Wisdom & Eloquence

A few days ago I finished reading Wisdom & Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning, by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans. One of their primary assertions, with which I heartily agree, is that while we DO want to create a learning environment that fosters wisdom, we must simultaneously train our students to use that wisdom for the benefit of society. "An education for wisdom is only half the formula. Without the ability to communicate effectively and persuasively, wisdom's benefit is singular to its possessor....Teaching them to think, to discern, and to behave wisely should be coupled with instilling in them a sense of obligation to contend for those same values throughout society."

The authors provide helpful insights on creating a desirable "ethos" in the school, which they suggest is primarily influenced by the "integrity of relationships" between students-students, students-teachers, teachers-teachers, and parents-teachers. "Facilitating a biblical pattern of confession, repentance, forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation should always be our goal." Other influences on "ethos" are the development of whole-school traditions, purpose-driven co-curricular activities, student deportment, staff professionalism and physical surroundings.

"There is no excuse for schools that purport to teach the absolute values of truth, goodness and beauty not to make their students' surroundings beautiful." Amen.

Though I don't agree with all suggestions and ideas that these authors espouse, I found some of their most helpful work to be in their discussion of curriculum. They recommend thinking of the school as 12-K, rather than K-12. What difference does that make? Well, you begin by asking what you want your graduating seniors to be, do and know, then work backwards to ensure that the goal is met and the means to reaching that goal are purposefully designed. "The desired ends will determine the architecture of your school's curriculum." Yes! A significant portion of the book is dedicated to planning a thoughtful curriculum and avoiding time-wasting activities.

I also heartily endorse their view of academic rigor. They are FOR it, but wisely state, "the emphasis of the rigor ought to be on the quality of the work required of students rather than on quantity." Also, "...out-of-class assignments must only be assigned if the same educational benefit cannot be gained without their being assigned." And about Honors classes, "The important thing is that Honors should be deeper, not harder."

One of their consistent criticisms of the current classical education movement is that we have taken Dorothy Sayer's essay too seriously. They spend a fair amount of energy disclaiming her assertion that the various stages of the Trivium correspond to stages of development, yet later in the book they seem to acknowledge that it's true, asserting that her ideas have been over-applied.

They believe that the 7 disciplines comprising the Trivium and Quadrivium should be taught simultaneously from beginning to end. I don't disagree completely, yet I remain convinced that the natural bent, interests, abilities and cognitive development of children at various ages call for changing EMPHASIS. Who can deny that younger children soak up data, or that 11-14 year olds love to dispute, or that teenagers love to express their ideas, beliefs and opinions? On the other hand, who among educators utilizes memory EXCLUSIVELY with young ones, while abandoning all memorization after 6th grade? None that I know.

One of Littlejohn and Evans recommendations that needs careful attention among classical schools today, is that of ensuring that teachers are educated in the liberal arts disciplines. A teacher who has never learned Logic or skills of Rhetoric cannot apply those disciplines to their student's learning in a meaningful way. Following a pre-packaged curriculum alone is insufficient for teaching classically...and since few, if any, of us were educated this way ourselves, schools must hire gifted teachers and systematically educate them in the liberal arts tradition. "Ideally, teachers should be working through a measured, purposeful study of all three language arts, so that they have a more accurate picture of the goal toward which their students are headed...the more familiar we teachers are with these disciplines, the more capable we are of teaching in ways that promote the goals of wisdom and eloquence."