Classical education movement
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The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages, with a further glance back to the Ancient Greek concept of Paideia. "Classical education" was first developed by Martianus Capella, and systematized by Petrus Ramus. Capella's original goal was to provide a systematic, memorable framework to teach all human knowledge.
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The overall organization
Classical education developed many of the terms now used to describe modern education. Western classical education has three phases, each with a different purpose. The phases are roughly coordinated with human development, and would ideally be exactly coordinated with each individual student's development.
"Primary education" teaches students how to learn.
"Secondary education" then teaches a conceptual framework that can hold all human knowledge (history), and then fills in basic facts and practices of the major fields of knowledge, and develops the skills (perhaps in a simplified form) of every major human activity.
"Tertiary education" then prepares a person to pursue an educated profession, such as law, theology, military strategy, medicine or science.
Primary education
Primary education was often called the trivium, which covered grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
Logic and rhetoric were often taught in part by the Socratic method, in which the teacher raises questions and the class discusses them. By controlling the pace, the teacher can keep the class very lively, yet disciplined.
Grammar
Grammar consists of language skills such as reading and the mechanics of writing. An important goal of grammar is to acquire as many words and manage as many concepts as possible so as to be able to express and understand clearly concepts of varying degrees of complexity. Very young students can learn these by rote especially through the use of chant and song. Their minds are often referred to as "sponges", that easily absorb a large number of facts. Classical education traditionally included study of Latin and Greek, which greatly reinforced understanding of grammar, and the workings of a language, and so that students could read the Classics of Western Civilization in the words of the authors. In the modern renaissance of classical education, this period refers to the upper elementary school years.
Logic
Logic (dialectic) is the art of correct reasoning. The traditional text for teaching logic was Aristotle's Logic. In the modern renaissance of classical education, this logic stage (or dialectic stage) refers to the junior high or middle school aged student, who developmentally is beginning to question ideas and authority, and truly enjoys a debate or an argument. Training in logic, both formal and informal, enables students to critically examine arguments and to analyze their own. The whole goal is to find out why something is true, or why something else is false, in short, reasons for a fact.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric debate and composition (which is the written form of rhetoric) are taught to somewhat older (often high school aged) students, who by this point in their education have the concepts and logic to criticize their own work and persuade others. According to Aristotle "Rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic." It is concerned with finding "all the available means of persuasion." The student now learns to persuade others with these facts, and succeed in the persuasion. The student has learned to reason correctly in the Logic stage so that they can now apply those skills to Rhetoric. Students would read and emulate classical poets such as Ovid and others in learning how to present their arguments well.
Secondary education
Secondary education, classically the quadrivium or "four ways," classically taught astronomy, arithmetic, music and geometry, usually from Aristotle and Euclid. Sometimes architecture was taught, often from the works of Vitruvius.
History was always taught to provide a context, and show political and military development. The classic texts were from ancient authors such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Cicero and Tacitus.
Biographies were often assigned as well; the classic example being Plutarch's "Lives." Biographies help show how persons behave in their context, and the wide ranges of professions and options that exist. As more modern texts became available, these were often added to the curriculum.
In the Middle Ages, these were the best available texts. In modern terms, these fields might be called history, natural science, accounting and business, fine arts (at least two, one to amuse companions, and another to decorate one's domicile), military strategy and tactics, engineering, agronomy, and architecture.
These are taught in a matrix of history, reviewing the natural development of each field for each phase of the trivium. That is, in a perfect classical education, the historical study is reviewed three times: first to learn the grammar (the concepts, terms and skills in the order developed), next time the logic (how these elements could be assembled), and finally the rhetoric, how to produce good, humanly useful and beautiful objects that satisfy the grammar and logic of the field.
History is the unifying conceptual framework, because history is the study of everything that has occurred before the present. A skillful teacher also uses the historical context to show how each stage of development naturally poses questions and then how advances answer them, helping to understand human motives and activity in each field. The question-answer approach is called the "dialectic method," and permits history to be taught Socratically as well.
Classical educators consider the Socratic method to be the best technique for teaching critical thinking. In-class discussion and critiques are essential in order for students to recognize and internalize critical thinking techniques. This method is widely used to teach both philosophy and law. It is currently rare in other contexts. Basically, the teacher referees the students' discussions, asks leading questions, and may refer to facts, but never gives a conclusion until at least one student reaches that conclusion. The learning is most effective when the students compete strongly, even viciously in the argument, but always according to well-accepted rules of correct reasoning. That is, fallacies should not be allowed by the teacher.
By completing a project in each major field of human effort, the student can develop a personal preference for further education and professional training.
Tertiary education
Tertiary education was usually an apprenticeship to a person with the desired profession. Most often, the understudy was called a "secretary" and had the duty of carrying on all the normal business of the "master." Philosophy and Theology were both widely taught as tertiary subjects in Universities however.
The early biographies of nobles show probably the ultimate form of classical education: a tutor. One early, much-emulated classic example was that Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle.
Modern interpretations of classical education
Much of the current and modern renaissance of classical education is owed to the Dorothy Sayers essay "The Lost Tools of Learning"[1], in which she describes the three stages of the trivium—grammar, logic and rhetoric—as tools by which a student can then analyze and master every other subject. Sayers' perspectives were popularized in the United States by the 1991 publication Douglas J. Wilson's "Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning," which inspired establishment of a number of classical Christian primary and secondary schools, and even a classical Christian college in 1994 (New Saint Andrews College), that organized as the Association of Classical and Christian Schools in 1997.
"Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Education" by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans was published in 2006 (Crossway Books), affirming Dorothy Sayers' contribution to the conversation about classical education, but challenging her assertion that the trivium is applicable as a developmental paradigm. Littlejohn and Evans emphasize the importance of curriculum over pedagogy and the liberal arts' 2500 year history of responding and adapting to current educational needs.
"The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home," by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer (W.W. Norton, 1999), is a modern reference on classical education, particularly in a homeschool setting. It provides a history of classical education, an overview of the methodology and philosophy of classical education, and annotated lists of books divided by grade and topic that list the best books for classical education in each category.
The Tapestry of Grace curriculum, by Marcia Somerville et al. (Lampstand Press, Ltd.), enables homeschooling parents with children on multiple levels to implement a full classical education by offering lesson plans and helps, and recommending and selling classical books.
"The Grammar of Our Civility: Classical Education in America," by Lee T. Pearcy (2005) provides a theoretical and historical account of classical education in the United States and suggests the need for a distinctly American approach to ancient Greece and Rome.
Marva Collins has successfully taught a rapid-fire classical education to inner-city deprived children, many of them labeled as "mentally retarded."
Also of note is "A New Trivium and Quadrivium," an article by Dr. George Bugliarello (Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 23, No. 2, 106-113 (2003)). In it, he argues that the scope of the classical liberal education is inadequate for today's society, and that people should also be conversant with the basic facts of science and technology, since they now form a much more important part of our lives than did the tertiary studies of antiquity. He argues for a new synthesis of science, engineering, and the humanities in which there is a balance between what can be done and what ought to be done, between human desires and earthly consequences, and between our ever-increasing power to affect our surroundings and the ever-present danger of destroying the ecological and environmental systems which allow us to exist.
No discussion of classical education could be complete without mentioning Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins, both of the University of Chicago, who set forth in the 1930s to restore the "Great Books" of Western civilization to center stage in the curriculum. Although the standard classical works—such as the Harvard Classics—most widely available at the time, were decried by many as out of touch with modern times, Adler and Hutchins sought to expand on the standard "classics" by including more modern works, and by trying to tie them together in the context of what they described as the "Great Ideas," condensed into a "Syntopicon" index and bundled together with a new "five foot shelf" of books as "The Great Books of the Western World." They were wildly popular during the Fifties, and discussion groups of aficionados were found all over the USA, but their popularity waned during the Sixties and such groups are relatively hard to find today. Extensions to the original set are still being published, encompassing selections from both current and older works which extend the "great ideas" into the present age and other fields, including civil rights, the global environment, and discussions of multiculturalism and assimilation.
There still exist a number of informal groups and professional organizations which take the classical approach to education seriously, and who undertake it in earnest. Within the classical Christian education movement, David Hicks, author of Norms and Nobility, the Society for Classical Learning, the Association of Classical and Christian Schools, and the CiRCE Institute, founded by Andrew Kern, co-author with Gene Edward Veith of Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America, play a leading role.
In addition to many middle-schools and high schools across the country, there are at present several universities or colleges in the United States wherein such an Oxonian classical education is taking place:
- St. John's College (two campuses, one in MD and one in NM)
- Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA
- New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, ID
- The Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University, in La Mirada, CA
- Gutenberg College in Eugene, OR
- Southeastern College at Wake Forest in Wake Forest, NC
- Shimer College, part of the University of Chicago
- The Honors College at Baylor University in Waco, TX
- Imago Dei College in Oak Glen, CA
- St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, CA - [1]
At each of these institutions some variation of the Canon of Western Great Books is used as the primary course material, and tutor-led "Socratic discussions" are the primary vehicle for ingestion and digestion of the selected works.
A more traditional, but less common view of classical education arises from the ideology of the Renaissance, advocating an education grounded in the languages and literatures of Greece and Rome. The demanding and lengthy training period required for learning to read Greek and Latin texts in their original form has been crowded out in most American schools in favor of contemporary subjects. Latin is taught at some schools, but Greek rarely.
Parallels in the East
In India the classical education system is based upon the study and understanding of the ancient texts the Vedas, a discipline called Vedanga, and subjects based upon that foundation, referred to as Upaveda and incorporating medicine (Ayurveda), music, archery and other martial arts.
Similarly, in China the fulcrum of a classical education was the study and understanding of a core canon, the Four Books and Five Classics.
Leo Tolstoy on education
Don't be afraid! There will be Latin and rhetoric, and they will exist in another hundred years, simply because the medicine is bought, so we must drink it (as a patient said). I doubt whether the thoughts which I have expressed perhaps indistinctly, awkwardly, inconclusively, will become generally accepted in another hundred years; it is not likely that within a hundred years all those ready-made institutions-schools, gymnasia, and universities -- will die, and that within that time there will grow freely formed institutions, having for their basis the freedom of the learning generation.[2][3]
— "Education and Instruction," Leo Tolstoy, 1860.
See also
External links
- The Classical Scholar: Strategies for Homeschool Excellence
- The Lost Tools of Learning, an essay by Dorothy Sayers
- The Association of Classical and Christian Schools
- The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas
- Classical Academic Press
- Peace Hill Press, a classical curriculum publisher
- Classical Conversations
- Memoria Press: Classical Education Publisher
- A New Trivium and Quadrivium by Dr. George Bugliarello
- The CiRCE Institute
- The Great Books Foundation
- Texas Classical Association website for Greek
- Chrysoloras' Greek: The Pedagogy of Cultural Transformation
- Veritas Press: Classical Education curriculum
- Colleges professing classical education
- New Saint Andrews College, a classical Christian college in Moscow, ID
- The Torrey Honors Institute in California
- Thomas Aquinas College in California
- St. John's College in Maryland (and New Mexico)
- The University of Chicago and the Ideal of Liberal Education
- Gutenberg College, a classical great books college in Eugene, OR
- The Honors College at Baylor University in Texas
- Secondary schools professing classical education
- Regents School of Austin, Austin, TX
- Cair Paravel Latin School in Topeka, KS
- Liberty Classical Academy in Maplewood, MN
- Grace Christian Academy, Merrick, Long Island, NY [2]
- Classical Christian School in San Diego
- Logos School of Moscow Idaho
- Highlands Latin School: Classical Christian School in KY
- Crosstrip Christian, a classical Christian school in TN
- The Clapham School: A Classical and Christian School based in Wheaton, IL
- Naperville Christian Academy: A Classical and Christian School based in Naperville, IL
- Plano Christian Academy: A Classical and Christian School based in Plano, TX
- Providence Hall: A Classical and Christian School based in Edmond, OK
- The Academy at Charlemont: A classical and community based progressive education school in Charlemont, MA
- Holy Spirit Prep School
- Trinity Academy of Raleigh
- Evangel Classical Christian School located in Alabaster, Alabama
- Ridgeview Classical Schools located in Fort Collins, Colorado
- North Hills Classical Academy: Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Veritas Christian Academy near San Jose, California
- Midland Christian School: A Classical and Christian School in Midland, MI
- Primary Schools professing classical education
http://www.stjeromeclassicalschool.info/ - Saint Jeromes Classical School, Hyattsville, MD
- Liberty Classical Academy in Maplewood, MN
- Dominion Christian School: Providing both the Biblical world view, and the intellectual tools to rationally defend that world view. Located in Oakton, Virginia.
- Providence Classical School: Williamsburg, Virginia, home of the colonial capitol and many of our classically educated founding fathers including Thomas Jefferson
- Freedom Baptist Schools: Christ-Centered Classical Schools founded in 1981 based in Hudsonville, Michigan
- St. Michael's Catholic School: An elementary school faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church located in West Memphis, Arkansas.
- Veritas Classical Academy Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Veritas Christian Academy near San Jose, California
- Atlanta Classical Christian Academy in Smyrna, Georgia - a Christ-centered classical school
- Trinity Classical School (Houston, Texas)
- Beacon Hill Classical Academy: A classical Christian elementary school in Ventura County, CA, providing full time and home to school hybrid classes K-4
- Midland Christian School: A Classical and Christian School in Midland, MI
"Paideia" philosophy
- Mississippi Teacher Corps Focus Paper on Paideia
- [3] "From (mis)education to Paideia" by Takis Fotopoulos, Inclusive DemocracyE-Journal, Issue 4, 2005
- [4] "Paideia: Making the Grade" by PBS/UNC-TV.
- Schools following the "paideia" philosophy
- The Paideia School, Atlanta, Georgia
- PAideia PACES Classical Program, Houston, Texas
- Jones Paideia Elementary Magnet, Nashville, Tennessee [5]
- Merrol Hyde Magnet, Hendersonville, Tennessee
Regents School of Austin, Austin, TX
- Sylvan Park Paideia School, Nashville, Tennessee [6]
- Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Powell Elementary, Chicago School District
- Paideia Academy, Cincinnati, Wisconsin.
- Paideia Program, Oakland Technical High School, Oakland, California
- Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
- Bluford Communications Magnet School in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Jesse Wharton Elementary School in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Southern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Welborn Middle School in High Point, North Carolina
- Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee [7]
References
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2008) |
- ^ http://integral.musictutorial.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=34&Itemid=2
- ^ Paul Biryukov (1911). Chapter 14, Leo Tolstoy: His Life and Work. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ Quoted in: Daniel Greenberg (educator) (1987). A New Look at Learning, The Sudbury Valley School Experience. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
- The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph Rauh, C.S.C., Ph.D. (ISBN 978-0-9679675-0-9)