Reforming the teacher

Andrew Kern gives five salient characteristics of a classical teacher.

Five ideas that distingiuish Classical education from conventional:

1. A unifying principle that orders all learning, thus an integrated, proportioned course of learning. In Christian classical education this unifying principle or “logos” is Christ
2. Recognition of the transforming power of ideas, thus an emphasis on training students to contemplate ideas rather than merely retain content or master processes
3. Virtue as the end of education, rather than mere application, thus a concerted and rigorous effort to cultivate every human faculty in every student. In particular, the faculties of sensory perception, attentiveness, intellectual apprehension, and concrete re-presentation are cultivated in all the arts and sciences.
4. Humans learn by imitation, thus classical educators have always recognized the need for mentors, models, examples, etc. who are masters of their area of knowledge and who are the kinds of people we hope the students will grow up to become. In a word: honor and recognition to genuine authority. Imitate proceeds through the stages outlined above: perception, attention, absorption, apprehension, re-presentation. This is the essence of all learning and therefore must be applied in every learning context.
5. Endless emphasis on reality over mere appearance, thus the recognition that perception is powerful, but it is not necessarily reality. When one is taught that perception is reality, accountability and the need to grow are either relativized, trivialized, or removed altogether.

http://quidditycirce.wordpress.com/what-is-christian-classical-education/

Good fences make good neighbors

The last time I checked there were doors on the White House.  The reason, I think, is obvious.  Not just anyone can be allowed to waltz in.  Take that a step further.  There is a fence around the perimeter to say nothing of all the other high tech gadgetry that keeps unwanted persons out and the occupants safe.  Did I mention the secret service.  Just try jumping the fence and strolling across the White House Lawn.  It will be a short walk ending in a great deal of pain.

Why is it that we recognize the importance of securing the White House, but the White House does not place value on securing our country's borders.  If it is common knowledge that no one is going to enforce the laws about trespassing at the White House, how long will it be before the unwanted persons give it a try?  If I will get little more than a slap on the wrist then why not make the evening news?

Strong laws that are enforced are a strong deterrent to our enemies, and let's be honest, we have enemies.  Are we so naive to think that just because we have had no major (successful) attacks since 9-11 that we are in the clear?  Can we really use half measures and ridiculous rhetoric with our borders and illegal immigrants and escape the consequence of another attack?  Common sense would say no.  History would say no.  I say no.  "Something there is that doesn't love a wall," but let's be honest, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Prometheus

Everything I Own I Carry with Me

(The following is an article I wrote for our school's newsletter.)

Have you ever wondered how presidents and statesmen delivered their speeches before the TelePrompTer?  Well, they just read from their notes, right? Actually, they did not. They wrote their speeches out, but they often committed them to memory for the delivery. Memorization was but one of the many tools that education gave students in the past.  In a day when everything we need to know is stored on our smart phone, the idea of memorizing large amounts of material almost seems magical.

I recently purchased a book by Andrew Campbell entitled Living Memory.  It is a “compendium of material for students to memorize during their school years.”  In the introduction Campbell shares a proverb that says, “Everything I own, I carry with me.”  A moment’s reflection brings us to the realization that our “stuff” comes and goes, but what we learn stays with us.  Even if we don’t remember everything verbatim, the effect memorizing has on our minds is lasting.  Memorization is an indispensable tool for the educated mind.

 

That brings us the the question of how.  Campbell gives a compelling analysis of the process of memorization; let me share some highlights.  He points out that we learn language in a predictable pattern- hearing, speaking, reading and writing, and, he says, we must follow that same pattern for memorization.  Many exercises utilize more than one of these.  For example, dictation provides listening, speaking (repeating what has been dictated), and writing.  Reading should be done out loud, even if in a whisper.  Speaking can include chanting (rhythmic recitation) and singing.  Each of these exercises are important for memorization, and only when we use all four will we get over the common claim, “I just can’t memorize.”  Oh, and one more thing.  Daily practice.  As the Latin proverb goes, Repetitio mater memoriae, Repetition is the mother of memory.

The Art of Discernment

As a father of four sons I am constantly aware of the need to teach the art of discernment. It is my concern for their safety (physical, spiritual and emotional) that has helped me to realize that my own practice of discernment is woefully lacking. For most of my life I have had a gaping hole in my defenses in the form of entertainment. Television and movies consistently paint sin in the most alluring colors, and the result is that even when I identify something as sinful, my emotional response contradicts my mind. It is a bit like fighting with one arm tied behind your back; you tell yourself something is wrong but your emotions are saying, this is great (complete with soundtrack).

So, naturally, we must guard our children from this sort of entertainment, but why do we so often stop there. Why don't we instead seek to do what the entertainment industry does and captivate our children's imagination with goodness and by painting sin in its true colors? Thomas Brooks has it right in his book, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices. He identifies one of Satan's devices as "painting sin with virtue's colors" and offers among others the following remedy.

Remedy (3). To look on sin with that eye with which within a short time, we shall see it. Ah, souls! when you shall lie upon a dying bed, and stand before a judgment-seat, sin shall be unmasked, and its dress and robes shall then be taken off, and then it shall appear more vile, filthy, and terrible than hell itself; then, that which formerly appeared most sweet will appear most bitter, and that which appeared most beautiful will appear most ugly, and that which appeared most delightful will then appear most dreadful to the soul. Ah, the shame, the pain, the gall, the bitterness, the horror, the hell that the sight of sin, when its dress is taken off, will raise in poor souls! Sin will surely prove evil and bitter to the soul when its robes are taken off.

Teaching our children to discern requires that we inform not only their intellect but their imagination as well. If our children do not fear sin as a poison and a disease that brings the most painful death they will be far more inclined to ignore our words and respond to Satan's efforts to make it look fun. Eve's response to Satan in the garden was to see the fruit as, "good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise..." Satan had her by the imagination. God in turn captured their imagination by making garments of skin (ie. He killed an animal to cover the nakedness that resulted from eating the fruit).

How do we best captivate our children's imagination with the vileness of sin? I think the best place to begin is the cross. At the cross we see sin for what it really is- murderous, cruel, agonizing. From the cross paint all sin accordingly. Jesus paid a heavy price for even the smallest of sins. How then can we permit even the smallest to remain. The cross ought to act as the metric for all our entertainment.

We can be sure that if we do not actively teach our kids to discern that they will be vulnerable. “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations – we fall to the level of our training”-Archilochus,