I once worked with someone who was fired from his teaching job at a South Korean university because he infused his English classes with texts written through mediums. It all made sense when I looked up his resume and found that he had graduated with a Master’s Degree from a university fully supported by the Reverend Moon. Today, I read that Suri Cruise, the young daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, will be attending a school known for teaching the philosophies of Ron L. Hubbard, the Scientology guru. 

Since Suri Cruise is young, the teachings of Ron L. Hubbard might not be as damaging to her reputation as they would be if she were older and attending a university dedicated to Scientology. And, as Slate reports, not all of the teachings at the New Village Leadership Academy are all that bad. 

The New VIllage Leadership Academy isn’t officially recognized by the Church of Scientology, but does base its teachings on the principles of education laid out by Ron L. Hubbard. From what I understand, this means that the classes in the school are task-based, rely heavily on allowing students to mark their own progress, and give students the opportunity to sculpt difficult concepts that they might not have been able to easily learn otherwise. 

One of the possible problems with the Ron L. Hubbard attitude towards education is that  Scientologists don’t believe in psychology, psychiatry, and even in learning disabilities, which indicates that there might be a large gap in any student’s education who does not fit the traditional mold of a student. What happens if a student is dyslexic in the New Village Academy? Do the students fail to get the attention they need from their teachers if they can’t read correctly? Is a Scientologist-based education only for certain kinds of students or can it work for a larger variety of students? 

It’s hard to imagine that someone from a family like the Cruise’s would have problems in any type of educational setting, but it’s also hard to imagine any school in this day and age rejecting the possibility of learning disabilities in the educational process. 

Of course, a Scientology-based education may not be so different from a fundamentalist Christian-based education who teaches that the Earth was created in 6,000 years in that neither one has a basis in the actual science or research of the day.