Last week, I wrote about Neo-Classical Education using the examples of The Well Trained Mind and Teaching the Trivium. WTM is as structured as TT is laidback. These methods follow the neo-classical trademark of using the Trivium as stages. In neo-classical, grammar, logic and rhetoric are the academic stages that a child goes through.
This week, I want to focus more on traditional classical education. My posts will be few because there isn't as much information about traditional classical as there is on neo-classical. What information there is, is vague at best. But I will attempt to muddle through this for the sake of cleaning out those pesky cobwebs that are still lying dormant in my brain.
Traditional classical education is based on the academic practises of the Ancient Greeks and similar civiliztions. The Ancient Greeks taught their children by using tutors or mentors, if you will, that went alongside the child and deconstructed and reconstructed ideas about the various tenets of life. They rehashed the meaning of life together. The tutor and the child were a team. This was the basis of education in the days long past.
Classical Education in the traditional sense was the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. This occurs by nourishing the soul on all that is good, true and beautiful. This is the basis of classical education. All that follows are the ways in cultivating that wisdom and virtue.
Education in ancient times was based on the Trivium but not the way in which we think of it today. Rather, the Trivium consisted of grammar, logic and rhetoric as subjects not stages. The student would study the three subjects as a way of becoming a person of great ideas who can express these ideas in an articulate and persuasive manner. These three subjects deal with the language aspect of learning. The Quadrivium deals with the numbers aspect. In neo-classical, the quadtrivium is left behind in the dust. I don't know if the quadtrivium is ever really acknowledged in the WTM. In traditional classical, though, it goes hand in hand with the Trivium. The Quadtrivium is arithmetic, geology, astronomy and music. There is a balance here between language and science. This is a complete educational plan.
As I said above, classical is the pursuit of wisdom and virtue by enfolding ourselves in truth, goodness and beauty. This is done by focusing on the Great Ideas that have been handed down to us by the thinkers of the ancient world; Plato, Thales, Archimedes, Aristotle, to name just a few. It is the job of the teacher or tutor to present these ideas to the student through literature, history, science or art and then tear apart these ideas to see if they stand up to our modern worldview. Through discussion and Socratic questioning, the student learns whether the ideas of the Great Philosophers and Thnkers are in line with the ideas and thoughts that they themselves have. Through discussion, the team of tutor and student deconstruct the students own ideas and then builds up the ideas again in light of the thoughts and ideas of the past. In tearing apart and building up, the student is able to attain wisdom and virtue.
This is all well and good to think about wisdom and virtue but these thoughts have to be translated into action as well. This is also part of classical education. To make these thoughts into tangible actions of service to others.
Traditional classical is a bit vague as to how to put this all together. There isn't a blueprint curriculum like WTM that tells us how to teach in this manner and what to teach. But, in my opinion, this is where the fun and enjoyment comes in. This is where self-education lies. This is where research and reading and expanding your horizons is touted. To my way of thinking, this is what intrigues me about traditional classical education. There is a whole world out there to explore and I have the privilege of exploring it with my children.