PCC Update Spring 2006

sign. Students also gain practical expe-
rience in printing technology by work-
ing directly with professional printers
at the

A Beka Book

print shop.

One  major  goal  is  to  give  PCC  stu-
dents  a  passion  for  using  their  skills
in  ministry,  whether  as  employees  or
volunteers.

Ian Brownlee

(’03 grad)

com pleted  a  graphic
design  internship  at  Bi-
ble Visuals  International
(BVI),  and  now  serves
as  BVI’s  art  director.
“I  love  the  ministry,”

Ian  said. “I  got  a  good  foundation  at
PCC,  and  I  now  use  what  I  learned
in  my  ministry.    In  secular  colleges
you  don’t  get  a  connection  between
art  and  a  biblical  worldview.    Secu-
lar  artists  think  their  job  is  to  be
cute.  They miss that the real job is to
communicate.    At  PCC,  I  learned  to
communicate.”

struction  and  practice  time.    Formal
instruction gives students access to the
storehouse of knowledge accumulated
by  the  past  art  masters  through  the
centuries.    The  teaching  techniques
and processes make the student prac-
tice time profi table.
“Instruction  is  so  important,”  said
commercial art major Shannon John-
son

(

Sr.,

MO)

. “I had never had an

art class before I came to college.  By
the time I fi nished Drawing I, then I
could  draw,  because  someone  taught
me how.”
Students quickly move from drawing
and design fundamentals to courses  in
digital typography and digital graph-
ics.    These  courses  are  taught  using
two  state-of-the-art  Macintosh  com-
puter labs equipped with scanners and
color/large-format printers as well as a
photography lab with digital cameras.

Two programs

Commercial art

students begin paint-

ing  and  illustration  by  working  with
watercolors,  acrylics,  oils,  and  mixed
media,  while  focusing  on  landscape
and portrait painting.

Graphic design

students get further

training in advertising design and digi-
tal  illustration.    Using  digital  media,
they design practical products and ad-
vertisements  that  communicate  spe-
cifi c ideas.  Courses in public relations,
marketing, and selling expose them to
the business side of advertising and de-

and distributed free. For correspondence or change of

address, write

PCC Update,

Pensacola Christian College,

P.O. Box 18000, Pensacola, FL 32523-9160, U.S.A.

Pensacola Christian College,

Truth Alive, A Beka Book

and

A Beka, A Beka Academy, Joyful Life, “Dedicated to Excellence,

Committed to Service,” Rejoice Broadcast Network, RBN, Rejoice

Radio,

and

Rejoice in the Lord

are registered trademarks of

Pensacola Christian College.
PCC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or

national origin.
PCC is located at 250 Brent Lane, Pensacola, Fla.

Prospective art students

wonder,

“Will I be able to get a job after I graduate?”

If you enroll in PCC’s COMMERCIAL ART

or GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGRAM,

the answer is

“Yes!”

Art  programs  at  PCC  train  students
in  prac tical  skills  to  work  as  profes-
sional designers, illustrators, and art-
ists.    The  need  for  commercial  art-
ists  and  graphic  designers  is  great.
Everywhere  are  books,  newspapers,
magazines,  advertisements,  and  cor-
porate  logos  that  someone  designed
or illustrated.  PCC art grads are pre-
pared to do that.
“Our  graduates  are  sought  after  for
their  ability  to  communicate,”  said
Jim  Hutchinson,  dean  of  communi-
cative arts.  Some are gallery painters,
some  work  for  design  studios,  and
others work in design and illustration
departments  of  companies  and  min-
istries.  Some PCC grads have started
design and illustration companies.
By using a traditional approach to art,
students  learn  the  fundamentals  of
drawing  and  design,  which  prepare
graduates  for  design  and  illustration
jobs.  “We start with pencil on paper,”
said  art  department  chairman,  Jason
Montgomery.
Unlike  art  programs  which  embrace
the  ideas  of  self-expression,  sponta-
n eity, and chaos, the PCC art faculty
give  a  balance  between  formal  in-

For her Commercial Art internship, Shannon

Johnson

(MO)

works on a song visual for

Joyful Life.

“I  especially  appreciated  printing
classes,”  continued  Ian.  “Combining
graphic  design  and  hands-on  print-
ing  is  unique  to  PCC.    Most  colleges
don’t have a full-scale print shop that
ships books and materials all over the
world.”

Shannah (Jernigan) Smith

(’98 grad)

, also appreciates

PCC’s biblical philosophy
in  the  art  department;
she  said,  “At  PCC,  we
learned that godly princi-
ples should direct all we do.”  Shannah
is art director for

Lifestyles

magazine.

Her husband

Rob Smith

(’98 grad)

works in graphic design as a photog-
rapher and graphic designer for Acco-
lade, a business development fi rm.

Intern program

By the time art and graphic design stu-
dents reach their junior year, they are
ready to intern at design and illustra-
tion companies and print shops around

the country. Some intern in the

A Beka

Book

publishing department.

Through their two 80-hour intern-
ships, students complete projects for
portfolios and fi nish their art educa-
tion with a

senior exhibit

displaying

their best paintings, illustrations, and
designs.

Graduate programs

Students can continue their training
on the graduate level in PCC’s

Mas-

ter of Arts

program in commercial art

Master of Fine Arts

program. The

graduate programs offer an advanced
level  of  instruction  with  high  stan-
dards  in  philosophical  and  practical
art training.
If  you  want  to  study  art,  be  assured
that  PCC’s  art  and  graphic  design
programs  provide  practical  training
with a broad range of art and design
skills  that  are  needed  in  today’s  job
market.

Students in
Digital Typography
class learn
to lay out text
in Adobe InDesign.

Ashley Motsinger

(Soph., NC)

paints an oil

portrait of her pastor and his wife.

David O’Hara

(MO)

, Sara Schmidt

(OK)

, and others complete oil paintings in sophomore painting class.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist commis-

sioned art major Sarah Brunst

(Sr., MD)

complete a pencil rendering of his home.

They also learn
Photoshop, Illustrator,
Freehand, and Quark
in other classes.

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

NEW

Master

Portrait

Artist

Joe Bowler

Hilton Head, SC

Order from College Bookstore:

1-800-722-3570

PCCinfo.com/bookstore

8am– 4:45pm

This

DVD

features master portrait artist

Joe Bowler, sharing his knowledge and
background as illustrator, artist, and por-
trait painter. There is much to learn from
this accomplished master.

$49.50/3-disc set

3-disc DVD

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

orn in Germany, of orthodox

Jewish parents, my fi rst fi fteen

years were saturated with training in
orthodox Judaism.  Then I began my
studies toward a career, and was ap-
prenticed  to  a  manufacturer,  doing
offi ce  work.    Although  I  continued
to read the prayers and attend syna-
gogue, my worldly associates led me
into  sinful  pleasures  and  I  drifted
from the faith of my fathers.

My  parents  sent  me  to  America  to
study in the Hebrew Union College
in  Ohio.    There  were  major  adjust-
ments  to  be  made,  but  I  fi nished
my training in all phases of Hebrew
learning, completed my undergradu-
ate work and received, eventually, my
Master’s degree.

Having become profi cient in transla-
tion of Hebrew into the vernacular,
and  with  a  complete  knowledge  of
Jewish  history,  I  was  ordained  and
inducted into the rabbinical offi ce.

In my fi rst charge I served ten years,
receiving  many  tokens  of  affection
from my fl ock.  I contributed much
to their knowledge of the social, in-
dustrial  and  economic  problems  of
the day.

I spoke on monotheism, ethical cul-
ture,  and  the  moral  systems  of  the
Jews.    On  Sabbath  mornings  I  gave
addresses on the Pentateuch and on
Sundays  I  taught  from  eight  in  the
morning to fi ve in the evening with
only  an  hour’s  break  for  dinner.    I
became  popular  as  a  public  speak-
er  and  was  often  asked  to  speak  in
Christian churches.

Well do I recall the day when I proudly
stood before an audience of profess-
ing Christians and told them why I
was a Jew and would not believe in
their Christ as my Messiah Saviour.
I gloried in the Reform Judaism that
acknowledged no need of an atoning
sacrifi ce  for  sin,  a  religion  of  ethics
which quieted qualms of conscience
through a smug self-righteousness.

In  that  audience  sat  a
humble,  elderly  woman
who prayed, “O God, bring
Dr. Wertheimer to realize his
utter  need  of  that  Saviour
he  so  boastingly  rejects!
Bring him, if necessary, to
the very depths in order
that he may know his need of my Lord
Jesus Christ.”

What  did  I  need  of  Jesus?    I  was
perfectly  satisfi ed  with  my  life.    My
wife  was  young,  attractive  and  ac-
complished.    I  was  rabbi  of  the
B’nai Yeshorum  Synagogue,  lived  in
a  beautiful  home,  enjoyed  a  place
of  prominence  in  the  community
where  I  spoke  in  every  denomina-
tional church, was honorary member
of the Ministerial Association, served
as  Chaplain  in  the  Masonic  Lodge,
and faired sumptuously every day.

Suddenly there

came a change.

Suddenly there came a change.  My
wife  became  seriously  ill,  and  was
soon  dead,  leaving  me  a  distraught
widower  with  two  small  children.  I
could not sleep.  I walked the streets
striving to fi nd something that would
make me forget the void in my life.
My  dreams  were  shattered.  Where
was  comfort  to  be  found?    I  called
on  the  God  of  my  fathers,  but  the
heavens seemed as brass.  How could
I  speak  words  of  comfort  to  others
when  my  own  sorrow  had  brought
me to despair?

I  delved  into  Spiritism,  Theosophy
and  Christian  Science  only  to  fi nd
them futile and hopeless.  I decided
that  I  must  resign  and  take  time  to
think  things  through.    I  was  per-
plexed about one thing in particular:
Where was the spirit and soul of my
loved  one  who  had  made  my  exis-
tence  so  sweet?    What  had  become
of  all  her  faculties,  the  intents  and
purposes of that active, keen mind?
I turned to the Bible for an answer.

How A Rabbi Found Peace

Dr. Arlin Horton,

Founder/President

From the

President

In  2004,  when  Hurricane  Ivan  hit
this  area,  the  PCC  campus,  lo-
cated  seven  miles  from  the  Gulf
of  Mexico,  sheltered  over  5,000
faculty,  staff,  and  students  with-
out a scratch.  We are thankful the
buildings are designed to withstand
hurricane winds.
But  when  Gulf  Power’s  electric-
ity  went  off,  the  campus  only  had
emergency  power  (dim  lights  and
no a/c) from Thursday through Sat-
urday evening.
Since then, engineers have designed
and built a standby

electrical gen-

eration facility,

using 8 huge,

gas-fi red  Caterpillar  engines,  to
provide  electricity  for  all  build-
ings, including air conditioning for
residence halls, dining areas, class-
rooms, etc.
Should  another  storm  blow  into
Pensacola,  we  will  be  able,  Lord
willing,  to  continue  classes  and
normal operations throughout the
ministry.

Below:

Generators at the new standby
electrical power facility.

Above:

Each of the 8 Caterpillar engines
generates 1.3 megawatts of power.

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

Again  I  studied  Judaism,  but  it  an-
swered  no  questions,  it  satisfi ed  no
craving in my heart.  Then I began to
read the New Testament, comparing it
with the Old.  In the fi fty-third chap-
ter  of  Isaiah  I  was  perplexed  by  the
expression, “my righteous servant.”  I
found He was going to bear the iniq-
uity of Israel.  I decided it could not
mean Israel, for the prophet spoke of
them  as  a  sinful  nation,  laden  with
iniquity.

Who was it?  I began to study the con-
text and in Isaiah 50:6 I found, “I gave
My back to the smiters.”  Then I read
how the chapter began:  “Thus saith
Jehovah.”    I  asked,  does  God  have  a
back?  Did He give it to the smiters?
Then  I  read  He  “gave  his  cheeks  to
them that pluck off the hair,” and how
He hid not His face “from shame and
spitting.”    I  asked  myself,  when  did
Jehovah have these human character-
istics?  When and why did He suffer
these indignities?

I  was  further  perplexed  by  Psalm
110:1.    In  my  confusion  I  began  to
read Isaiah from the beginning.  I was
stopped at the sixth verse of chapter
nine:   “For  unto  us  a  child  is  born,
unto  us  a  son  is  given,  and  the  gov-
ernment shall be upon His shoulders:
His  name  shall  be  called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Ev-
erlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Here  was  a  most  incomprehensible
thing!

I was faced with the

doctrine of the Trinity.

I was suddenly faced with the doc-

trine of the Trinity. What now about
our popular monotheistic slogan,

“Sh’ma  Isroel,  Adonai  Eloheynu,
Adonai,  Echod.”    Upon  that  word
“Echod” (one) the entire philosophy
of Judaism is based.  I had been taught
by the rabbis that echod means abso-
lute unity.  I began to study that word
and  found  to  my  amazement  it  was
used of Adam and Eve, who became
one.  It was used again when the spies
returned from Canaan with a cluster
of grapes (Eshol Echod).  It was used
again when the “men of Judah stood
up as one man” (Ish Echod).

Suddenly  I  was  struck  with  the  er-
ror I had believed and proclaimed all
through my ministry.  Echod cannot
mean absolute unity, but a composite
unity!  Next I began to search for the
name of Jesus in the Old Testament.

In  my  study  I  found  that  275  years
before  Christ,  King  Ptolemy  Phila-
delphus  summoned  men  from  Pal-
estine  and  commanded  them  to
translate the Hebrew Scriptures in to
the Greek vernacular.  They took the
Pentateuch fi rst, and when they came
to “Joshua” they translated it “Jesous,”
written  with  a  circumfl ex  over  it,  to
show that there had been a suppres-
sion of the Hebrew that could not be
expressed in Greek.

When Joshua went into Canaan with
the  other  eleven  spies,  he  was  called
“Yehoshuah”  (Jehovah  is  Saviour).
That is exactly what the word ‘‘Jesus”
means.

I could hold out in unbelief no longer.
I was convinced of the truth of God as
it is in Christ Jesus.  I cried, “Lord, I
believe  that  Thou  as  Jehovah Yesous
has  made  atonement  for  me.    I  be-
lieve that Jehovah Yesous died for me.
I  believe  that  Thou  has  made  provi-
sion for me.  From henceforth I will
publicly  confess Yeshuah  as  my  Sav-
iour and Lord.”  Thus, after months of
searching, I was convinced that Jesus
was  the  righteous  servant  of  Jehova:
(Jehovah-tsidkenu), “The Lord OUR
righteousness!”

There is but one source

of eternal life.

While  I  had  served  as  a  rabbi,  I  had
yearned  to  give  the  bereaved  some
hope  and  comfort,  but  I  could  not
give  what  I  did  not  possess.    Now  I
could approach those in heartbreak-
ing  grief  and  tragedy  and  give  them
the satisfying words of the Lord Jesus,
“I am the resurrection and the life; he
that believeth in Me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever
liveth and believeth in Me shall never
die.”    And  again, “Verily,  verily  I  say
unto you: He that heareth My Word,
and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me,
hath (possesses now) everlasting life,
and  shall  not  come  into  condemna-
tion,  but  IS  passed  from  death  unto
life.”

There is but one eternal life, and one
source of eternal life; that is God’s
Son. What a great and glorious mes-
sage we, His redeemed ones, are com-
missioned to deliver today.”

■

How A Rabbi Found Peace

What did I need of Jesus?

I was perfectly satisfi ed

with life

Personal testimony of Rabbi Max
Wertheimer (1863–1941), former
Rabbi of Temple Israel, Dayton, OH.

To order this tract, contact:
AMF International, P.O. Box 5470,
Lansing, IL 60438 (708) 418-0020

PCC

Students

from

Home areas of

PCC students

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

Top 10

States

Florida

411

Ohio

236

Michigan

235

Pennsylvania

204

Georgia

198

Texas

193

Virginia

191

North Carolina 178
Indiana

170

New York

152

Top 10

Countries

Indonesia

Canada

South Korea 37
Bahamas

Japan

Mexico

Haiti

Germany

Belize

Puerto Rico 9

American’s nearly last place finish in
the  Third  International  Mathemat-
ics  and  Sciences  Study  of  student
achievement caused widespread con-
sternation:  except  in  the  one  place
it  should  have  mattered  most:  the
nation’s  teacher  education  schools.
Those schools have far more impor-
tant  things  to  do  than  worry  about
test scores.

For over 80 years, teacher education
in America has been in the grip of an
immutable  dogma,  responsible  for
endless  educational  nonsense.  That
dogma  may  be  summed  up  in  the
phrase:

Anything But Knowledge.

Schools  are  about  many  things,
teacher educators say (depending on
the  decade)—self-actualization,  fol-
lowing  one’s  joy,  social  adjustment,
or  multicultural  sensitivity—but
the  one  thing  they  are  not  about  is
knowledge.  Oh  sure,  educators  will
occasionally  allow  the  word  to  pass
their  lips,  but  it  is  always  in  a  com-
promised position, as in “construct-
ing  one’s  own  knowledge,”  or “con-
textualized  knowledge.”  Plain  old
knowledge, the kind passed down in
books, the kind for which Faust sold
his soul, that is out.…

The  course  in  “Curriculum  and
Teaching  in  Elementary  Education”
that Professor Anne Nelson (a pseu-
donym)  teaches  at  the  City  College
of New York is a good place to start.
Dressed in a tailored brown suit with
close-cropped hair, Nelson is a char-
ismatic teacher, with a commanding
repertoire  of  voices  and  personae.
And  yet,  for  all  her  obvious  experi-
ence and common sense, her course
is a remarkable exercise in vacuous-
ness.... The semester began, she said
in a pre-class interview, by “building
a  community,  rich  of  talk,  in  which
students look at what they themselves
are doing by in-class writing.…”

She asks the students to write for seven
minutes  on  each  of  three  questions:
“What  excites  me  about  teaching?”
“What concerns me about teaching?”
and  then,  the  moment  that  brands
this class as hopelessly steeped in the

Anything But Knowledge

credo: “What

was it like to do this writing?”

This last question triggers a quicken-
ing volley of self-reflexive turns. After
the students read aloud their predict-
able reflections on teaching, Professor
Nelson asks: “What are you hearing?”
A young man states the obvious: “Ev-
eryone seems to be reflecting on what
their anxieties are.” This is too straight-
forward  an  answer.  Professor  Nelson
translates  into  ed-speak:  “So  writing
gave you permission to think on paper
about what’s there.” Ed-speak dresses
up  the  most  mundane  processes  in
dramatic  terminology—one  doesn’t
just  write,  one  is  “given  permission
to  think  on  the  paper”;  one  doesn’t
converse,  one  “negotiates  meaning.”
Then,  like  a  champion  tennis  player
finishing off a set, Nelson reaches for
the  ultimate  level  of  self-reflexivity
and drives it home: “What was it like
to listen to each other’s responses?”

The self-reflection isn’t over yet, how-
ever. The class next moves into small
groups—along  with  in-class  writing,
the  most  pervasive  gimmick  in  pro-
gressive classrooms today—to discuss
a  set  of  student-teaching  guidelines.
After  ten  minutes,  Nelson  interrupts
the  by-now  lively  and  largely  off-
topic  conversations,  and  asks:  “Let’s
talk about how you felt in these small
groups.” The students are picking up
ed-speak. “It shifted the comfort zone,”
reveals one. “It was just acceptance; I
felt the vibe going through the group.”
Another  adds: “I  felt  really  comfort-
able; I had trust there.” Nelson senses a
“teachable moment.” “Let’s talk about
that,” she interjects. “We are building

trust in this class; we are learning how
to work with each other.”

Now,  let  us  note  what  this  class  was
not: it was not about how to keep the
attention  of  eight-year-olds  or  plan
a  lesson  or  make  the  Pilgrims  real
to  first-graders.    It  did  not,  in  other
words,  contain  any  material  (with
the  exception  of  the  student-teacher
guidelines)  from  the  outside  world.
Instead, it continuously spun its own
subject matter out of itself. Like a re-
lationship that consists of obsessively
analyzing  the  relationship,  the  only
content  of  the  course  was  the  course
itself.

How did such navel-gazing come to be
central to teacher education? It is the
almost inevitable consequence of the

Anything But Knowledge

doctrine,

born  in  a  burst  of  quintessentially
American  anti-intellectual  fervor  in
the  wake  of  World  War  I.  Educators
within the federal government and at
Columbia’s  Teachers  College  issued
a  clarion  call  to  schools:  cast  off  the
traditional  academic  curriculum  and
start  preparing  young  people  for  the
demands of modern life.…  “Life ad-
justment,”  not  wisdom  or  learning,
was to be the goal of education.

The  early  decades  of  this  century
forged the central educational fallacy
of our time: that one can think with-
out  having  anything  to  think  about.
Knowledge  is  changing  too  fast  to
be  transmitted  usefully  to  students,
argued  William  Heard  Kilpatrick  of
Teachers College, the most influential
American educator of the century; in-
stead  of  teaching  children  dead  facts
and figures, schools should teach them
“critical thinking.…”

Two  final  doctrines  rounded  out
the  indelible  legacy  of  progressiv-
ism.  First,  Harold  Rugg’s  The  Child-
Centered  School  (1928)  shifted  the

by Heather MacDonald

“Anything but Knowledge”

Why Johnny’s Teacher Can’t Teach

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

cont. p. 10

Master teachers instruct

your child at home

This

DVD

program features the master

teachers of Pensacola Christian Academy

in a traditional classroom setting (K–12th grade).

See ad on p. 18.

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

PCC

elementary

and

secondaryeducation

majors

are taught that the students they will teach can be trained
using proven, successful methods that help them master
the basic principles of reading, writing, arithmetic, his-
tory, and science throughout their school years.

The education program at PCC is…traditional,
content-rich, practical, hands-on, and biblical.

traditional

Education students learn to master traditional

teaching  methods,  which  include—following  a  curricu-
lum,  adequate  review,  suffi cient  practice,  reinforcement
of concepts, memorization, testing, etc.

“Traditional teaching methods help every
student learn,” says

Dr. Phyllis Rand,

PCC dean of education, “so that ‘no child
is left behind.’ PCC graduates know what
a fourth or a sixth grader is able to learn,
and they know how to teach it.”

content-rich

While “progressive” education emphasizes

letting children choose what they want to learn, PCC ed
majors learn that there is a certain body of past knowl-
edge that students at each grade level should know, and
that knowledge is included in the

A Beka

curriculum. Be-

cause intensive phonics is used in kindergarten and early
elementary grades, soon all the children are reading even
the Bible and newspaper. They can also read their

A Beka

science, history, and language arts textbooks, plus other
books for reports. Arithmetic facts and processes are
mastered and built upon each year.

practical

Education graduates know how to begin their

classroom the fi rst day of their professional teaching ca-
reer. And they know how to provide structure and rou-
tines to enhance learning that is enjoyable to each age
group and needed in the student’s academic life.

hands-on

PCC seniors fi nish their education major with

an internship at Pensacola Christian Academy, which en-
rolls over 2,500 students (K4–12th grade) and has always
rejected the progressive education philosophy.

biblical

All subjects are taught from a biblical foundation

and a traditional philosophy of education throughout the
K–12 teacher education programs.

Continues to

Train Teachers

in Traditional Education Methods

and rejects the

AnythingButKnowledge

(Progressive Education) system.

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

focus of power in the classroom from
the teacher to the student. In a child-
centered  class,  the  child  determines
what he wants to learn. Forcing chil-
dren  into  an  existing  curriculum  in-
hibits  their  self-actualization,  Rugg
argued, just as forcing them into neat
rows of chairs and desks inhibits their
creativity. The teacher becomes an en-
abler,  an  advisor;  not,  heaven  forbid,
the transmitter of a pre-existing body
of  ideas,  texts,  or,  worst  of  all,  facts.
In  today’s  jargon,  the  child  should
“construct” his own knowledge rather
than  passively  receive  it.  By  the  late
1920s,  students  were  moving  their
chairs around to form groups of “ac-
tive  learners”  pursuing  their  own
individual  interests,  and,  instead  of
a  curriculum,  the  student-centered
classroom followed just one principle:
“activity  leading  to  further  activity
without  badness,”  in  Kilpatrick’s
words.  Today’s educators still present
these  seven-decade-old  practices  as
cutting-edge.…

The  final  cornerstone  of  progres-
sive theory was the disdain for report
cards  and  objective  tests  of  knowl-
edge.  These  inhibit  authentic  learn-
ing, Kilpatrick argued; and he carried
the day, to the eternal joy of students
everywhere.

The foregoing doctrines are complete
bunk, but bunk that has survived vir-
tually unchanged to the present. The
notion that one can teach “metacogni-
tive” thinking in the abstract is sense-
less. Students need to learn something
to learn how to learn at all. The claim
that  prior  knowledge  is  superfluous
because  one  can  always  look  it  up,
preferably  on  the  Internet,  is  equally
senseless.  Effective  research  depends
on  preexisting  knowledge....   Lastly,
Kilpatrick’s  influential  assertion  that
knowledge  was  changing  too  fast  to
be  taught  presupposes  a  blinkered
definition of knowledge that excludes
the great works and enterprises of the
past.

The rejection of testing rests on prem-
ises as flawed as the push for “critical
thinking skills.” Progressives argue

that if tests exist, then teachers will
“teach to the test”—a bad thing, in
their view. But why would “teaching to
a test” that asked for, say, the causes of
the Civil War be bad for students?…

Once you dismiss real knowledge as
the goal of education, you have to find
something else to do. That’s why the

Anything But Knowledge

doctrine

leads  directly  to  Professor  Nelson’s
odd course. In thousands of education
schools across the country, teachers are
generating little moments of meaning,
which they then subject to instant re-
play. Educators call this “constructing
knowledge,” a fatuous label for some-
thing that is neither construction nor
knowledge  but  mere  game-playing.
Teacher  educators,  though,  possess  a
primitive relationship to words. They
believe that if they just label something
“critical  thinking”  or  “community-
building,”  these  activities  will  magi-
cally occur.…

The

Anything But Knowledge

credo

leaves  education  professors  and
their  acolytes  free  to  concentrate
on  far  more  pressing  matters  than
how  to  teach  the  facts  of  history  or
the  rules  of  sentence  construction.
“Community-building” is one of their
most urgent concerns. Teacher educa-
tors conceive of their classes as sites of
profound political engagement, out of
which  the  new  egalitarian  order  will
emerge. A case in point is Columbia’s
required  class,  “Teaching  English  in
Diverse Social and Cultural Contexts,”
taught  by  Professor  Barbara  Tenney
(a pseudonym). “I want to work at a
very conscious level with you to build
community in this class,” Tenney tells
her attentive students on the first day
of the semester this spring. “You can
do it consciously, and you ought to do
it  in  your  own  classes.”  Community-
building starts by making nameplates
for our desks. Then we all find a part-
ner  to  interview  about  each  other’s
“identity.” Over the course of the se-
mester, each student will conduct two
more  “identity”  interviews  with  dif-
ferent  partners.  After  the  interview,
the  inevitable  self-reflexive  moment

arrives, when Tenney asks: “How did it
work?” This is a sign that we are on our
way to “constructing knowledge.”...

All this artificial “community-building,”
however  gratifying  to  the  professors,
has nothing to do with learning. Learn-
ing  is  ultimately  a  solitary  activity:  we
have only one brain, and at some point
we  must  exercise  it  in  private.  One
could learn an immense amount about
Schubert’s  lieder  or  calculus  with-
out  ever  knowing  the  name  of  one’s
seatmate.  Such  a  view  is  heresy  to  the
education  establishment,  determined,
as  Rita  Kramer  has  noted,  to  eradi-
cate  any  opportunity  for  individual
accomplishment,  with  its  sinister  risk
of  superior  achievement.  For  the  edu-
crats,  the  group  is  the  irreducible  unit
of  learning.  Fueling  this  principle  is
the gap in achievement between whites
and Asians, on the one hand, and other
minorities  on  the  other.  Unwilling  to
adopt the discipline and teaching prac-
tices  that  would  help  reduce  that  gap,
the  education  establishment  tries  to
conceal it under group projects.…

For  all  their  “progressive”  sympathies,
not all ed students like this regime. “I’m
a socialist at heart,” says one of Tenney’s
students,  establishing  her  bona  fides,
“but  some  tasks,  like  writing,  are  not
collaborative.  It’s  hard  when  someone
loses  their  voice.”  Another  Columbia
student  in  the  Education  Administra-
tion program complains that “teachers
here let the group projects run wild.” At
$1,800  a  course,  it’s  frustrating “when
the last four sessions of a class are group
projects  that  are  all  garbage.”  Lastly,
small  group  discussions  have  a  habit
of careening off the assigned topic. The
professors  rarely  intervene,  however,
says  a  Teachers  College  student,  “be-
cause they don’t want to interfere with
the interaction.”

The  elevation  of  the  group  entails  the
demotion  of  teachers—yet  another
plank  in  the

Anything But Knowledge

platform.  To  accord  teachers  any  su-
perior  role  in  the  classroom  would  be
to  acknowledge  an  elite  hierarchy  of
knowledge, possessed by some but not
all, at least without effort. Teachers tra-

cont from p. 8

“Anything but Knowledge”

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

Originally published in

City Journal

Spring 1998.

Internet: www.city-journal.org/html/8_2_a1.html
Excerpts reprinted with permission of The Man-
hattan Institute.

ditionally represent elitism, learning,
authority—everything that progressiv-
ism scorns—and so they must be rele-
gated to the role of mere facilitators for
the all-important group.…

Though the current diversity battle cry
is  “All  students  can  learn,”  the  educa-
tionists  continually  lower  expectations
of what they should learn. No longer are
students expected to learn all their mul-
tiplication  tables  in  the  third  grade,  as
has been traditional. But while Ameri-
can  educators  come  up  with  various
theories  about  fi xed  cognitive  phases
to explain why our children should go
slow,  other  nationalities  trounce  us.
Sometimes, we’re trounced in our own
backyards, causing cognitive dissonance
in local teachers.

A  young  student  at  Teachers  College
named Susan describes incredulously a
Korean-run preschool in Queens. To her
horror, the school, the Holy Mountain
School, violates every progressive tenet:
rather  than  being  “student-centered”
and allowing each child to do whatever
he  chooses,  the  school  imposes  a  cur-
riculum  on  the  children,  based  on  the
alphabet. “Each  week,  the  children  got
a  different  letter,”  Susan  recalls  grimly.
Such  an  approach  violates “whole  lan-
guage”  doctrine,  which  holds  that  stu-
dents  can’t  “grasp  the  [alphabetic]
symbols without the whole word or the
meaning or any context in their lives,” in
Susan’s words. Holy Mountain’s further
infractions  include  teaching  its  wildly
international  students  only  in  English
and failing to provide an “anti-bias mul-
ticultural  curriculum.”  The  result?  By
the end of preschool the students learn
English and are writing words. Here is
true belief in the ability of all children
to learn, for it is backed up by action.

Across  the  city,  young   teachers  are
dumping  progressive  theories   faster
than  In donesian  currency.  For  all  the
unc tuous  talk  of  diversity,  many  pro -
gres sive  tenets  are  dangerously  ill
adopted to inner-city classrooms.

The Wealthy

Place

he Lord may let others be honored and

put forward, and keep you hidden in

obscurity, because He wants

to produce some choice, fragrant fruit
for His coming glory, which can only

be produced in the shade.

e may let others be great, but keep you

small. He may let others do a work

for Him and get the credit for it,

but He will make you work and toil
without knowing how much you

are doing.

nd then to make your work still more

precious, He may let others get the

credit for the work which you have

done and thus make your reward ten

times greater when Jesus comes.

Selected

Intern Marlena Reichert

(CA)

assists Academy

band director, Mr. Nick Kozar

(PCC ’88 grad)

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

Music Education

of the internship is directing perform-
ance groups in a school assembly or
concert.
A  degree  in  music  education  will
open  many  doors  for  professional
opportunities and ministry.  Recent
graduates were hired to begin Chris-
tian  school  music  programs  and
teach  music.    Some  graduates  have
their  own  music  studios,  and  many
serve as church musicians.
“Musicians can either promote them-
selves,  their  music,  or  God,”  says

ffective music teachers are those

who  love  music,  are  talented,  and
desire to teach others.  PCC’s music
education program offers vocal peda-
gogy, music theory, and choral writ-
ing and arranging for those who as-
pire to be music teachers.
Music education is a popular teach-
ing fi eld for secondary education ma-
jors  because  the  program  provides
a  variety  of  music  experience.    In
addition  to  a  concentrated  study  in
piano, voice, band, or orchestral in-
strument, students also receive foun-
dational  training  in  voice,  strings,
brass,  percussion,  woodwinds,  and
piano.
Music  education  students  have  op-
portunities for growth as musicians
with private lessons; plus participa-
tion  in  band,  orchestra,  or  choral
groups; and also performing in Ves-
pers, weekly repertoires, and senior
recitals.
During  their  senior  year,  students
complete a secondary teaching intern-
ship at Pensacola Christian Academy.
As interns, they work with private stu-
dents (under a music teacher) and also
gain valuable experience working with
a choir, band, orchestra, or teaching
classroom music theory.  A highlight

COLLEGE

Apr. 6 – 7, 20 –21, ‘06

Nov. 22 –24, ‘06

God has a plan for your life. And
PCC might be God’s plan for you
to discover your God-given abilities
and develop them for His glory.

Outstanding Academics

Fun-fi lled Activities

Turkey Bowl

Modern Facilities

Stay in residence hall

Christ-Centered

Atmosphere

If you can’t come, be sure to request a

free

Catch the Spirit

DVD Viewbook.

1-800-PCC-INFO, ext. 4 • PCCinfo.com

Fax: 1-800-722-3355

E-mail: info@PCCinfo.com

Visit classes

Crowne Centre chapel

Interested in Teaching Music

PCC senior intern Jeremy Landers

(MI)

directs an elementary choral group.

Consider

Academic Programs at PCC

Interns work with a choir, band, or orchestra.

Music Education

Dr. Ron Smith, chairman of the music
department.  “Our goal is to teach stu-
dents to be professional without being
prideful, so they can be effective wit-
nesses for the Lord.”
PCC’s  music  faculty  helps  students
maintain  a  servant’s  heart  along
with  performance  skills.    Dr.  Mark
Crawford,  ass’t  chair  of  the  music
department, says, “We challenge our
students  to  be  the  best  musicians
they can be with the goal of serving
God.”  PCC’s ultimate goal is to train
students to use their musical talents
to serve the Lord.

■

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Software Engineering

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Management

Marketing

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Offi ce Admin.

Public Admin.

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Advertising/Public Relations

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Education

Early Childhood

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Secondary

Biology

Mathematics

Business

Music

Chemistry

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English

Science

History

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Music

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Music

Piano Pedagogy

Nursing

Advanced Degrees

Master of Business Administration
Master of Fine Arts—Art

(terminal degree)

Master of Science in Nursing
Master of Science in Education Admin.
Education programs on doctoral level

**
**

Interested in Teaching Music

at PCC

Music Education

Music, Church Music

(profi ciencies in voice, piano,

strings, brass, and woodwinds)

Piano Pedagogy

PCC music education intern

gives violin lesson to high school student.

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

* also

Master’s

degree

Intern Sarah Jones

(PA)

gives piano lesson

to elementary student .

Order PCC Bookstore

1-800-722-3570

PCCinfo.com/bookstore

S/H and tax included—Code #10129357 when calling

New CD’s

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

I Sing Because



features Scott and his friends

in a delightful song collection

Mercy Came Down

Higher on the Mountain

Faces

Acres of Diamonds

plus 8 more titles.

SPECIAL

CDs

for

$20

CDs

for

$30

Single CDs $15

Tell Me His

Name Again

features

Rejoice

Singers

Well, Think of That

Wherever You Are

When I Wake Up to Sleep

No More

plus 10 more titles



PCCinfo.com

Visit us at

Apply Online

Fall enrollments

accepted

For information,

call:

1-800-PCC-INFO

(1-800-722-4636)

visit:

PCCinfo.com;

e-mail:

info

PCCinfo.com;

fax:

1-800-722-3355;

write: Director of Admissions,

Pensacola Christian College, P.O. Box 18000,

Pensacola, FL 32523-9160

Employment Opportunities

Good salary, benefi ts, retirement program

An investment in ministry is an investment for eternity. Have you considered what you can
do for the Lord with your life? PCC has openings in the following areas:

Faculty positions:

•

Biology/Chemistry

•

Electrical Engineering

•

Business

•

Music/Brass

Staff positions:

•

Carpet / Tile Installer

• HVAC technician

•

Plumber or apprentice

•

Painter/Wallpaper Hanger

•

Electrician/Appliance Repair

•

General Maintenance

Send resumé with short testimonial to Personn el Offi ce,
Pensacola Christian College,

P.O.

Box

18000,

Pensacola,

FL 32523-9160, U.S.A.

A Beka

Services, Ltd., positions:

A Beka Book

position:

•

Printer

•

Print Shop Quality Control Specialist

•

School Field Representative—

Southern California /Arizona and Florida

•

Home School Field Representative—

Colorado /Nebraska /Kansas

Send resumé with short testimonial to Personn el Offi ce,

A Beka

Services, Ltd.,

P.O.

Box

19100,

Pensacola,

FL 32523-9100, U.S.A.

Remember

That what you possess

in the world

at the day of your death

will be found to belong

to someone else.

But what you are,

the time you give,

the service you render,

and your tithe and offering—

that you bring to God,

will be yours forever.

Faculty Recognition

Dr. Doug Devaney

completed his

Ph.D.

degree in Human
Services from Walden
University. He serves
as PCC criminal justice
chairperson.

Upcoming events

Bible Conference

Mar. 15–17

(850) 478-8496, ext. 2777

Principals Clinic

Mar. 27–29

Administrators Pastors / Offi ce Staff

(850) 478-8496, ext. 2828

College Days

April 6–7; 20–21

1-800-PCC-INFO

(1-800-722-4636)

Graduate School

June 19–Aug. 4

1-877-PTS-GRAD

(1-877-787-4723)

Summer Seminar

July 24–27

for Teachers / Administrators

(850) 478-8496, ext. 2828

Teachers Clinic

Oct. 9–10; 23–24

(850) 478-8496, ext. 2828

Ladies Celebration

Nov. 2–4

(850) 478-8496, ext. 2828

Estate Planning

It is often

diffi cult to make a large gift during
one’s lifetime, yet many would like
to make a signifi cant contribution to
PCC. You might consider a bequest
to Pensacola Christian College.
For more information, write:

Offi ce of Institutional Advancement,
Pensacola Christian College, P.O. Box 18000,
Pensacola, FL 32523-9160, U.S.A.

AVY

Tita Rodgers ’91

Rich Rowe ’91

Eric Chitwood ’92

Russ Martin ’93

Mary Rose Anker ’98

Nathan Lee ’99

Ben Corliss ’02

Mandie Richards ’02

Jeremy Benson*

ORCE

Matt Drake ’83

Sean Brown ’90

Bill Carbaugh ’91

Scott Clark ’92, M ’95

Brian K. Hall ’95

Kelly McCarter ’97

Sam MacIlroy ’98

Ray Durrell ’99

Cliff Jones ’99

Ben Leiby ’01

Ginger Morgan ’02

Chris Cooke ’03

Jesse Hamel ’03

David Anderson*

Adam Mullenix*

Stephen Vogel*

OAST

UARD

Amanda Armstrong ’04

Jeremy Weible ’04

ARINES

Brock Schultz ’92

Don Herod ’98

Wes Pyke ’98

Jim Clark ’99

Lori Miller ’99

Norm Mitchell ’99

Patrick Callahan ’00

David Catlin ’00

Josh James ’01

Cheryl Maddox ’01

Chris Harrison ’02

Aaron Milroy ’02

Matthew Anker ’03

Steve Hemminger ’03

Stephen Peters ’03

Earl Sweigart ’03

Dan J. Johnson ’05

David Masche ’05

Matt Beardall*

Trevor Pant*

RANCH

UNKNOWN

Daniel Henderson*

Darren Specht*

Lew Ellinger*

PCC Alumni

and

Former Students

in U.S. Armed

Forces

for

roo

for

roo

RMY

John Beebe ’89

Celeste Beebe ’90

Bob Kitchell ’91

David Haymond ’92

Mark Brooks ’93

Tyesha Lowery ’95

Mark Moberly ’95

Stephen Shankle ’96

David Hurst ’98

Robert Zuniga ’98

Steve Altomari ’99

Dusty Werner ’99

Al Norton ’01

Amanda Ingraham ’02

Ryan Stevenson ’02

Craig Wagoner ’02

Katie L. Smith ’03

Joe Stanton ’03

Nathaniel Torberson ’03

Mike Norton ’04

Nelson Bunch*

Nate Thoreson*

Others may serve, but only the
above names could be verifi ed.

Remember

That what you possess

in the world

at the day of your death

will be found to belong

to someone else.

But what you are,

the time you give,

the service you render,

and your tithe and offering—

that you bring to God,

will be yours forever.

PCC UPDATE



SPRING 2006

for Grades 9–12 and class of 2006

For more information,

Call:



(850) 478-8496, ext. 8787

•

E-mail: reservations@PCCinfo.com

•

Fax: (850) 479-6576

Write: (

insert camp name

) Camp, Youth Outreach Ministry, P.O. Box 18500, Pensacola, FL 32523-8500 U.S.A.