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Educational Psychology Meets the Christian Right: Differing Views of Children, Schooling, Teaching, and Learning by David C. Berliner — 1997Among the most unrelenting contemporary critics of public schools are members of the Christian Right, some of whom seek the destruction of public education. The theories of child rearing espoused by the Christian Right are analyzed in this article.
They emphasize physical punishment, the breaking of children’s will, and obedience
to authority. Such theories cannot be supported by modern psychology. Furthermore,
these childrearing practices are totally incompatible with the constructivist
models of learning that form the basis for the educational reforms undertaken
by science, mathematics, and social studies educators. The school curriculum used
in many fundamentalist Christian schools was also analyzed and found to be limited,
biased, and sometimes untrue. The arguments made against outcomes based
education and whole language programs were found to be confused and chaotic.
The antagonism of the Christian Right to these programs is based on a fear of losing
control over their children’s thinking, rather than any compelling empirical
data. It is concluded that many among the Christian Right are unable to engage in
politics that make a common school possible. They may be unable to compromise
and live with educational decisions reflecting a pluralistic democracy keeping separate
church and state.To view the full-text for this article you must be signed-in with the appropriate membership. Please review your options below:
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- David Berliner
Arizona State University
David C. Berliner is Regent's Professor of Education, Arizona State University. He is an educational psychologist who has specialized in the study of classroom teaching, with interests in teacher education and educational policy.
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