we quickly become enmeshed in the life of academic expectation. We develop the ability to navigate academic standards without putting forth too much effort ('Is this going to be on the test?') and learn the value of pleasing our teacher and parents with good grades. What is not clear to most of us is why we are going to school in the first place. We realize that every day our parents take us to this institution which regiments our day and promises us that our diligent work will be rewarded with a prosperous vocation years down the road. Mostly, we enjoy recess, try to avoid bullies, look forward to vacation times and do our best to comport ourselves with the expectations of the social institution in which we are immersed. A few of us find that we can excel at this form of instruction and find our identity in success.

As we progress through the educational system, you would think it would become increasingly clearer to us what exactly education is for, but this is not often the case. Instead, we become increasingly adept at navigating the system without learning the fundamental knowledge and skills that enable us to flourish. This becomes apparent when as adults we find we are not well equipped to wrestle with some of the more difficult questions of parenting, life, death and our own fragile existence. A driving belief of this book is that the formal activity of education can better equip us to deal with such questions when grounded in a theological and philosophical foundation that is integrated with the Christian faith. Only then can we better understand (for ourselves and to teach others) who we are within God's created universe (29-30).

This fits nicely with the bit I quoted from Jamie Smith last week. And here, the same basic thought comes to the fore—the crucial need to understand that education must be about the formation of the whole person, not just about one's ability to download and compartmentalize information or data.