All Articles For Hoeksema, H.C.

In our previous article we laid emphasis upon the fact that the path of Christian isolationism is indeed a dangerous one. This implies of course that when this principle of isolation is applied to the department of our life which we describe by the term education, the result is inevitably a dangerous education. Salutary it is, that we realize this, for especially two reasons. In the first place, it is well to realize thoroughly what we are doing and what we are supporting and what we are seeking. We do not want a movement for Reformed education that is based...

As reported previously in the Standard Bearer, there were several significant matters to be decided by the Christian Reformed Synod, all of which were more or less directly related to the current tension between liberals and conservatives in the Christian Reformed Church, as some would put it.

As reported elsewhere in these columns, our churches now have another candidate for the ministry, brother Dale H. Kuiper.

By “future” in the above caption I refer to the future of our own schools and of the whole movement for Protestant Reformed education. And the presupposition of these articles is that it is not wrong, but wise, to look to the future. True, we must not be anxious about the future. But it is certainly the part of wisdom to lay plans, to set goals, and to evaluate and determine our present activity or inactivity in the light of the plans laid and the goals set. No more than we should be sluggards in our daily work and in...

The Teacher Problem Before proceeding with the specific treatment of the problems of our own school movement, I have two more introductory remarks which I must make. The first one is this. If you would take the trouble to check the past, you would discover that some 20 or 25 years ago these same problems were faced by the existent Christian School movement. At that time our Editor-in-Chief wrote a series of articles on the subject, “The Christian School Movement, Why a Failure?” And although his answer to the question of the above mentioned subject was different, he was not...

The next aspect of the “teacher problem’’ which our schools face is closely related to the procurement-aspect which we discussed last time. For this reason we choose to discuss it next also. It is the problem of KEEPING OUR TEACHERS. It lies in the very nature of the case that these two aspects of the teacher problem are very closely related. The two, namely, the procurement of a teaching staff and the maintenance of a permanent teaching staff, are, in fact, interrelated. On the one hand, it is evident that the problem of procuring teachers declines to the extent that...

The next aspect of the “teacher problem” which our schools face is closely related to the procurement aspect which we discussed last time. For this reason we choose to discuss it next also. It is the problem of KEEPING OUR TEACHERS. It lies in the very nature of the case that these two aspects of the teacher problem are very closely related. The two, namely, the procurement of a teach­ing staff and the maintenance of a permanent teach­ing staff, are, in fact, interrelated. On the one hand, it is evident that the problem of procuring teachers declines to the extent...

In the present article, I believe, we touch on what is undoubtedly the most important aspect of the whole teacher problem for our Protestant Reformed Schools. And because the teacher is such an integral part of the school, we therefore also touch on the most seri­ous and fundamental question in all our efforts to­ward a Protestant Reformed educational system, viz. how shall we make and keep our schools Protestant Reformed? Hitherto in this series of articles we have treated only what we may call the formal, mechani­cal aspects of the teacher problem. In the present essay we deal with the...

The closing remarks of our last article were not calculated to espouse the idea that we neither have nor can obtain teachers that are qualified to teach in a Protestant Reformed School. If such were our contention, we would also have to contend for the closing of our schools, or at least for the removal of the “Protestant Reformed” from their name. We rather meant to emphasize the idea that this matter of Protestant Reformed teachers is not as simple as we sometimes imagine. The recipe is not: mix one Pro­testant Reformed person with a desire to teach plus two,...

Having now called attention to what we believe to be the salient aspects of this teacher problem, it remains yet to point the way toward a solution thereof. And toward a solution we offer some suggestions in the present article. However, I feel that two remarks are in order before the suggestions themselves are pre­sented. In the first place, and this can bear the re­petition it is being given, the understanding of a prob­lem is perhaps the most important part of its solu­tion. Our parents, boards, and teachers should make it their task to delve into this teacher problem and...