TOGETHER WITH QUESTIONING MINDS: SOPHIA LYON FAHS (1876-1978)

Abstract Sophia Lyon Fahs's legacy for religious education is a rich source for understanding the initial decades of the movement, its present situation and its possibilities for future growth. A theorist and practitioner, Fahs's long career in religious education witnessed the ebb and flow of evangelical, liberal, neo-orthodox, radical, and revisionist theologies. In a short section of her last full text on religious education, Fahs considered the fragmentation between the cognitive and affective aspects of religion in Western culture and put forth “some conditions for a new unity” in the form of four directives. Fahs understood these considerations to be part of a balanced pedagogy for religion, one in line with what she foresaw as challenges to religious education in seeking to harmonize classroom, worship and life experiences. The directives offer implications for the self-understanding of religious education today.     

SEEING WHAT IS NOT THERE YET: SOPHIA LYON FAHS,ENTELECHY, AND THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

This article offers a brief theological biography of Sophia Lyon Fahs, a religious educator whose life and work unfolded during the first seven decades of the Religious Education Association and reflected many of the identity-bearing modalities that continue to give shape and continuity to the organization. In 1972, Boardman Kathan, the General Secretary of the Religious Education Association, described Fahs as “one of the truly great pioneers of religious education in the 20th century, in the company of Harrison Elliott, Frank McMurry and George Albert Coe.” ^{2 2} Boardman Kathan, “A Pioneer Religious Educator: Sophia Lyon Fahs at 95, an interview,” UU World (February 1, 1972). Fahs anticipated many theological challenges to religious education that were ahead of her time. ^{3 3} Within the text of this article all quotes appear as they were originally written. No attempt has been made by the author to alter the quotes for the purpose of rendering them gender inclusive. Radically inclusive in all aspects of her theology and philosophy, it is evident that Sophia Lyon Fahs was following the literary style of her time and in no way intended gender exclusivity.

     

自由教育与美好生活-施特劳斯学派自由教育观述评

本文主要梳理了以列奥·施特劳斯以及艾兰·布鲁姆为代表的施特劳斯学派的自由教育观。为了更清晰地理解这一学派的自由教育观念,本文首先评述了他们之反思的哲学起点(对现代性的反思与对相对主义的抨击)和现实起点(现代民主制度下自由教育的危机),继而就“美好生活”和“伟大著作”这两大主题提炼出该学派的自由教育主张及其背后的政治教育意蕴。本文认为,施特劳斯学派的教育主张是一种精英主义的教育观,他们对经典名著的推崇,对于德性与教养教育的标举,值得我们深入思考。     

A REDEFINITION OF LIBERAL AND HUMANISTIC EDUCATION

This article aims to integrate and reach beyond three distinct discourses on humanistic and liberal education: the philosophical-curricular, the historical, and the highly politicized debate between conservative and radical educational theorists. It will be argued that humanistic education can be classified into four forms -- classical, romantic, existentialist, and radical -- and that they should be viewed as complementing rather than negating each other. Finally, an integrative model of humanistic and liberal education will be offered, one whose foundational principles are acculturation, autonomy, and authenticity.     

教育的超越本质及其自由教育的理想

有两种力量在支配着教育的发展,一种是生活实在的力量,它使教育努力去适应它的需要,在这种力量之下,产生了功利主义的教育信仰。另一种是向往美好的力量,它使教育努力离开现实,不断超越自身,并将教育的最高理想指向于自由教育。     

儿童生活与儿童教育

儿童的存在不仅具有生物学的意义，还应该具有文化的意义。对于成长中的儿童，教育无疑是儿童生活的重要组成部分，教育具有重建生活的意义。儿童世界是由生活世界和科学世界组成，而生活世界里内在的精神生活和外在的文化（游戏的、童话的等）交织在一起。关注儿童的生活世界，就应从内至外展开，即从内在的精神生活开始向外在的社会生活铺开。     

ANALOGICAL REASONING OF SUPERNORMAL AND NORMAL CHILDREN

This study compares supernormal children with normals, in order to establish criteria for the identification of analogical reasoning in supernormal children. There were three experiments in the study involving analogical reasoning with figures, with pictures of objects or words, and with numbers. The subjects were 1,950 3‐ to 14‐year‐old normal children divided into 12 age groups, and over 100 supernormal youngsters. Relatively difficult items were more useful than easy ones in identification, while the developmental levels of supernormal children not only surpassed those of normal children of the same age, but the supernormals were found to be superior in grasping the interrelationship of objects in bipartite situations. Identification of supernormal children through analysis both of their performance and also of processes and characteristics in experimental tasks is not only necessary but also feasible.     

FAMILY AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF DISPLACED NEGRO CHILDREN

This article examine how students from different class backgrounds at vastly different colleges interpret the role of social class in their past and future. It begins with a review of previous research findings based on freshmen and sophomore year interviews (2002–2004) with three groups of students: low income students at a state college; low income students at an elite private college (Little Ivy), and affluent students at the same elite private college. During a period of relative quiescence on college campuses, all three groups of students tended to look at their own lives in individualistic, non-structural ways, and generally downplayed the role of their own class backgrounds. Many of the students were interviewed again during their senior year to determine what, if any, changes had occurred in their overall outlook. Both groups of students at Little Ivy had become less politically progressive and active as they approached graduation; State College students had verbally moved to the Left, but without corresponding activism. Occupational goals for each of the three groups differed. The affluent students anticipated positions with the most power and prestige, while the State College students aimed for entry and middle level statuses. Not surprisingly, the low income Little Ivy students expected to obtain positions below their affluent peers, but higher than the State College students. The meaning of these findings in the context of the current historical period and the power of social reproduction is discussed.