these questions, students are taken through a process of thinking that teaches them a biblical worldview.
Sample leading questions are:
• What is the foundation of all Law?
• What is the purpose of law?
• Does this policy, action, law or idea fit the criteria, or adhere to the principles and tenets of law and/or our U. S. Constitution?
Answers to these basic research questions are built upon by asking more leading questions to teach the student biblical reasoning, and ultimately relating that reasoning to the question before them. For example, let's use the 4 R’s on the following statement:
The Supreme Court decision of Roe vs Wade made abortion the law of the land, legal in all 50 states.
Research -
Leading Question - What is the foundation of all Law?
[Answer] - The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God
[Source] - Declaration of Independence, U. S. Constitution, & Webster's 1828 Dictionary
Next Leading Question - What are the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God?
[Answer] - The Laws of Nature's God - the moral law…contained in the …10 commandments written by the finger of God.
[Source] – Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
[Next Answer] - The Law of Nature – A rule of conduct arising out of the natural relations of human beings established by the Creator, and existing prior to any positive [written] precept. Thus, it is a law of nature that one man should not injure another, and murder and fraud would be crimes, independent of any [written] prohibition from the supreme power.
[Source] - Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Reason -
In other words, the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God come from God and the Bible. The first is written, the other is intuitively and instinctively known to man, written in his heart by God, his Creator. Both are derived from the principle of God's Sovereignty as the Supreme Ruler of the universe.
Relate –
Leading Question - Can abortion, the taking of an innocent life (murder), be legalized by a court decision?
Record –
[Answer] - Clearly and simply – no! In order for man’s law to be valid, it must conform to God's law. The Supreme Court (man) does not have the authority to overrule the Supreme Being (God's) law. In addition, the Constitution declares only Congress has the authority to make law ( Article I, Section 1), not the courts, and this Congressional law must still conform to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” to be legitimate.
For more information, go online to www.principleapproach.org or call the Foundation for American Christian Education (F.A.C.E.) at 800-352-3223. Or, if interested in a 90-minute demonstration of the Principle Approach in action, call Ricki Pepin at 937-322-3149 or e-mail – ricki@pepin.com
Lecture Eleven: Email Article #1 Page 1 of 4
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