Philosophy & Education: An Introduction in Christian Perspective

by George R. Knight

George Knight's Philosophy and An Introduction in Christian Perspective has been a classic in its field for more than a quarter of a century. New features of this revised and updated fourth edition make it of even greater usefulness in the educational philosophy classrooms of a new century. These an all-new chapter on the Christian teacher in the public school setting, "Points to Ponder" study questions at the end of each chapter, new material addressing the latest relevant issues, including the rise of the homeschool movement, and the relation of the Intelligent Design debate to Christian educational philosophy, a fresh, new text design, including call-out highlights of major themes, and an updated bibliography and references.

Genres: Education, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity, Academic, Teaching

301 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1980

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent, well-written book outlining the importance of philosophical understanding for educators. The author does an excellent job of surveying the foundations of philosophy, the components of philosophy, and the modern philosophical positions. Then the author connects those philosophical views to our modern educational system including curriculum, methods, etc. The author clearly lays out what a biblical philosophy of education should look like and moves this understanding into how this philosophy should impact the educator. The author even touches on what a biblical philosophy of education might look like for the educator who is working in the public school system. This was actually an easy read considering the depth of information and the academic writing style.

This book helped me think through my own biblical philosophy of education and what that needs to look like for me as a Christian teacher in a Christian school. It is not enough to make claims of being a Christian or state that I have a biblical philosophy of education. What does this look like in my classroom? How does this impact my teaching, my relationships, my curriculum? It must impact every area of my educational experience. If it does not, it is not valid.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2023 reads: 29

Rating: 3 stars.

Philosophy section was great. Really helpful integration for an educational framework. Easy 4 stars.

"Christian" education section took a left turn, getting sucked in culture wars and was largely disappointing. 2 stars.

[Read for the Course Development and Design seminar with Dr. Timothy Jones at SBTS]

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book was for a class, it is a relatively easy read on educational philosophies through history and the compelling reasons to create one's own educational philosophy based on a Christian foundation.

[Megan Franks · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book on educational philosophy (a hard topic to make engaging and interesting), this was very readable.. I enjoyed how the author explained the history of each philosophy in detail and the major influencers. This book will serve as a good reminder for Christian educators, especially those who grew up in traditional educational environments or attended a secular university for teacher training and may have unknowingly been influenced by philosophies that actually butt heads with philosophies of Christian education.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explaining various philosophies of education before culminating in how to construct a Christian philosophy of education, this book is very helpful in tracing the history of recent philosophies and how they build on each other. Mr. Knight also shows the practical outworkings of philosophies, and it is possible to trace educational ideas back to their philosophic source. Though parts are dry or seem out of place, overall, this book is a very good introduction to philosophical ideas and how they have played out in the classroom.

[Barry Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled “An Introduction in Christian Perspective,” the author does an exemplary job of presenting the construct of philosophy, notably as such disciplines relate to education. After providing an overview to the three philosophic issues in education - metaphysics, epistemology, axiology - Knight reviews the primary philosophies in some detail. After noting the limitations of labels, he focuses initially on the traditional views - idealism, realism, and neo-scholasticism - providing a perspective and critique from the Christian world view. He follows the same approach in discussing modern philosophies (pragmatism, existentialism), postmodernism, and contemporary theories of education (quite a list, including progressivism, educational humanism, perennialism, essentialism, reconstructionism, futurism, critical pedagogy, behaviorism, educational anarchism, and home schooling). Knight completes this section of his book with a focus on analytical philosophy as it relates to education.

The next section of this book makes a strong case for the necessity of building a personal philosophy of education, particularly as Christian educators. Providing a Christian approach to both philosophy and education, Knight provides practical considerations regarding the role of the student and the teacher, consideration of curriculum, methods of teaching, and the social function of Christian education.

The author completes this excellent treatment of the subject with the timely question “But what if I teach in a public school?” to guide his final discussion of the challenges and opportunities presented to the Christian educator.

[Ronald J. Pauleus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very deep and good book. The author does a good job developing a Christian perspective on education.

“In summary, the study of educational philosophy is (1) to help educators become acquainted with the basic problems of education, (2) to enable them to evaluate better the wide variety of suggestions offered as solutions to these problems, (3) to assist them in clarifying thinking about the goals of both life and education, and (4) to guide them in the development of an internally consistent point of view and a program that relates realistically to the larger world context.”

[Joel Everett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good general education to philosophy and its role in education from a Christian (Evangelical / Biblical) perspective.

I personally found the earlier parts of the book, which covered the different educational philosophies behind a variety of schooling methods, to be more beneficial than the later part of the book.

The final part which deals with a Bible-centric approach to education lacked specific concrete details for implementing such an approach.

[fooleveunder · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a couple of months, as I slowly read each part, I learned various lessons from the book. Each section progresses from the basics to more in-depth discussions of each topic. What I like most about the book is that it refreshes my understanding of the basic philosophies of education and discusses them in detail.

[Kevin Fulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The summaries of various educational philosophies were very useful.
How the author sought to develop a Christian philosophy of education was hit and miss, but still helpful. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the topic.

[Gabriela Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with a quick introduction to different educational philosophies and an overview of what Christian education should focus on. It doesn't present a practical solution or "10 steps for a Christian education", but it is good enough to bring some reflection on the subject.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very useful resource as an introduction to philosophy and education.

[Roberto Dela]

For my study about my subjects

[Abby Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good look at the reasons WHY we look at teaching and education the way we do.

[Kifayat]

i want to read this book please

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some explanations of a few education frameworks seemed to lack some important nuance, though, overall, this was a very helpful and interesting read.

[Nicholas Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title captures it. This is a helpful crash course in philosophy, an explanation of how philosophy has impacted education, and a discussion of how to develop a Christian philosophy of education.

[Ben Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really exceptional introduction to two important topics, and particularly to their theoretical and practical intersection.

[meas.bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly interesting for a textbook

[Timothy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Philosophy and Education: An Introduction in Christian Perspective by George R. Knight

Philosophy and Education is an overview of the intersection of Christian thinking with Education. Knight begins by taking the reader on a tour of various philosophical perspectives. He then relates those perspectives to educational theory. He surveys the current trends in educational theory with an eye to their philosophical influences. And finally he addresses the question: What does a Christian Worldview and what might an Educational theory based on that worlview look like.

Knight emphasizes the "might" of his survey, expressing that this is one approach. He does, however, emphatically state that a Christian approach cannot be an eclectic smattering of secular practices with Bible classes thrown in to round out the curriculum. Instead he insists that a Christian system must be developed from the ground - up. Such a system acknowledges the general revelatory nature of creation and the importance of the Bible in any system that would be faithful to a Christian worldview. He argues for the integration of Christian ideas especially in History, Literature and philosophical studies. He acknowledges that the intersection grows thinner as the curriculum designer moves toward the more objective sciences.

Finally, Knight acknowledges that the teacher in secular schools must temper his or her content with legal restrictions.

The strength of Knight's book is the insistance on an integrated system. The weakness is in his leaning too hard on the Bible and not trusting enough the General Revelation truths that he inisists give the broader curriculum a spiritual character. A philosophy that insists "all truth is God's truth" need not directly relate everything to the Bible. In that regard, his outline of a Christian Educational approach looks more like a Bible integration system. This comes across very much like an endorsement of the conservative Christian school movement of the past few decades. In this way, the end of the book seems quited biased and even preconceived. However, an integrated Christian approach would include many of the ideas Knight proposes. It must.

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly excellent book with regards to the philosophical foundations of various educational systems, and how a Christian ought to build a philosophical foundation for Christian education. As someone who is still getting used to a lot of philosophical fields and nomenclature and such, there were parts of this book that were somewhat difficult to understand/went a bit over my head, but Knight still did an excellent job of explaining a lot of this to me. While I didn't necessarily understand everything, that which I did understand was good. Knight made a very effective argument for why Christian education can't look like secular education with a dash of Christianity thrown in; we begin on a very different philosophical footing, and thus our educational system must reflect that. Overall, it did a great job of analyzing philosophies and related educational practices from a Christian perspective, and also functioned as a great introduction for me to various philosophical fields.

Rating: 4.5-5 Stars. (Excellent)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides an interesting review of how different philosophical perspectives impact educational practices. Some might find it dry and repetitive as the author will offer these philosophies in different settings, i.e. what are the tenets of each of the philosophies according to the broad definitions of epistemology, metaphysics, ontology, and axiology, and where do they fit within their historical context. This book is written from a strong, Christian Worldview perspective. My biggest complaint was that the book only had one chapter that was even remotely relevant for the Christian, public school teacher. Otherwise, I would say it is a must read for all those in Christian education.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been struggling with the idea of what makes an education truly Christian in perspective -- how are Christian schools different than secular schools? I visit private Christian schools and see the same textbooks that are used in the secular schools, I see the same schedules and formats. Where is the distinction? Is it only outward (not even that sometimes)?

This book was not a class assignment -- this was a personal reading choice. I found it helpful in clarifying my own thoughts on this issue.

[Rosalynd Doneghy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of two required textbooks for my Educational Philosophy course in graduate school. I loved how the author presented complex philosophical term in a concise and easy to understand manner. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in educational philosophy.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS.

This book is AMAZING for Christian educators/those who are seeking to become Christian educators!

This book is comprehensive, easy to read, and SO very helpful.

I recommend this to anyone!

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As textbooks go, this one is first rate . . . a great reference.

[Craig Mattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read for educators!

[Isther Ides · Rating 4 out of 5]

inspiring! :)

[Eric Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most concise and comprehensive introductory text available for philosophy o education. Easy to incorporate into a syllabus.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening read. I especially enjoyed the emphasis on metaphysics.