BOILING SPRINGS, NC—Over 160 participants from across the country and the world journeyed to Gardner-Webb University last week for the fifth annual Charlotte Mason Conference on Education. The conference featured workshops about the teachings of Mason, a 19th Century British educator who radically changed the mainstream ideologies of adolescent education. Dr. Carroll Smith, associate professor of education at Gardner-Webb is the coordinator for the yearly event. Smith is also the founder of the American chapter of Child Light USA, which is a nonprofit organization that exists to recover and promote the educational ideas and practices of Mason.
Mason was a British educator who invested her life in improving the quality of children’s education. Her ideas are regarded as ahead of her time and her teachings highly successful. She wrote six volumes on education and founded a teacher-training college and influenced the education practice in many schools throughout England and around the World. She believed children were born persons and should be respected as such.
Smith completed his dissertation about Charlotte Mason at Virginia Tech after learning about her unique teaching method in the early 1980s. Smith was particularly taken by the idea that a child is born a person. “Just in that alone defines how we teach a child, what we teach a child and defines everything about education. A child is an image bearer of God. We do not get to treat them anyway we like, but we treat them how Jesus treated them,” Smith said.
The Mason system of education abandons modern educational techniques that focus on regurgitating facts and memorization. “(The Charlotte Mason approach to education concentrates on) the child changing from within. (This is important because) the image of God is within the child,” Smith said.
This year the conference theme was, “Beauty in Education.” Smith explained how educators could portray this message to their pupils through Mason’s teachings. “Her instructional method encompassed Christian ideals…and in Truth comes beauty,” Smith said. Mason recognized that knowing God was truly the path to a joyful, beautiful life. Participants at this years’ conference explored this beauty by taking nature walks and studying how exploring subjects such as science and literature reveals beauty to children.
Lisa Cadora of Cincinnati, Ohio, presented a workshop entitled, “Charlotte Mason Today,” in which Mason’s teachings were related to contemporary educators. Cadora, a regular presenter, has participated in the conference all five years. “(I come back because) this conference is wonderful, inspiring and encouraging to me,” Cadora said. For many, this conference has become a family reunion of sorts where Christ-centered educators can become refreshed and motivated.
For more information about the Charlotte Mason Conference on Education or Child Light USA, contact Dr. Carroll Smith at 704- 406-3913 or visit the website at www.childlightusa.org.
Located in Boiling Springs, NC, Gardner-Webb University is home to nearly 4,000 students from 39 states and 21 foreign countries.
#######
