This morning, I received the following message:
Mr Michael,
I’ve been reading and studying CLAA curriculum and your thoughts on traditional classical education with great interest and intrigue!
I was especially focused on the Quadrivium and mathematics, as I believe my classical Christian school falls short in these areas.
How would you propose reimagining modern mathematics in light of technological advances such that students can truly learn to think and reason and understand concepts and not just know how to push the right buttons on a calculator? How would such courses still prepare students for college admissions?
I see your online curriculum uses Ray and OpenStax. Would that change somewhat?
Thanks for all you do!
Here is my response:
There is no such thing as “modern mathematics”, but a modern shift in the goals of the study of mathematics. The arts of the Quadrivium serve a different (and nobler) goal than the modern mathematical sciences do. The modern mathematical sciences, like the modern natural sciences, are not aimed at Truth, but at usefulness. They are pragmatic/illiberal arts and those who seek them should study them as such and should not pretend there is some “classical” way of studying modern mathematics. Leave classical studies alone.
No one is going to pay private school tuition in 2025 to learn the arts of the Quadrivium. As far as academics are concerned (which are really a secondary or even tertiary concern for parents), they are paying private school tuition in hope of college admission, so they want transcripts with Algebra, Geometry and Calculus and high SAT Math scores. The Quadrivium is not going to accomplish that any more than the study of the Bible will help students write software. Classical Catholic studies were means to man’s highest end, not to modern pragmatic ends.
As far as how modern mathematics should be taught, my answer is, “as efficiently as possible”. For all they talk in K-12 schools, colleges don’t care about what students actually do in modern Math courses. They look to see that the normal high scholl Math courses are completed with high grades. They know nothing of what is studied, how it is taught, whether assessment is rigorous, etc. They simply look at standardized test scores for that, or AP exams–but it’s all overhyped. The best schools in the world are not admitting kids who have the most rigorous Math experiences in high school. Admission is very diverse because the departments of the university are very diverse (that’s the whole point).
So, I think the obsession with modern Mathematics this is really a distraction. Solid coverage of the standard courses: Algebra I and II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus–that’s all there is to cover in high school. Doing MORE of it only takes away from other subjects and activities and creates a weaker transcript/portfolio overall.
In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, I am focused on the classical liberal arts, classical philosophy and Scholastic theology. I provide our students with the resources needed to complete modern subjects to satisfy diploma requirements. I don’t talk about modern Mathematics at all and when parents or students try to make a big deal of it, I discourage it and tell them that if they want to win the contest for world’s greatest high school Math student, they should seek that preparation somewhere else.
This is part of a much bigger problem that I believe Christians have erred on. The results in society should convince Christians of this, but they don’t.
God bless,
WCM
