What is Classical Education?

Classical education differs in several substantial ways from the modern paradigm of learning as practiced in most public and private schools. It is an approach to learning both new and old; old because it stretches back in Western civilization some twenty centuries, new because it has only recently begun to be rediscovered by educators. Some of its chief characteristics are as follows:

Language-based Instruction

Language is the means by which we not only communicate with one another, but also think. Words convey ideas, and thought is largely about making distinctions and comparisons between ideas. The greater our grasp of language, the better our tools for thinking. The classical curriculum holds that learning and understanding language well is the basis for education.

Classical Education follows the Trivium.

This three part pattern includes:

The GRAMMER STAGE: In grades K-4, the student is supplied with facts, the building blocks for all other learning. At this age, children love to memorize facts, so during this period, the children learn rules of phonics and spelling, rules of grammar, poems, the vocabulary of foreign languages, the stories of history and literature, descriptions of plants and animals and the human body and math facts. (lower grades)

The LOGIC STAGE: By fifth grade, the child's mind begins to think more analytically. Students are interested in asking, "Why?" The student is then given the logical tools to organize those facts that were learned in the grammar stage. The logic of writing includes paragraph construction and learning to support a thesis. The logic of history demands that the student find out why the War of 1812 was fought, the logic of science involves learning the scientific method.(middle grades)

The RHETORIC STAGE: At this point the student will learn to write and speak with force and originality. With an understanding of logic and a mastery of facts, the student is equipped to express conclusions.

Integrated Curriculum

Everything that a student learns, whether in history, literature, mathematics, or science is connected. It is true that the various subjects must be treated individually if a certain measure of proficiency is to be gained. Nevertheless, the curriculum as a whole should have as a goal a comprehensive integration of all that the student learns, so that the unity of all thought and knowledge becomes evident to him. The goal of education ought not simply be information, i.e., a collection of facts and data, but knowledge, which is the ability to see the big picture, namely how all those facts and data are connected and meaningful. This gives the student a wider and more holistic view of the world.

Dialectical Thought

Like fads, ideas and models come and go constantly. And every age has been characterized by its own defining ideas, some of which were true and some false. Our age is no exception. The student must be taught to think critically about whatever he encounters and to challenge ideas both new and old, so that he does not learn simply to accept the status quo, but to sift out the ideas that are lasting and well-grounded from those that are fleeting, to discern what is true from what is false. Only in this way can a student be master of himself, and not a slave to the spirit of the age.

Encountering the Great Thinkers

Classical education includes joining in the ongoing conversation about Knowledge, a conversation as old as civilization. The medium of this conversation is books. To be a part of it, the student must first learn to listen to the greatest minds in history; this means among other things, becoming familiar with the writings of the great thinkers. By doing so, the student can encounter their thoughts directly, rather than simply depending upon a textbook summary made by someone else.

Rhetoric

The second key element in participating in this great conversation is being able to say something worthwhile, and to say it lucidly. The classical curriculum focuses not on testing a student's memorization of facts, but on teaching him both to think clearly and to write and express himself effectively and persuasively. The creative exercise of writing gives students a greater command of the subject matter, as it requires them to make the knowledge their own in the process of expressing it to others. It also teaches students how to persuade others to think rightly and to choose wisely.

Moral Formation

As important as knowing what is true is knowing what is right. Education should have as its primary goal the salvation of the soul of the individual student on the one hand, and the preservation of the moral foundation of civilization on the other. As the history of the twentieth century has shown all too keenly, knowledge without morality can create 'intelligent monsters' who have the means of exercising power but lack the ability to discern right exercise from wrong. The Classical Model has always understood that education must impart a moral vision, showing the student not just what a man is, but what he should be. This must include instruction in civic virtue. This curriculum therefore is established upon the unchanging moral values of Christian civilization.

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