Classical Education and the Homeschool
Wesley Callihan, Doug Jones, Douglas Wilson
What is the purpose of education? Think about it for a minute. This is too often a question that we take for granted because the typical pattern for our kids is that they go to school - it's just what they do. But, really, why do we do that? Or maybe stated differently, what does a successful education look like? Or, if missing, what would be considered a failed education?
While it may seem like fodder for debate in teacher's lounges or introductory material in philosophy of education courses, these are important questions for parents to ask. Far from being emotionally detached from the answer, parents have a profoundly vested interest in defining a successful education.
So here's my answer. The purpose of education is to teach students how to learn. Now, there certainly can be a lot of layers and lenses that can be applied to more fully understand that principle. I want my kids to learn well and from a certain worldview. And as a Christian, I add the theological layer "For the glory of God." But since I can't teach them everything that they will need to know as adults, fundamentally, a successful education should teach them how to learn.
This idea may sound simple. In the age of google, where the world's knowledge is at our fingertips and in our pocket, we may easily confuse knowing with learning. It is easy to know facts about the world. My patients may look up their diagnosis or symptoms and be equipped with that knowledge as I sit with them in the exam room. But really understanding, differentiating the symptoms, integrating each data point into the larger picture requires learning.
Thus, classical education is a model of education who's goal is not just the imparting of facts but to help students learn how to learn, how to understand logic and craft effective arguments. The Trivium is not a curriculum per se but a mindset or orientation to education.
In a previous post, I have discussed the concept of classical education by reviewing the seminal work about classical education by Dorothy Sayers. Several decades ago, influenced by Sayers, the modern Classical education movement resurfaced and began to grow - largely due to the influence and work of people like Douglas Wilson.
This short book written by Wilson and colleagues is an argument for classical education and a brief primer designed to help parents begin the journey of educating their kids using the classical model.
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