God's Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School [Paperback]

Alan Peshkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0226661997 | ISBN-13: 978-0226661995

Is Bethany Baptist Academy God's choice? Ask the fundamentalist Christians who teach there or whose children attend the academy, and their answer will be a yes as unequivocal as their claim that the Bible is God's inerrant, absolute word. Is this truth or arrogance?

In God's Choice, Alan Peshkin offers readers the opportunity to consider this question in depth. Given the outsider's rare chance to observe such a school firsthand, Peshkin spent eighteen months studying Bethany's high school—interviewing students, parents, and educators, living in the home of Bethany Baptist Church members, and participating fully in the church's activities. From this intimate research he has fashioned a rich account of Christian schooling and an informed analysis of a clear alternative to public education.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For the third book in his series on American communities and their schoolsfollowing Growing Up American ( LJ 10/15/78) and The Imperfect Union ( LJ 1/1/83)Peshkin spent two years observing and participating in the life of a fundamentalist Baptist church and its secondary school, researching the relationship between its religious doctrine and educational practice. While he acknowledges his own divergence from fundamentalist views, Peshkin analyzes the contributions of such a school to its participants and the paradoxical place of the institution within a pluralistic society. Fundamentalists may be less homogeneous in their practices and beliefs than the author sometimes implies, but his well-documented research is for the most part objective, perceptive, and fairvaluable for professional educators, as well as interested laypeople. Cynthia Widmer, Williamstown, Ma.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Alan Peshkin is professor of comparative education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. God's Choice is the third in his series of studies exploring American communities and their schools. The other books in the series, Growing Up American and The Imperfect Union, were also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226661997
• ISBN-13: 978-0226661995
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should Be Required For All Qualitative Researchers, May 16, 2000

By 

Michael Firmin (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God's Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School (Paperback)

This is the best example of qualitative research that I have ever read. In my doctoral program, this book persuaded me that qualitative research is a viable method of scholarly inquiry. Before reading Peshkin, I never really viewed qualitative studies as being useful.

Peshkin is even-handed in his treatment of the subjects, and presents his findings in a manner which shows objectivity and wthout predisposed guile.

Attention anyone teaching qualitative research methods courses: Rquire this book!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Ethnography, March 31, 2009

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BookMan - See all my reviews
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This review is from: God's Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School (Paperback)

God's Choice provides a rather in-depth and detailed look at the pseudonymous Bethany Bible Academy (BBA) as part of an 18 month ethnographic study. Peshkin and his research assistants collected a considerable amount of data and provided a very detailed account of a fundamentalist Christian school. What makes this intriguing is that Peshkin, admittedly a Jew looking into a school that takes a very literal interpretation of the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments), presented a surprisingly objective view of the inner workings of the institution. Administrators, teachers, and students were all treated with respect (even when the author may not have agreed with their views), and a very full picture of BBA was provided. The manner in which BBA dominated the individual lives of those touched by its influence was very clear and even though come of its practices might be very disturbing to some (especially concerning the element of control), readers are left feeling as if they understood the total milieu of BBA.

Peshkin did an exemplary job in providing an account of BBA that exudes veracity throughout and, for those embarking upon a study of qualitative research methods, also provides an excellent model for them to follow. The problem is, particularly for potential researchers, is that there is a lot of garbage out there which continues to be published that gives qualitative research an arguably bad name. If qualitative research, in general, were as exemplary as God's Choice, qualitative methods might be held in higher esteem.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing Reading!, May 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: God's Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School (Paperback)

I very much enjoyed reading this book. The author treats his subject matter objectively and gives both sides of the issue. In doing so, he creates a vivid portrait of Christian fundamentalism and education in the late 20th century