Agency Education is Character Education

I've been reading "Teach the Children: An Agency Approach to Education" by Neil Flinders lately. I say lately because it's not a book you can just pick up and read and actually finish in a short amount of time. It's rather academic, and I already know I'm going to have to re-read it, take lots of notes and write about it to really assimilate it.

In the book, Neil Flinders says that agency education (one where the student takes ownership for their own education) is character education. Making kids memorize history dates and learn to spell words doesn't matter? Well, in a sense, yes! What is more important is teaching character. Why? Because if children have a good strong character and they know that they have a life mission to perform, they will not only take ownership for their education, but they will GET the education they need to best serve others.

Most parents ask themselves these questions about their children, especially teenagers: What if they get behind? What if they don't learn everything they are supposed to? What if they don't get into the college I'd like them to? What if they don't get a job? What if they can't or won't support their families? What if they goof off in their college years? What if...?

How can we allow your teenagers to have control over their education? If we have brought our children with good characters and correct motivations, we can allow our children to get a good education on their own without worrying about them. They WILL be responsible. They WILL serve others. They WILL be educated. They WILL earn money. All this, because they have good character. They know who they are and that they have a mission to perform.

Instead, maybe we should be asking ourselves different questions. What if they don't realize their potential? What if they never open a book again after graduating? What if they are only motivated to do schoolwork for good grades, to get into college, to get a good job, or to please their parents? What if they rebel because of the things we MAKE them do? What if they end up living mediocre lives? What if they never find out what their mission is? What if they just don't care about seeking truth?

Knowing information IS important. However, information is learned when it becomes important to the student. Spelling was never important to my son until he had something to say and wanted to be taken seriously. History dates don't usually matter unless you are taking a test, but learning about the great heroes in history and applying the lessons of history to yourself does.