Word: phenix
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What It Could Be. One cure for secularism in schools is suggested by Christopher Dawson's The Crisis of Western Education (Sheed & Ward; $3.95), a brief for the restoration of Christian culture in learning, by Harvard's first professor of Roman Catholic Studies. Philip H. Phenix's Education and the Common Good (Harper; $4) is a Presbyterian's plan for teaching religious values in secular schools without violating laws or liberties. John W. Gardner's Excellence (Harper; $3.95) is an eloquent case, by the articulate president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, for high...
Work for Others. One of Phenix's most promising approaches to "worth" is through esthetics, as applied to everything from art and science to manners, work and recreation. His students would be thoroughly trained in the esthetic meaning of integrity-the harmony of contrasting parts in one pleasing whole. They would practice and expect it in carpentry and cookery as well as architecture and mathematics. Instead of politely hoodwinking others, they would learn manners as basically self-respect, "an outward sign of inward devotion to what is true, just and appropriate to each occasion." Instead of toiling for money...
...build conscience, Phenix would teach respect for all forms of life. Geography, for example, would go far beyond maps and place names to the responsible use of air, earth and water. Lessons in health would illustrate abuses in everything from alcohol to industrial waste. Since sex "provides the crucial case of desire at odds with devotion," Phenix would encourage "a fresh acceptance of the ideal of sexual purity" as one method of fostering "dedication to standards of worth...
...Phenix's ideal school would shun all social stratification, from numbered grades to skin color. It would emphasize learning as "preparation for the good life," not "the cash value of more education." It would stress the rule of law in national and world affairs, and forcefully analyze "the extreme destructiveness of modern weapons of war." From the consequences of protective tariffs to the advantages of foreign languages, it would always presuppose "universality and world outlook...
Grateful Dedication. Drawing all this together, Phenix contends that "the central task of education is religious conversion." He does not mean that religion as such should be taught in public schools; he fully accepts the First Amendment's separation of church and state. He does mean that "public education can be religious" without violating laws or liberties. In sum. he says, schools should emphasize and demonstrate...