Take Me Back to 1828

Benjamin Bloom, who is credited as being the Father of Outcomes Based Education, is quoted as saying,

“The purpose of education and the schools is to change the thoughts, feelings and actions of students.”

The goal of all education, public, private and home, is to imprint young minds with the “right” way to think, feel and act. It is the foundation upon which the socialization argument is built.

When I hear homeschoolers discussing socialization, I generally hear about how many friends our children have or how often our kids interact with society as a whole. The “inconvenient truth” is that we are speaking a different language than America’s secular culture. We haven’t accepted societies agreed upon definition of the term socialize. In order for our discussions with lawmakers, school boards and society at large to have meaning, we must operationally define the term socialize. 

Recently jaminacema posted the following definition of socialize:

so·cial·ized, so·cial·iz·ing, so·cial·iz·es

1. To place under government or group ownership or control. 
2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable. 
3. To convert or adapt to the needs of society.

Does anyone else find that definition scary? In my comment to her, I wrote:

I got a Webster’s 1828 Dictionary for Christmas (a gift only another homeschool mom could appreciate)… as soon as I saw this definition, I had to check out what Webster had to say.

I found it interesting that, like teenager, the word socialize and socialization didn’t even exist as concepts that needed defined back then. Modern thought… horrible results. The best I could do was social:

1. Pertaining to society; relating to men living in society, or to the public as an aggregate body; as social interests or concerns; social pleasures; social benefits; social happiness; social duties. 
2. Ready or disposed to mix in friendly converse; companionable. 
3. Consisting in union or mutual converse. 
4. Disposed to unite in society. Man is a social being.

Do you know what I see lacking in the definition from American Heritage? The idea of socializing being mutual or for the benefit of society and the individual. Our society has a macro mindset. We look at the world through the eyes of the culture at large and ignore individual relationships.

The secular world doesn’t care if our children can interact with people of all ages. They don’t particularly care that we make an effort to have our kids interact with society as a whole. The secular world is not interested in our photos showing our kids playing with others. Nor are they particularly impressed with our showing at National Spelling Bees, Science Fairs or on the SATs.

Let me see, can I use the American Heritage definition as a skeleton to come up with a definition I can live with? Perhaps:

• To place under the control and authority of God.
• To make fit for kingdom living.
• To convert or adapt to the needs of the Body of Christ.

Do you think society would agree?

When I began to draft this entry, I had planned on writing a review of Year I of Worldviews of the Western World. Hmmm… didn’t even really talk about that. Maybe tomorrow ~