The Dialectic Christian and the Educational Virtue of Humility

It seems to be an everyday occurrence around here these days. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Mom:
You need to go back and correct these questions.

pre-teen:
Why?! I gave you answers. That's how I saw it. It isn't my fault if you think its wrong. 

Mom:
Truth doesn't change just because you want it to. Opinions change. Perceptions change. But real Truth never changes. You need to decide if you are going to insist on ignoring what is true,  lying to yourself, and forming opinions and perceptions based on those lies; or if you are going to show some humility, learn what is Truth, and develop informed, reasoned, and wise options and perspective. 

In all honesty - that is how the conversation goes in my better moments. Often it includes phrases like: "I'm not arguing with you. It's wrong and there are no friends or screen time until it is fixed." or "You are not the President. You cannot decide something is fake just because you don't like it." I often don't have a lot of patience with the black-and-white rational of the dialectic student!


This is why classical education teaches logic and reasoning during middle school -  identifying logical fallacies and training the brain to rule the heart while the heart informs the brain. We begin pushing students to look at historical, literary, and philosophical context, understanding that the student's experience is different from an author's, thus what he brings to a text is different from what the intent of an author may have been. A Christian American 21st century 13 year old sitting in his living room is going to read "Sir Gwain and the Green Knight" very differently than how an English medieval peasant would have first heard it told around a campfire.

It is also why the first of the educational virtues is humility. Especially within Christian Classical education, we recognize that the only way to learn, to increase in wisdom and understanding, is to recognize I am limited in experience, understanding, and reasoning.  The journey to Truth will be a life-long endevour of adjusting my perceptions, beliefs, and thinking.  If I am to understand what is true, I must first admit I could be wrong.  The way I read something, what I observe, my perception, my reasoning are all limited. I can know that Truth, Goodness, and Beauty ultimately lie in the Trinity, but how I understand and recognize it will be limited and flawed until I meet God face-to-face. I need those who have gone before me and those who have greater wisdom and understanding to refine, challenge, and encourage me.

I think as a Christian educator, one of the hardest parts is recognizing when this dialectic thinking has infiltrated my own beliefs. How often to do I come to a text, or even to Scripture, with the presupposition that I have a full grasp on what is True? If I'm honest - too often. Most of the time, my heart and my mind are not fully open to the possibility that I could be misunderstanding the depths of the mind of God. How often do I read Scripture and try to rationalize away something that makes me uncomfortable?  How often do I read into a text what I want to see - even if it conflicts with other parts of Scripture? We all do it. We cannot fully comprehend the mind of God, but if I don't come from a place of humility, I cannot be changed.

If I am to grow I must ask myself:

Do I allow my beliefs to be challenged?
Do I seek to have my understanding challenged?
Do I listen to some one else's point of view, try to see where they are coming from, and glean even the smallest nuggets of Truth and wisdom that may be there? Or, do I listen to argue back and prove my own (obviously) greater understanding?
Can I look at conflicts within Scripture, and wrestle with them; or, do I quickly rationalize it away with "What God really means is...." or "It's a cultural thing." or "There really isn't a conflict"? 
Do I study the context of my favorite verse, or am I satisfied that I can quote it whenever it meets my needs?

Daily, while struggling to teach and mentor my dialectic children, if I am being truly honest, more often than not, they are God's means of teaching and mentoring me more than anything. They are one of God's many means of holding a mirror up to my eyes, and letting me glimpse into my own heart. They are leading me toward more humility, and thus closer to Him.