Facebook Posts
I had a long and interesting conversation with Annie Ma as she was working on this piece. She was scrambling, as many people are, to define "classical education." I'm gratified to see that the piece ends up defining the new Pentagon educational enterprise as "centered on Western civilization and Christianity" rather than "classical."
Is there anything wrong with an education centered on Western civilization and Christianity? Not if that's what you're looking for.
Should that be the emphasis of the public education provided to citizens of a multifaith democracy with a Constitution that guards against the establishment of religion? Many classical scholars, including me, would answer 'no.'
Would we call this "classical"? In my opinion, absolutely not.
I have not yet had an opportunity to review the textbook cited, because it is stupid expensive and I'm still not sure I want to support the publisher by shelling out nearly $200 for one volume. However, I've received some scans of various sections, and I'll look forward to digging into those (more tomorrow).
For starters, though, I'd like to emphasize a point I made when talking to Ms. Ma, which is that classical education is not "patriotic" in the sense that the current administration is using the adjective. (From the piece: "Conservative politicians have embraced classical learning, especially as the Trump administration and Republican-led states have pushed schools to emphasize patriotism and put boundaries around how they teach unflattering parts of American history.")
Not even in its Greek and Roman beginnings did classical education emphasize "patriotism." Rather, Greek and Roman thought encouraged critical analysis of the political leadership, and constant debate over whether leaders are/were acting with justice and rightness. The Renaissance renewal of classical learning was even less concerned with patriotism, in large part because the idea of a nation-state in the Renaissance was constantly in flux. This pasting of "Your nation is best, no matter what" into the definition of "classical learning" is simply ahistorical idiocy.
Have a read, post your (politely expressed) opinions, and I'll be back tomorrow with a few more reflections.
AP Exclusive: US military base schools put new emphasis on Western civilization and Christianity
wapo.st
The Department of Defense is introducing a course centered on Western civilization and Christianity this fall in the schools it operates for military families7 hours ago
If anyone finds a version of the article carried by a publication which hasn’t put it behind a paywall, please share.
I have the book. I haven’t used it yet as a primary text, but I did use it to help design an Empires of the World class that I taught at a recent homeschool co-op. It’s well-researched and engaging.
Yeah patriotism is a weird obsession for anyone who claims to be Christian - part of a worldwide family/holy nation which is Christ’s church - overlaying and ultimately replacing every nation state that has ever been or exists now. How do you have loyalty to a fallen world nation state above loyalty to brothers and sisters in Christ in other nations? Nothing in the OT would indicate that patriotism is a value for Gods people. God says he chose Israel NOT because they were exceptional or great, but because he loved them. And never is the goal for them to become exceptional or great, but to be Gods light to the world - which they don’t do, because humans can’t do that apart from rebirth in Christ. Patriotism seems so in conflict with the biblical story of both testaments.
Classical education is about passing on the tradition of the Christian West, so it absolutely does have a lot to do with Western civilization and Christianity. But it isn’t Trumpian or Christian nationalist.
I’m currently reading Talking Classics by Mary Beard and I really like how she talks about the ways politicians throughout the ages have used (and misused) classical civilization to their own ends. (Which I understand is different from classical education, but related for sure.)
Doesn’t Plato associate piety, at least in part, with honoring one’s parents and ancestors? And didn’t both the Greeks and Romans have rather outsized views of their own civilizations? It seems like you’re swinging too far in the opposite direction here. Classical education certainly encouraged criticism of political leaders and regimes, but that’s not the same thing as saying it was somehow detached from civic loyalty, inherited tradition, or a strong sense of civilizational superiority. It seems like a prelude to even having classical education is the assumption that past generations have something to teach us, and that starts with Plato's fuller sense of what piety is.
If a society is expecting people to sign up to defend that society, up to the point of giving your life for that society, it us not at all unreasonable to teach pride and love for that society. That doesn't mean blind ignorance of that society's flaws and that is not what is being taught, so far as I have seen. But it DOES mean not actively teaching people the flaws predominantly as has unfortunately been the case for many years. If you expect the people who defend you to being willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, you damn sure better give them something worth that price to believe in.
Have you read Christopher Dawson’s The Crisis of Western Education? I would very much encourage you to do so, and then refine your position. I’m afraid you are very much mistaken with your understanding of what constitutes a classical education in the post-Renaissance sense. It’s fairly commonplace and obvious that a study of Western civilization and Christian culture has been at the very heart of classical education until fairly recently.
I agree, while it may have value (the book and proposed class), it is not an essential part of classical education . The classical thinkers were BC….thus Christianity is not an innate component of a classical education (I say this as a devout Christian). I am tired of people throwing about the term “classical education” when they either don’t know what it refers to or they know and don’t care that they are being misleading.
I don't have the book but it's been on my wish list because I heard Jonah Goldberg discuss it with the authors on his podcast (he opposes many of the people and actions of the current administration) and I know one of the authors teaches at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civil Education at UF. These two things made me curious about the book and I'd be really interested in your thoughts as well.
Absolutely! I completely agree that critical thinking, debate, and questioning those in power are at the heart of a true classical education, not unquestioning nationalism. I strongly disagree with the administration’s attempt to redefine education around patriotism and a narrow version of Western civilization and Christianity. Thank you for sharing your insight and knowledge!
Maybe there’s just confusion over what exactly conservatism is.
Excellent points!
Thank you for this!
I don't like the rebranding of classical education as a means to usher in Christian nationalism.
I would say the administration and its defenders are embracing western chauvinism more than any kind of education, classical or otherwise.
The Lesson plans for this book are in conjunction with Hillsdale. My school uses Hillsdale for its Civics Course. Excellent - dedicated to education and Christian History.
Someone hasn’t read Plato’s “Republic”. Not emphasize Patriotism? Are you kidding? I can’t believe I’m reading this.
Thanks for sharing. I don’t like this at all.
July reading round-up! A bit of an odd selection, and a couple of ebooks because I was travelling quite a lot. (Really happy that August will be quieter.)
I’ll start with the physical books:
Liane Moriarity, APPLES NEVER FALL. I have a lot of respect for Moriarity as a storyteller. I appreciate her willingness to let the tale unfold, and I’ve learned to float happily through the earlier chapters of her tomes in faith that the entire complex of characters and motivations will unfold. Having said that…this one I didn’t love. Less seemed to be at stake. The final denouement was forced. It didn’t stack up to the very high standard she set with WHAT ALICE FORGOT, which still comes to my mind often (as it should for anyone who’s been married a long time).
Josephine Tey, MISS PYM DISPOSES. This is a revisit of an old favorite. I reread Tey’s eight mystery novels on a rotating basis. It’s extraordinary to me how she can develop a vivid living character with just a few strokes, how she can turn from setting to setting (a women’s physical training college, the Scottish highlands, an English village, a river trip) and each time produce an entirely original and gripping plot. Miss Pym is one of my favorites.
Andrew Pettegree, THE BOOK IN THE RENAISSANCE. Technically this is a “work book” because I’m using the first two chapters for a current project. But after that, I kept reading just for fun because I’m fascinated by the phenomenon of publishing. Such a great study. Really insightful about how whipping up outrage by portraying your political (religious) opponents as evil is financially profitable. And a fascinating side excursion into how the business of printing shaped and changed the medieval and Renaissance schools that we now think of as “classical.”
Shirley Jackson, NOVELS AND STORIES. I have only read “The Lottery” in memory, although I think I must have read “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” at some point. And I watched the newest TV adaptation of “The Haunting of Hill House” with my oldest son, who’s a horror buff. (It was fascinating.) I didn’t get all the way to “The Haunting” yet (that’s for August, I’ll report back), but I read through all of the short stories in the collection. “The Lottery” is by far the best. I don’t know if it’s my own lack of interest in short stories, or if Jackson just managed to randomly hit it out of the park with “The Lottery,” but none of the other stories stood out or demanded a reread.
And as for ebooks, which for me is Kindle that I read on planes and in hotels:
Noel Streatfeild, SKATING SHOES. I read a lot of British children’s classics when I was a kid, but I missed Streatfeild. I’ve been meaning to check her books out since I first heard them mentioned in the movie YOU’VE GOT MAIL, a really long time ago. Finally got around to it. Lovely plane and bedtime reading, sunny and optimistic and happy.
Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin, BATTLE FOR THE AMERICAN MIND: UPROOTING A CENTURY OF MISEDUCATION. I try to read books that I’m pretty sure I’ll disagree with, and I try to read with an open mind. My mind slammed shut around Part II, when the authors began to rip off (not even subtly) John Taylor Gatto while chalking every troubled part of the American school system up to an evil, amorphous THEY who are (apparently with unparalleled and sinister organization) using the public school system to destroy Christianity and preach progressive Marxist socialism (none of these terms are very well defined). Tons of fear-words. Very bad history. Very little clarity. Not helpful in the slightest.
1 week ago
Noel Streatfield! She was my favorite author as a child. I treasured all those shoe books and miss them so much because they're so hard to find. Im so happy you read that!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND listening to Levar Burton read this Shirley Jackson gem! And thanks for the additions to my TBR pile! www.podchaser.com/podcasts/levar-burton-reads-528916/episodes/the-story-we-used-to-tell-by-s-7697...
My wife and I just started on Moriarty What Alice Forgot the other day (I got first crack at it). Just finished The White Castle by Pamuk. And am wrapping up Drive Your Plow Over the Bones by Olga Tokarczuk.
I'm going to check out Andrew Pettegree, THE BOOK IN THE RENAISSANCE! This was me "watching" (listening) to the kids play in the pool yesterday (I learned the hard way to stay out of the splash zone)
Not long ago I read Shirley Jackson's (memoir-ish) Life Among the Savages and, as a mom of many, found it charming and humorous and relatable. At one point I realized I had both a copy of her Raising Demons in my stack along with a copy of Raising Disciples at Home. Go figure.
I agree that What Alice Forgot is one of those books that wanders into my thoughts occasionally. If only I could re-read it for the first time again.
I agree about Apples Never Fall vs What Alice Forgot. I am looking forward to Big Little Truths later this month. Since you found “The Haunting of Hill House” fascinating, I have to ask if you have watched “Midnight Mass”—I would be interested in your thoughts on that one. I think about it often!
Thanks for some additions to my "Books to read" list. . There are some books I save to read outdoors on beautiful days. . From that set I just finished Bellow's "Ravelstein," which I enjoyed very much. I think it reminded me of long rambling book talks I enjoyed in college more than 40 years ago and have missed terribly ever since. . My main outdoor book now is Don DeLillo's "White Noise." . One of my indoor books is John Dickson Carr's "Mad Hatter Mystery." Thanks for reminding me of Josephine Tey. For my next mystery I will read one of hers. 🙂
The Haunting of Hill House is my second favorite horror classics. Dracula is my number one.
