As a Classicist and Lay Dominican, I cringe when I hear Christians today talking about “Classical Education”.
What schools are offering is not “classical education”–let’s be clear about that. Any time we speak about classical Greece and Rome, or medieval Christendom, there is only one kind of “education” and that’s a classical liberal arts education directed at philosophy. That’s what “classical education” is.
There was no compulsory education before the 1850s. Very few children attended schools and those that did were prepared for learned vocations: law, medicine, politics, religion and philosophy. The education offered to those students was “classical education”.
So, 21st century K-12 schools teaching kids English, Math, Science, etc., for high school diplomas, college admission and career preparation are not providing “classical education”.
We need to stop saying this because it reveals an embarrassing ignorance of the history of education. It is an insult to the amazing achievements that marked classical education in past centuries.
When schools claim to offer “classical education” today, what they actually mean is “conservative education”. The phrase that should be used is “conservative education”.
Modern schooling serves a different purpose than medieval or ancient schools did. Modern schools serve education laws that require all students to receive a formal education from ages 6-7 up to 16-18. Where parents need to work, children must go to school–millions and millions of them.
Public schools serve most of these students and they do so at public expense. They receive billions of dollars every year and they are required by the Constitution to be secular in nature. They cannot be religious schools because of the “establishment clause” in the First Amendment. Consequently, Christian parents who desire to give their children a Christian education do not want their children in secular public schools. For a religious education, they must make use of private schools, or educate their children at home.
Private schools, on the other hand, often struggle to operate and must cater to a larger community than they should. This causes many religious schools to shy away from their peculiar religious mission and provide a “vanilla” program of studies that is comfortable for more local families. This is ultimately the cause of the degeneration of private schools in America.
In response to this, religious parents who desire to give their children an education that serves the original mission of Christian private schools choose not to support the existing private schools, but organize new private schools that are conservative. The meaning of the term “conservative” is:
conservative: that conserves, or favours the conservation of, an existing structure or system; (now esp.) designating a person, movement, outlook, etc., averse to change or innovation and holding traditional ideas and values, esp. with regard to social and political issues.
Oxford English Dictionary
These conservative schools, however, have been led to false identify as “classical” schools, which they are not. The definition of “classical” is as follows:
classical: of or relating to the ancient Greek or Latin writers whose works form a canon of acknowledged excellence; of or relating to the works themselves.
Oxford English Dictionary
Now, some will object and say, “We are studying ancient Greek and Latin writers–we study the Great Books!”, but this is not true. They are not studying the Greek and Latin writers that were studied in schools in the ancient world. The schools are not studying any ancient grammarians and rarely acquire any fluency in the classical languages; they are not studying Aristotle’s Organon or Cicero’s rhetorical works; they are not studying classical mathematics; they are not studying classical Philosophy. What they may study are English translations of Homer or some of the Greek playwrights, perhaps Herodotus, maybe Vergil. These are not the works that Christian men studied in schools in the past, and the education receive is not a “classical” education. They are not receiving any education known to Moses or Aristotle or Cicero or St. Augustine or St. Thomas Aquinas. They are receiving a modern, conservative education–and that’s a good thing.
It should be accurately named to avoid misrepresenting true classical education. It should be called “conservative” education.
This is an important distinction for several reasons.
First, we should not pretend to be doing something we’re not actually doing. We should not tell our children, “You are receiving a classical education.” when they are not, in fact, doing so. We should cause our children to imagine that the education they are receiving in a poorly-funded K-12 school that meets 180 days a year is the education that was known to wise men and saints of the past. Our children should understand that the education that is possible for Christians goes far beyond anything they are receiving and there is much more to pursue if they desire to do so. For, if they are experiencing the best Christian has ever had to offer, it’s not very impressive.
Second, we have urgent and necessary objectives to fulfill in modern schooling that can’t be hindered by any fake “classical” studies. Christian children need to grow up in morally upright environments where they spend time with good Christian role models and learn true Christian doctrine. Children do not need to listen to lectures by poorly paid young men on subjects they don’t understand. Rather, they need to learn good manners and basic truths from adults who are models of proper Christian behavior. Pretending to be “classical schools” leads to the hiring of the wrong people and leaves the needs of Christian children unprovided for.
Third, classical education is not appropriate for day schools serving compulsory education requirements. Classical education is for students preparing for learned professions, of whom there will always be few. It is a philosophical education that must be taught by a teacher who understands and models the contemplative life. These teachers are very few and schools cannot simply “hire” them. There are proper, private channels for this kind of learning and individual students should be directed to those channels. Modern day schools should be leading children to satisfy modern K-12 requirements. That’s why they are K-12 schools, after all.
In order for Christian education to advance in the 21st century, we must separate ourselves from false appearances and ignorant conversation. Words are signs of ideas and ideas have consequences. If we get the ideas right, we can get the words right. If we get the words right, we can actually communicate the mission of modern Christian schools and help Christian children, who need a conservative education. Only some of them will be capable of pursuing a classical education.
Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
mail@classicalliberalarts.com
