BJU Press Blog

philosophy

Gaining Joy

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image of BJU Press homeschool branding gaining wisdom and knowledge and joy.

What is joy?

In his book Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life, C. S. Lewis characterizes joy as an unexpected, elevated emotion that comes over you at times when you least expect it. Not a bad description, but there may be even more to it. The dictionary describes joy as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.” But then it muddles the issue a bit by speaking of “tears of joy.” So joy is something that makes you so happy that you . . . cry?

Well, yes, that’s sometimes the case. I remember the first time I had that experience. I was five or six years old, and my mom had been in the hospital for more than a week. I was staying at my grandmother’s house, and one afternoon suddenly there was Mom, home from the hospital! My brother and I ran to her and hugged her, and all of a sudden all three of us were crying. A very confusing moment for a young boy! So my brother and I covered our embarrassment in a typically masculine way. Each of us pointed at the other and laughed at him.

Joy—an elevated emotion, a feeling of great pleasure and happiness that can come over you when you least expect it.

What does joy have to do with education?

Let’s skip forward a few years . . . I’m now in college, and the professor in my life science class is giving a lecture on DNA and RNA and how DNA is replicated. I remember sitting there completely lost and very downhearted. I could usually pick things up pretty quickly, but this concept had me very confused.

A big part of my problem was that I hadn’t done the assigned reading for that day. I remember after class taking my big fat college science textbook to the campus library, finding a study carrel way out of the traffic pattern, and burying myself in the chapter on DNA replication. I was totally absorbed in this confusing topic—I was determined to understand how it worked.

As I read the chapter, what happened? It all unfolded before my eyes. I understood how the DNA strand unzipped, what the RNA did, and how the whole process worked. “I get this! I get this!”

Although I couldn’t explain DNA replication to you today, over thirty years later, my point is that what I experienced that afternoon was unquestionably joy! I felt so much joy that I still remember that afternoon today.

No doubt you’ve had similar experiences with your children. Such moments are rare jewels. As you work through the daily challenges of homeschooling, treasure those moments when your child gains knowledge . . . when your child gains wisdom . . . and when you and your child experience a feeling of great pleasure and happiness that comes over you when you least expect it.

“I get this! I get this!” That’s joy!

This post is part of our series highlighting our 2015 theme Gaining Wisdom and Knowledge and Joy. Steve serves as director of content development for BJU Press. He and his wife are the parents of five adult children. They homeschooled for over ten years.

Gaining Knowledge

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image of BJU Press homeschool branding gaining wisdom and knowledge and joy.

With a runner on first base and only one out, a ground ball is hit to the shortstop. Where does the shortstop make a play—first base or second base? How does a person know the best answer to this baseball question? A ball player learns the game by practicing, asking questions, observing games in person or on TV, listening to the coach, and playing the game. Finding answers to baseball questions illustrates how we learn facts and find answers to questions about a particular academic subject; we find them in the process of gaining knowledge.

Knowledge is gained through personal and vicarious experiences and through studying various sources. A student learns best when his educational experiences are age appropriate, developmentally suitable, purposeful by design, and regularly evaluated. Gaining knowledge is not just for the sake of having knowledge. It is the means to a much greater end—glorifying God in whatever task He has placed before the student.

Methods and Knowledge

The baseball player needs a coach to present the “how-tos” of the game. Just as in baseball, the student needs a teacher to present the academic subject in such a way that the facts are understood and learned. However, the student needs to do much more than just accumulate memorized facts. The student needs to gain knowledge by way of understanding and remembering those facts with an emphasis on analyzing and appying them so that he can evaluate and create. How does a teacher know the student is truly learning? By giving a student opportunities to demonstrate his knowledge through formal and informal questioning, individual and group projects, academic tests utilizing many different types of questions, and presentations.

Curriculum and Knowledge

As a baseball player has rules and plays to learn, a student has concepts and facts to learn. Gaining knowledge takes place best with a curriculum that blends factual knowledge and critical thinking skills with a biblical worldview. Textbooks are an essential part of gaining factual knowledge. However, all textbooks are not created equal. To be most effective in facilitating knowledge acquisition, the textbook’s worldview, methods of teaching, depth of content, and literary quality should promote critical and creative thinking that is foundationally biblical.

Proverbs 18:15 says, “The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.” The discerning student should always be ready to pursue and expand his knowledge and to learn more in order to have a greater opportunity to glorify God in following His leading.

This post is part of our ongoing series highlighting our 2015 theme Gaining Wisdom and Knowledge and Joy. Jeff has served in local church ministry, secondary education, and higher education for more than thirty years. Jeff holds a doctorate in education and is the academic oversight senior manager at BJU Press. He and his wife have three children, five grandchildren, and two goldendoodles.

Gaining Wisdom

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image of BJU Press homeschool branding gaining wisdom and knowledge and joy.

There was a time when people thought an educated person was someone with lots of information. But information is easy for everyone these days, too easy. Most people struggle to finish reading a post like this one because they know they’re just clicks away from the latest post about their favorite celebrity. (Thankfully, you’re not like most people!) Everyone has information. But most people still lack something that only education—true education—can give.

What is that something?

It’s the ability to look at information and see it in proper perspective. It’s the ability to sift through the piles of data that all of us slog through and discern what’s true and what’s really important. It’s the ability to know how to take what is most important and put it to use so that success—lasting, satisfying success—is achieved. It’s wisdom.

How do you get something as precious as wisdom?

Proverbs has the answer: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

Fear? Modern secular education tells us to abandon our fears. Learning is possible, we are told, only if we are willing to call everything into question—our sexuality, our beliefs about where we came from, our beliefs about God. But such advice is a lie. The wise person has come to accept that some questions need not to be asked. He knows that God is to be feared. This doesn’t mean that the wise man runs away from God in terror. But it does mean he takes God seriously.

What else does wisdom require?

Proverbs says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. You can’t be wise without fearing God, but you can’t be wise without a lot of other things too.

Anyone who would be wise must also be a learner, a careful observer, a student. With the fear of God firmly in his heart, a person needs to study the world all around. He cannot make wise decisions unless he has a great deal to be wise with. So he’ll have to know about science, math, language arts, and social studies.

But he’ll have to know about these from the perspective that only the fear of the Lord can provide. He’ll need to understand that science is a powerful tool for ruling over God’s world under God’s greater rule over him. He will have to see math as a way to model God’s world for God’s purposes. He’ll need to understand that human communication is the result of humans having been made in God’s image and therefore it must be used to imitate God’s character and deeds. And he’ll have to learn about society with the understanding that government exists to ensure justice—justice on God’s own terms.

Where does a person develop this kind of understanding?

All the way through life in whatever situation he finds himself. But the best way to begin is through education. Not just any education, of course. A Christian education. An environment where Christian parents, students, and textbooks all work together to produce something far more profound and useful than mere information.

This post is part of our series highlighting our 2015 theme Gaining Wisdom and Knowledge and Joy. Bryan has worked in Christian education for twenty-five years. Since 2003, he has served at BJU Press as the senior manager for biblical worldview formation. He and his wife have six children. 

What Is Academic Rigor?

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image of a boy reading a textbook with the question "what is academic rigor?" above his head.

Have you heard the words academic rigor before? You probably have if you’re familiar with our products. But do you know what that phrase means to us here at BJU Press? We took that question and some others to Brad Batdorf, supervisor of secondary authors in the product development department of BJU Press. His answers will help you better understand why academic rigor is one of our core values.

1. How does BJU Press define academic rigor?

Academic rigor is the educational experience that engages students in the appropriate content, helping them to develop the ability to analyze, critically evaluate, and ultimately create new ideas or products.

2. What makes academic rigor important to BJU Press?

It’s vitally important to what we do here since we have an established reputation for this type of instruction and it is what attracts many customers to our products. It is also critical because it provides the ideal vehicle for strong Bible integration.

3. What are some examples of how academic rigor is supported in BJU Press materials?

  • Our authors thoroughly research effective educational practices, scope and sequence, and appropriate academic standards.
  • The student materials contain descriptive text and questions that promote deep learning.
  • Photos, illustrations, maps, charts, and other images are intended to promote deeper understanding of the content.
  • The printed and digital assessments target student performance at all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
  • The teacher’s editions contain clear learning objectives to help teachers promote this type of learning. They also contain answers to the questions (even suggested answers for those of a subjective nature), suggestions for discussions, additional research ideas, demonstrations, group projects, use of manipulatives, and more.

4. How would you describe an academically rigorous learning environment?

While I wouldn’t call it strictly student-centered or student-directed, I think students would be actively engaged with challenging content through teacher-guided discussions, group learning, and in some cases, projects. Hands-on learning, creative problem-solving, and other research-based teaching strategies would be employed to connect with students and inspire real learning. Students would be doing more than reading and memorizing material. They would often be relating it to other content and applying it to real-world issues. And, they would be comprehending the content, whether it’s science, history, or a reading selection, in the light of the principles of Scripture.

5. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about BJU Press’s educational philosophy or view on academic rigor?

Our approach is one that embraces academic rigor supported by effective Bible integration. We care deeply and have a great sense of responsibility toward this end.

image of a wall with the BJU Press mission painted on it.

 

How do you apply academic rigor to your teaching?

Through the Eyes of an Illustrator

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If I’ve learned anything through the years about homeschooling families, I’ve learned that they love books. When they hear that quote by Erasmus about not buying food and clothes until after he bought books, they laugh with everyone else, but they have to think about it first.

One weekend I was privileged to spend time with two homeschooling families. The conversation was frequently punctuated with trips to the bookcase. By the end of the evening, it was hard to find a place on the coffee table to set my teacup. These parents expressed regard for books on multiple levels. The quality of thought was important but so was a book’s spiritual trajectory. They even talked about the covers, the illustrations, and the paper. For them, books were to be received as rational, ethical, and sensory objects. In other words, their view of books reflected their view of man—a view that considers people as receptacles for the classical triad: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Put another way, we are most human when our thoughts (truth), actions (goodness), and feelings (beauty) speak with one voice.

We often divorce our thinking from our doing and feeling. Secularism tends to pit one against the other. Rationalism, Moralism, and Romanticism all battle with each other like gladiators in an arena. But this is not the Christian view, and it isn’t our view at BJU Press.

an illustrated hand writing "Through the eyes of an illustrator"

As an illustrator, I have a professional interest in our continued use of illustration. But let’s be honest: Illustrations are expensive to produce. They drive up printing costs. They delay the production of books. They take up real estate on the page that could be used for textual information. To compound the problem, many who crusade for illustration in education do it in a way that’s embarrassing. “Text is old-fashioned!” they say. “Images are the wave of the future.” These arguments are cringe-worthy and false.  I prefer a more balanced approach, in between the Rationalists and the Romantics, that clarifies why illustration is so important.

Let me explain with a story. When I was in elementary school, my family had an illustrated book about Vikings that included a panoramic illustration of a berserker with an enormous axe charging a group of men with spears. The drama of this image moved me. I looked at it over and over again. The berserker appeared fearless, but the crowd with spears seemed to be very afraid.

I think about this image because I experienced it isolated from the text. At the time I knew nothing about the unsavory motives of Vikings. I only experienced the emotional tingle from the depiction of the energy of a man who loved his cause more than he loved himself. When I later read about men like William Wilberforce, who fought the evils of slavery despite overwhelming odds and constant defeat, I pictured this Viking. When on the news I heard about Christians fighting for virtue despite the general consensus, I pictured this Viking. When I read about people who fought for what was right rather than for what was safe, I thought of this Viking. This image and thousands of others plowed furrows in my brain so that when rational arguments were sown, they had a place to take root and grow.

We want our books to reflect the student’s humanity. Because the student has a mind, our books are written by experts in their fields. Because the student has a conscience, our textbooks integrate a biblical worldview. Because the student has an imagination, we illustrate and design our books to appeal to the senses. Like the homeschooling parents we serve, we at BJU Press aim to do the good work of telling the truth beautifully. This is a worthy goal and one that makes it easy for me to come to work in the morning.

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Zach is an illustrator who lives with his wife and daughters in Greenville, South Carolina. In addition to painting illustrations for BJU Press textbooks (such as English 1, Heritage 6, and Reading 5), Zach has done work for the Weekly Standard, Crossway, Disney-Hyperion, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, and Marvel. He also teaches classes in digital illustration at Furman University.