EDU 360: CLASSICAL PEDAGOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY SPRING, 2024: TUESDAYS, 6-8:30 PM LEPRINO HALL 2ND FLOOR DEBORA L. SCHEFFEL, PHD WHAT IS CLASSICAL EDUCATION? What is Classical Education? • Focuses on the uniqueness of humankind (symbol systems—letters, arts, math, music, etc.) • It is a language-focused compared to image-focused: “Language is the dress of thought” • Language focused requires the mind to work harder • Image focused requires the mind to be passive and sit back • All knowledge is interrelated: Synthetic • Can’t study one specific area without looking at all the different aspects of it • Classical education depends on a three-part process of training the mind. The early years of school are spent in absorbing facts, systematically laying the foundations for advanced study. In the middle grades, students learn to think through arguments. In the high school years, they learn to express themselves. This classical pattern is called the trivium. 3 THE STORY OF MATHS • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOgc9DBXZu8 Conceptual Development: (combining symbols) 5 Phonology: Vowel structure 6 MORPHOLOGY trans = ____________ port = ____________ ing = ____________ WORD KNOWLEDGE COMPREHENSION 90 83 Percentile rank on test 80 70 60 50 50 40 30 20 (effect size = .97) 10 0 No vocabulary instruction Direct vocabulary instruction on words related to content PHONICS DECODING STRATEGY Some of his employees were acting in collusion to rob him. THE PERIODIC TABLE OF READING The Syllable Types and Division Patterns Phonics: (word structure – morphology, orthography, syllabication) 11 Conceptual Development: (combining symbols) 12 Attention and Memory: 13 Semantic Relationships: Semantic Map 14 Syntax: (grammar) 15 Syntax: sentence types 16 Phonology: Place and manner of articulation in English consonants 17 SEMIOTICS: STUDY OF SYMBOL SYSTEMS HIERARCHY OF SYMBOLIC EXPERIENCE LANGUAGE HIERARCHY: LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING WRITING HTTPS://SEARCH.ALEXANDERSTREET.COM/VIEW/WORK/BIBLIOGRAPHIC_ENTITY%7CVIDEO_WOR K%7C5090416/NOVA-SEASON-47-EPISODE-13-Z-FIRST-ALPHABET LANGUAGE: CONSTITUENT PARTS READING INSTRUCTION MATHEMATICS: CONSTITUENT PARTS MUSIC: CONSTITUENT PARTS INTERRELATEDNESS OF KNOWLEDGE: SYNTHETIC TEACHING SYNTHETIC TEACHING WHAT IS CLASSICAL EDUCATION? • Linking knowledge and action • Addresses ultimate life questions: Identity, Significance, Destiny • To know what is right and to love what is true, good and beautiful • Knowledge without conscience is not an option • Education cannot be divorced from moral development • Education should create a meta-narrative which will help students make sense of the world and create a standard of conduct by which to live • Intellect serves the formation of good character, good conduct, and wise thinking • Focus on synthetic knowledge—connections—the captain idea of classical education—think relationally • Focus on living ideas, not knowledge • 7 liberal arts: grammar, logic, rhetoric (intersect around language), music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy (intersect around math) CLASSICAL EDUCATION UNDERPINNING • Deep dive into content • Constituent aspects of language, math, science, social studies/history, music, movement arts, writing • Importance of Logos—language • Importance of Telos-ultimate questions—identity, significance, destiny • Importance of Arete—world view • Semiotics-symbols • Pedagogies: memory, close reading, observation, order, scope and sequence, pacing guides, curriculum maps; mastery of skills, high expectations/no ceiling for application, original sources, living books, non-reductionistic assessments, imitation (I do, we do, you do), integration of disciplines PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION **THE CLASSICAL MODEL WAS THE PREVAILING ONE UNTIL THE PROGRESSIVE MODEL BEGAN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH C INDUSTRIALIZATION PERIOD • Emphasis on the individual needs and capacities of each child and informality of curriculum • Emphasizes the differences between students • Ignoring of the soul, so a focus on the body and brain to educate—data storage and retrieval • Shifting responsibility from family to the state earlier and earlier WHO WAS DOROTHY SAYERS? • Who was Dorothy Sayers? • Born in June 1893 • Writer, translated the “Divine Comedies”, wrote a series of radio plays and detective novels • A pioneer in the return to classical education • “Lost Tools of Learning” (1947) • “Although we often succeed in teaching our pupils subjects, we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think” WHO IS CHARLOTTE MASON? HTTPS://WWW.AMBLESIDEONLINE.ORG/CM/TOC.HTML • Charlotte Mason (1842–1923) was a British educator who invested her life in improving the quality of children’s education. Orphaned at the age of sixteen, she enrolled in the Home and Colonial Society for the training of teachers and earned a First Class Certificate. She taught school for more than ten years at Davison School in Worthing, England. During this time she began to develop her vision for “a liberal education for all.” English children in the 1800s were educated according to social class; the poorer were taught a trade, and the fine arts and literature were reserved for the richer class. By “liberal,” Charlotte envisioned a generous and broad curriculum for all children, regardless of social class. WHO IS CHARLOTTE MASON? • “The only vital method of education appears to be that children read worthy books” • Living books: one that conveys living ideas: the test of a good book is that it can be narrated by the student; we read for the sake of relationships with knowledge, words, heroes, ideas • Books in three categories: knowledge of God, knowledge of men, knowledge of the natural world---divinity, humanities, sciences • “Books are the exquisite container by which knowledge is contained” • Synthetic understanding—connect the dots • “The mind cannot know anything save what it can answer to a question put to the mind by itself” • Reading and narration are central pedagogies • Language has first place in a classical education—ultimately, synthetic questions that require “gathering” WHO IS CHARLOTTE MASON? • Charlotte was soon invited to teach and lecture at Bishop Otter Teacher Training College in Chicester, England, where she stayed for more than five years. Her experiences there convinced her that parents would be greatly helped if they understood some basic principles about bringing up children. So Charlotte gave a series of lectures, which were later published as Home Education and widely received. From this beginning, the Parents’ Educational Union was formed and quickly expanded. A periodical was launched to keep in touch with PEU members, the “Parents’ Review.” WHO IS CHARLOTTE MASON? • Charlotte was nearly fifty when she moved to Ambleside, England, in 1891 and formed the House of Education, a training school for governesses and others working with young children. By 1892 the Parents’ Education Union had added the word “National” to its title, and a Parents’ Review School had been formed (later to be known as the Parents’ Union School), at which the children followed Miss Mason’s educational philosophy and methods. • The following years brought more collections of writings by Charlotte, which were eventually published under the titles of Parents and Children, School Education, Ourselves, Formation of Character, and A Philosophy of Education. More and more schools adopted her philosophy and methods, and Ambleside became a teacher training college to supply all the Parents’ Union Schools that were springing up. Charlotte spent her final years overseeing this network of schools devoted to “a liberal education for all.” WHO IS CHARLOTTE MASON? • What is a learner: • The mind • The capacity to understand • Nourished by ideas • Fitted for a good life WHO IS SUSAN BAUER? • Personal: • Susan was born in 1968 • She learned Latin at age ten, and wrote three (unpublished) novels before she turned sixteen. • Recently she has toured with a traveling drama group, worked in ghostwriting and newspaper ad sales, learned enough Korean to teach a Korean four-year-old Sunday school, and served as librarian and reading tutor • Currently she runs Peace Hill Press, she also reads, writes, and teaches about history, education, and writing, as well as enjoying time with her family • Education: • She has a B.A. in English, a minor in Greek • She has a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary, and now also speaks Hebrew and Aramaic. She also completed an M.A. in English • She has written over 10 books and novels,. She is currently working on a K-12 writing program for home educators and private schools. Susan is the editor of Books & Culture and is preparing a lecture series for The Teaching Company. WHO IS WILLIAM BENNETT? • Who is William Bennett? • Born July 31,1943 • •Served as the United States Secretary of Education from 1985-1988. • •Director of the National Drug Control Policy (Drug Czar)1989-1991 • •Currently host of a radio talk show • “Morning In America”. • Compiled The Book of Virtues • Major Supporter of Classical Education. Four walls and a roof Grammar stage Use of living books and The chronological original sources study of history (skills vs.content) Rhetoric stage Logic stage GRAMMAR STAGE (K-6) • Building blocks for all learning are laid • Absorbing facts • Laying the foundation • Memorization • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT0PD5Ep6x0&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBM854BTGL0 • Playground Rhymes (Red Rover, Jumping rope rhymes) • Classical Educated children learn the factual foundation of each subject. • Science: Nature • Math: Times Tables • Latin: Vocabulary • • • • Spelling: study of rules • Grammar: basic usage and mechanics • Writing: summaries • Mathematics: basic math facts and concepts (arithmetic) • History: focus on stories and biographies • Literature: “What happened?” • Science: exploration of the scientific disciplines • Reading: Laying a good foundation of phonics; establish the habit of reading ROLE OF MEMORIZATION • MEMORY TIME • Remember those songs from Elementary School? • Books of the Bible. • “There are seven days, there are seven days, there are seven days in a week. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.” LOGIC STAGE: (GRADES 7-8) • Logic Stage • Grades 7-8 • Involves ordering facts into organized statements and arguments • Thinking independently • Classical Education teaches children in this stage to argue well. • Study formal logic • Practice making written and oral arguments to further skills • Teachers encourage argumentation in each subject • (Ex. Science: develop and test hypothesis; Math: develop ability to logically orient number through concepts of algebra and trigonometry) LOGIC STAGE • Learn to evaluate validity of arguments • Literature: begin to ask questions about characters, plots, motivations, techniques • Spelling: increasing application of rules to written work • Grammar: diagramming and outlining • Writing: outlining and using outlines for compositions • Mathematics: move towards abstraction (pre-algebra and algebra) • History: focus on cause and effect, on chronology and relationships between countries • Science: experimentation of the scientific disciplines RHETORIC STAGE (HS) • Rhetoric Stage • Grades 9-12 • Art of communicating well • Concerns with what others might think of them* • Classical Education helps students develop their minds to think and articulate concepts to others. • Writing papers, researching and orating ideas are skills required in all subjects. • Once a student has obtained a knowledge of the facts (grammar) and developed the skills necessary to arrange those facts into arguments (logic), he must develop the skill of communicating those arguments to others (rhetoric) • Where possible, use of living books and original sources HISTORY AT THE CORE OF THE CLASSICAL CURRICULUM Three repetitions of the same four-year pattern: Ancients Medieval/Early Renaissance Late Renaissance/Early Modern Modern 6000 BC - AD 400 400-1600 1600-1850 1850-present Grades 1-4: concentrating on stories and biographies Grades 5-8: using timelines and beginning with original sources Grades 9-12: focus on original sources and Great Books Literature: Done along with history in the same four-year pattern RHETORIC STAGE • Rhetoric: learning the rules of effective communication • Literature: grapple with the central ideas • Grammar: continue to reinforce proper usage • Writing: original compositions intended to persuade • Mathematics: advanced abstract work • History: use of original sources to ask how people understood their own times • Science: develop an understanding of the historical development of the scientific disciplines as well as their content and rules RHETORIC STAGE: HS Learning to write and speak with force and originality. Characterized by: 1. Development of a specialty 2. Use of Great Books rather than textbooks Need: Sense of identity based on uniqueness of skills, opinions, personality. ARISTOTLE: RHETORIC • It is absurd that a man should be ashamed of inability to defend himself with his limbs, but not ashamed of an ability to defend himself with speech and reason; for the use of rational speech is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs. • Aristotle, Rhetoric THE NATURE OF EDUCATION • Philosophy: every curriculum is guided by metaphysical commitments and every teacher, school, and parent lives within a metaphysical vision of reality. The Classical educator is committed to a logo-centric metaphysic. Christ is the LOGOS or unifying principal of the classical Christian curriculum. The quest for wisdom and virtue is the way we fulfill our humanity • Epistemology: Classical Epistemology is rational, moral, and personal • Integration: Synthetic thinking • Rationality: Integration, harmony, consistency • Curriculum: hierarchy of learning: 7 liberal arts; natural sciences; humane sciences; philosophical sciences; theological sciences is the capstone THE 15 GREAT IDEAS • Truth Being • Beauty Mode • Goodness Change • Wisdom Glory • Virtue Honor • Personhood Immortality • Freedom • Justice • Community SOURCES • Sources • http://www.theambroseschool.org/about/the-classical-approach/ • http://www.gbt.org/clasced.html • “The Lost Tools of Learning” by Dorothy Sayers • http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/ • http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html • CURRICULA • https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum?gclid=Cj0KCQjwteOaBhDuARIsADBqReglqy2tPQcUpLv3Um -s7ViLNXllaFKU0JplXQ4DmJ3kHBx_aSDj-HQaAglqEALw_wcB • https://classicalacademicpress.com/ • https://www.st-timothys.ca/curriculum-map • https://www.acemacon.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=413402&type=d&pREC_ID=1309143 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7qfHYXUqmY
