Ted Newell, associate professor of education at Crandall University, has produced a brief but excellent guide to education. He examines education in a broad sense from a Christian perspective. Broad, in that he does not limit it to schools but includes universities, seminaries, local churches and more.

He explores education from a historical perspective from Jesus' approach to progressive education. He does so by examining five paradigms through the lens of four processes ‘which tell and retell the master narrative’: memory, vision, symbols and ethos. This provides an excellent framework for a comparison of the different approaches. The table below is a summary of Newell's analysis.

See table at: https://stevebishop.blogspot.com/2018/12/education-students-guide-ted-newell.html


As can be seen for the above Newell provides a clear description and analysis of the different perspectives. He concludes with a look at the ‘Next’ Christian education. Here he examines a number of cases and utilises the insights of John Hull, Wilfred Carr and others in an attempt to ‘reclaim a Christian tradition of education’.

The book concludes with questions for reflection, a brief timeline and a glossary of key terms. It is an excellent addition to Crossway’s ‘A Students Guide’ series.