Author: Paul Spears

I have been reading a very interesting book about John Dewey by Henry Edmondson called, John Dewey and The Decline of American Education. In this book Edmondson points out that much of Dewey’s educational theory has been employed by teachers and administrators who have not taken into account his foundational ideological commitments. While Dewey’s educational…

Blaise Pascal is a famous intellectual from the 17th century. He was a mathematical prodigy, a philosopher, and a Christian. He planned on writing a defense of Christianity, but he died at the age of 39 before it was finished. One of the amazing things about Pascal is that he was very sick in the…

It is easy for teachers and administrators to focus on the task of teaching outcomes (assessment and evaluation) and not on the students themselves. The problem is that it is difficult to think about a classroom full of students as 25 discrete people with radically diverse learning styles and personal needs. It is much easier…

When I come home from the office after a busy day of work I know that my six year old daughter will scream “daddy” at the top of her lungs, and start running at me. She follows this up with what I would call a “leap of faith” into my arms. I have learned from…

There are thousands of self-help books on the market. People are feverishly attempting to come to grips with who they are in this confusing world. Not only can you read books on self-help you can watch Dr. Phil on television or listen to Dr. Laura on the radio. Yet, I often find when I am…

Recently, it has seemed impossible to follow sports without reading about some one who was caught cheating. We have the whole baseball debacle with Barry Bonds et al., and, of course, Pete Rose’s betting scandal. I was very excited to see Floyd Landis’ amazing win at the Tour de France—only to see it tainted by…

It is obvious that the beginning of the semester is just around the corner. I am seeing freshmen excitedly wandering the halls with bewildered looks on their faces. They are looking forward to the new experiences that await them here at the university. Their sense of expectation is almost palpable. This time of year being…

I am concerned about the nature of our modern academic institutions and the confidence that we put in them. I am convinced that intellectual pursuits are a fundamental aspect of our whole Christian soul. If the ideas of Christianity are necessary for a proper understanding of reality how is it that we have allowed our…

I am teaching this week (and in July and August) at Wheatstone Academy. I am excited about the opportunity to work with students who are interested in developing a coherent view of the world in an exciting and rigorous setting. What I like about Wheatstone is that they are not like some ministries that are…

Augustine was the type of student who set the curve on a test. He describes his academic pursuits in his work Confessions. At the age of 18 he was reading Cicero’s Hortensius in which Cicero defends the importance of philosophic study within a society. At the age of 20 he read Aristotle’s Ten Categories. While…