Is a Charlotte Mason Education Christian?

Transcript

Charlotte Mason refers to her philosophy as a “code of education in the gospels,” and she saw all of education through the lens of her strong and life-long Christian faith (Home Ed p.12). So what does it mean that a relational education is a Christian education? And what does it mean to start a Christian school using this approach?

Explicitly Rooted in Christianity

First, a relational education is explicitly rooted in the Christian faith. One of the key relationships Charlotte Mason wanted to cultivate in students was their relationship with God as their creator, savior, helper, and guide. Indeed, she writes, 

“Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child,—the knowledge of God, of man, and of the universe,—the knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making. Towards a Philosophy of Education, p. 158

Or again, even more directly defining her priorities, she claims, "What think ye of Christ? It is the only question that matters" (Ourselves, Book 2, p. 83).

So, practically, students have daily Bible lessons, learn about church history, and read and discuss a wide variety of books, especially under the subject Mason called Citizenship, on how to understand and engage their contemporary culture as thoughtful Christians. 

Implicitly Rooted in Christianity

Second, a relational education is implicitly rooted in the Christian faith in both content and methods. Knowledge of God is not confined to Bible lessons or chapel services. Instead, through the entire method and every subject, students learn to view the world as God's creation and all truth as His. And a relational education seeks to use methods of instruction that resonate with the nature of children as embodied souls so that both the content of a lesson and the way it is taught respects the personhood of each child as made in the image of God.

Charlotte Mason’s relational vision of education builds on the coherence of all knowledge and presents all of life as fundamentally lived before the face of God. As she summarizes: 

"We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and ‘spiritual’ life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life" (Philosophy of Education p.xxxi).

So Christian educators implementing this vision of education have a unique opportunity to lean into both the overarching goals of Charlotte Mason’s vision and the methods and the means to them. Many educators today in both Christian and secular spaces are resonating with Charlotte Mason’s insights and methods, and because her observations are so true to the way children learn and grow, we think she has much to offer educators coming from a variety of religious and non-religious perspectives. But those within the Christian faith who are seeking to implement a relational education in their communities can cast a distinct vision of Christian education for their students and fellow educators because Charlotte Mason’s relational vision of education is unique in the way it is both cohesively and comprehensively rooted in Christ.

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Charlotte Mason's ideas on Christianity and education shape how we create our Alveary curriculum, courses for educators, and our annual conference. And, like Mason, we are delighted to serve educators from a variety of religious and non-religious backgrounds who are drawn to her relational ideas and methods.