In modern Catholic schools, the problem is not that the curriculum aims too high or tries to cover too much. The problem is that the curriculum itself is too small. The modern structure restricts the scope of education to a narrow set of utilitarian ends, and then fills the school day and year with unnecessary activities to bide time. These activities do not move the needle of intellectual achievement or moral formation.
The fix is not to add new programs or fashionable methods. The fix is to make the boxes bigger—to restore the broader and deeper classical Catholic curriculum. Once the subjects are rightly set, the work of schooling becomes a matter of prioritization and efficiency.
I. The Modern Curriculum: A Narrow Framework
Modern education has reduced learning to a small number of categories aimed at temporal, utilitarian outcomes: college admission and career readiness. These categories are familiar and rigid.
English Language Arts
a. English Grammar
b. English Composition
c. English LiteratureModern Mathematics
a. Practical Arithmetic
b. College Prep Algebra
c. College Prep Geometry
d. Mathematics for STEM Careers (Calculus, Statistics, etc.)Modern Natural Sciences
a. General Biology with school labs
b. Chemistry with school labs
c. Physics with school labs
d. Sciences for STEM Careers (Environment, Physiology, etc.)Foreign Language
a. Spanish for Travel and Business
b. French for Travel
c. Latin for SAT PrepSocial Studies
a. Trivial History Surveys
b. Introduction to Social Sciences
This is not the curriculum of the Catholic intellectual tradition. It is a minimal, utilitarian framework. It seeks to meet the lowest common denominator of modern expectations, leaving out entire realms of learning once considered essential to the education of the human person.
Because the curriculum itself is so limited, modern schools must fill the school day with extra activity that is meant to keep students busy rather than educate them. That is why modern schooling feels busy but produces shallow results. It is not the fault of individual teachers or students. The structure itself is impoverished.
II. The Classical Curriculum: Larger, Deeper, and Ordered to Man’s End
The classical Catholic curriculum is not a different modern curriculum. It is a broader, deeper, older framework that includes modern studies within it, but gives them their proper place and meaning. Instead of shrinking learning to five small boxes, it restores the five great fields of classical learning:
Trivium
a. Classical Latin Grammar
b. Classical Greek Grammar
c. Biblical Hebrew Grammar
d. Classical Reasoning
e. Classical Rhetoric
f. English Language Arts in light of the Trivium
– English Grammar
– English Composition
g. Modern Foreign Languages in light of Classical Origins
– Spanish
– French
– GermanQuadrivium
a. Classical Arithmetic
b. Classical Geometry
c. Classical Music
d. Classical Astronomy
e. Modern Mathematics
– Practical Arithmetic
– College Prep Algebra
– College Prep Geometry
– Mathematics for STEM Careers (Calculus, Statistics, etc.)Philosophy
a. Rational Philosophy (Reasoning)
b. Moral Philosophy
c. Natural Philosophy
– Classical Physics
– Classical Metaphysics
d. Modern Natural Sciences (Inductive Philosophy)
– General Biology with school labs
– Chemistry with school labs
– Physics with school labs
– Sciences for STEM Careers (Environment, Physiology, etc.)Theology
a. Sacred Scripture
b. Catholic Theology
c. Church HistoryHumanities
a. Ancient History
b. Classical History
c. Medieval History
d. Modern History
e. Classical Literature
f. Medieval Literature
g. Modern Literature
h. Social Studies (Intro)
This is the curriculum of the Catholic intellectual tradition. It is the curriculum that formed saints, theologians, and scholars for centuries.
Notice that modern studies are not rejected here. They are included, but they are expanded and integrated into their rightful place. Modern mathematics is placed under the broader field of the Quadrivium. Modern science is understood as part of natural philosophy. Modern foreign languages are set in relation to the Trivium. Social studies are absorbed into a fuller understanding of history and civilization.
This larger structure is what allows a curriculum to serve its true end.
III. The True End of Catholic Education
Catholic education does not exist merely to produce workers, taxpayers, or college applicants. It exists to order the intellect and will to man’s ultimate end—eternal happiness.
Practical studies have a place, but they must serve something greater than themselves. When the curriculum is reduced to temporal, utilitarian ends, it cannot serve the soul.
When the curriculum is expanded to the classical Catholic disciplines, education is properly ordered:
Theology stands at the highest place.
Philosophy provides the rational foundation beneath it.
The Trivium and Quadrivium provide the instruments of learning.
The Humanities and modern studies enrich and contextualize.
This structure was not invented recently. It is the long-standing order of Catholic education.
IV. Why Modern Schools Waste Time
Because the modern curriculum is so narrow, schools must fill the day with unnecessary activity. They do not do this because they are trying to teach too much. They do this because they have too little to teach, and because the material they do have does not occupy the time or form the mind in a meaningful way.
This is why modern schooling is full of:
Activities meant to “enrich” shallow subject matter,
Repetition of low-level skills,
Test-preparation drills,
Projects that do not build mastery,
Programs that exist to fill time rather than educate.
When the curriculum is thin, time must be padded. That is the root problem. The problem is not the amount of time available, but the waste of time caused by a curriculum that does not fill the day with real learning.
V. Making the Boxes Bigger
The fix is straightforward: make the boxes bigger.
Subject English language arts from to the classical Trivium.
Subject modern Mathematics to the classical Quadrivium.
Subject modern Science to classical Philosophy.
Subject social studies history and literature of the Humanities.
Restore Theology to its proper place as the guide of all studies.
This is not adding complexity. It is restoring the proper scope of human education.
When the curriculum is rightly structured, the work of schooling becomes a matter of prioritization. The higher studies receive the greater share of attention. Modern studies are completed efficiently, not endlessly padded. The day is not filled with activity for activity’s sake, but with the real work of learning.
VI. Prioritization and Efficiency
When subjects are wrongly set, schools spend their time biding the hours, trying to stretch a thin program across a long school day. But when the subjects are rightly set, everything changes.
The end and priority of Catholic studies is corrected.
Theology and philosophy provide direction to the entire curriculum.
The language arts are anchored in classical grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
Mathematics is connected to its classical foundations.
Modern Science is studied as a branch of natural philosophy.
Humanities are studied to appreciate and imitate human achievement in the arts.
There is no longer a need to invent projects or gimmicks to keep students busy. Time is used for learning.
VII. A Simple Solution
The solution to the curricular poverty of modern education is not complicated.
Expand the Subject Boxes
Make room in the curriculum for the full classical Catholic disciplines.Restore Right Order
Set the higher studies—Theology and Philosophy—at the top.Prioritize and Use Time Well
Stop filling the day with unnecessary activity. Use time for real learning.
When the boxes are made bigger, the hierarchy of studies emerges naturally. Time is spent on what matters. The school day is no longer a scramble to keep students busy but a structured pursuit of knowledge and virtue.
VIII. The True End of Education
The modern curriculum is utilitarian by nature. It is built to serve temporal ends. It cannot by itself form students for their ultimate end, which is eternal happiness.
The classical Catholic curriculum, by contrast, is built for that very end. It includes modern studies but subordinates them to the higher disciplines. It provides both the depth and the order necessary for real formation.
The problem is not lack of time.
The problem is a curriculum too small for the human soul.
Once the subjects are rightly set, everything else becomes simple. The work of education is not to invent distractions but to teach what matters, in the right order, for the right end.
Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
