Preparing for the Hill of the Development Process#

Studies and discussion on an individual's development focus on the first 15 or so years of a person's life because so much physical change happens during that time. Understanding these first 15 years help us to serve the person with learning at that stage of life. The steep incline (hill) shown in the color teal in the below graph shows us these first 15 years.

The development cycle does not stop in the teenage years. Physically the incline is very gradual. But the choices we make and the impact they have on us is very steep and even more important than the early development. Perry's Educational Model shows a shift of the teacher (and parent) from a role of "Authority as the source of 'Truth'" to a resource with specific expertise to share.[Perry] During the next 15 to 20 years, the person is making choices and developing their own faith structure. These years are absolutely critical. Keep in mind that everyone has faith. The problem is that most people have no idea where their faith is placed.

It behooves us to prepare our children to have a concrete plan on how they will climb this steep choice hill so that they can make their own choices and not be swept away by the current (as in river or flow) of the day.

To do this, we need to encourage our children to ask questions, even to question authority, even Jesus. This is particularly important if your child is going on to university where their professors will assume the role of authority and if your child does not know how to challenge them and ask solid questions, they will be confused and controlled.

Not only should we encourage our children to ask questions, but we need to teach them how to ask questions and how to evaluate the answers they are given. Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcey is a good example of asking questions and discerning.

[Perry] Source: http://perrynetwork.org/?page_id=2. The quotes around Truth are in the article to emphasize they work under the fallacy that there is no Truth which Hegel (1770-1831) erroneously introduced.