Dear Readers,
The education reform movement is growing across the country.
From school vouchers to charter schools, there is sure to be a shake-up in public education.
Whether you are pro-public school or not, you must recognize some glaring issues with the current system.
Academic achievement is down across the nation, yet college enrollment is up. How can that be?
Put simply, the bar has been lowered so that everybody has a “fair shake” at things. Fair?
Modern education has simultaneously moved to the far right and the far left, ripping the framework of our nation.
Let me explain.
For years, decades, and centuries, virtue or the quality of doing what is right was derived from the church. The Bible and the church were the moral authority, and for the most part, society functioned in a virtuous way. Not to say that everyone was perfect, far from it, but many families and individuals were based around the church, a notorious center for moral virtue. They often sought forgiveness or repentance for anything they had done wrong and structured their lives in a way that glorified the Lord.
Yet, in modern decades, we’ve seen a separation from the church and its morals.
They move from objectivity toward subjectivity.
It is living your truth instead of the truth.
We have given in to our hedonistic ways and moved further from God, which is reflected primarily in what we value. We no longer value the family, the mother and father, and the subsequent wisdom passed down from them.
We create our own ideals. We determine what is right and wrong, and oftentimes we choose what is worse for us. Instead of valuing what is true, good, and beautiful, we value what gratifies us in the short term—junk food, excessive alcohol, social media, etc.
The “far left” is a move away from tradition and traditional morality. It means doing what you believe is true because your feelings are always right, and you have the final say.
This is what our schools teach: to value what your imperfect heart and mind desire, to give in to your imperfect, selfish, and greedy ways.
This, combined with modern capitalism, is a recipe for disaster.
There is no perfect economic system.
Why?
Because human beings are involved.
Without fail, we will always find a way to work the system or find a benefit for our good or pleasure. We see greed in every type of economy, from socialism to feudalism; humans value money and possessions.
Each one has a different way of portraying it.
Modern capitalism has convinced the masses that if you’re not making money, you’re doing something wrong.
Everything is in the pursuit of monetary value or ROI.
Schools across the country are pushing career readiness, doing everything under the sun to prepare students for their future careers.
The career that will bring them joy and ultimate fulfillment in life? No, the career that enslaves them to a desk or “the man” for forty years.
The career that fills the pockets of large corporations, not the one that enriches the life of the worker and the community.
While our current educational system aims to prepare its students for the workforce, it does an awful job of cultivating virtue and morality while also failing to prepare students for their future careers.
But do you know what educational system can do both of those things?
You guessed it.
Classical education.
With recent state legislation and perhaps more to come across the nation, the classical education movement will continue to grow and serve more students.
School vouchers have the opportunity to make classical education the most accessible it has been in years.
But how does classical education improve our system as a whole and help begin to heal our society? By cultivating genuine virtue, upholding the knowledge and skills that stand the test of time, and building a sense of civic responsibility.
Cultivating Virtue
As previously stated, our current culture does little to promote what is right, arguing that morality can’t be a one-size-fits-all prescription—that it can, and must, be different for everyone.
Some good that’s done.
Having an agreed-upon set of rules and values is the only way for a community to thrive.
Classical education does just that.
Even without the traditionally Christian element, classical education instills the virtues and morals that built Western society. Through the teachings of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and many others, students develop and understand a sense of right and wrong. Through the great works of literature and the study of outstanding individuals, students are habitually shown excellent examples of what virtue looks like. Alongside the ever-lovely Socratic seminar, students are encouraged to break down and discuss life’s burning questions, which ultimately leads to knowing more about oneself and one’s fellow man.
Upholding the Liberal Arts
The liberal arts: the skills that all humans should be devoted to mastering.
Grammar, logic, and rhetoric comprise the three language arts, while arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy complete the four mathematical arts.
Not only do these skills help us understand the world, but they also help us understand the human condition.
Such a clamoring for critical thinking, where better than through the use of Aristotelian logic?
The liberal arts are so much more than an elitist calling sign; they are the full use of the human brain, the calling sign of a knowledgeable person, and the standard by which our students should be tested.
Students who are well-versed in the liberal arts have the world before them. The intellectual flexibility that students possess as a result of this education gives them so many options for future careers or areas of study, but beyond that, a real understanding of the world and all its workings.
Building Civic Responsibility
Both sides of the aisle often postulate the need for civic responsibility, yet many citizens are unprepared for such a burden.
How might we as educators prepare them for such a significant obligation? The classics offer great insight into the political questions that have plagued humankind for centuries.
Those without a basic framework for what politics truly are cannot effectively participate in a free society, let alone shoulder the weight of electing leaders or making any number of political decisions.
Classical education allows those who study it the possibility to encounter a political issue organically. Whether through the writings of John Locke or the ever-famous Plato’s The Republic, students are naturally introduced to questions that pertain to the role that government plays in our lives and who should be fit to lead.
This allows for the natural flow of ideas and opinions.
Modern media portrays political opinion as pure discourse—a discussion about the questions that plague our society. Anyone who knows anything about mainstream legacy media knows that there is always some sort of agenda or even propaganda.
For the most part, that is absent in classical education. Of course, I can’t control or speak for every single teacher who may or may not have their own agenda. However, any good teacher will allow their students to come to their own conclusions, whether or not they agree with the teacher.
By embracing the study of enduring texts and the disciplined practice of dialectic, classical education does more than transmit facts; it trains citizens to think, question, and judge well.
Classical education not only equips us to shoulder the responsibilities of self-government but also helps heal the fractures in our society by nurturing thoughtful, engaged citizens committed to the common good.
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Thanks for reading!
I appreciate you taking the time to engage with these ideas. I hope this newsletter gave you something to think about.
If you want to go deeper, check out my reading list, where I share the books that have radicalized me.
Also, I have a podcast called The Modern Republic. On this podcast, I see how many times I can say "you know" or "whatever you want to call it" in a thirty-minute window. It's a great time.
This week's episode:
Ep. 012: Standardized Tests Are Good for Students (?)
In this week's episode, I critique the current standardized testing system and introduce House Bill 4, and emphasize the importance of empowering teachers to design assessments reflecting student mastery and the need to hold students to high moral and academic standards.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Watch on YouTube.
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See you next time!
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