Classical Education News & Articles | February 2023
In addition to reviewing books, ClassicalEd Review provides our readers with a monthly compendium of recent articles and news stories related to classical education and the liberal arts.
Who Put the West in Western Civilization?
by Robert Royal
Where did “Western” Civilization come from? The term does not refer to any simple geographical location and did not exist until relatively recently. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Chesterton was the first to use the expression “Western man” only ninety years ago, in 1907. How the notion came into existence explains a good deal about what the West represents.
The K–12 Education Renaissance
by Jeremy Tate
Few parents are going to want their children to waste their formative years in joyless, factory-style learning environments when superior alternatives exist. Faith-based schools that kindle wonder within children are multiplying. The good news is parents are embracing these options so enthusiastically, it’s difficult to build schools fast enough to meet the surging demand.
Don’t Give In: Write!
by Andrew J. Zwerneman
Under the pressure of AI-generated writing, there is some significant worry, even within the normally stalwart classical education movement, that perhaps teachers ought to forgo or significantly downplay the role of writing. The white flag indicates a kind of hopelessness in the face of plagiarism’s seemingly unstoppable encroachment on the integrity of writing. Here is what I say to that: Don’t give in!
DeSantis Aims to Turn Public College Into ‘Hillsdale of the South’
by Josh Moody
“It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South,” DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier told The Daily Caller.
There Is No Thinking without Memorizing
by Jon D. Schaff
We deploy faddish educational notions such as “critical thinking” to the detriment of our students. What is often derided as “rote-learning” is actually essential to sophisticated analysis. Memorization creates a base of knowledge. We draw upon this foundational knowledge as we engage in more conceptual thinking.
The Spirit of Jewish Classical Education
by Eric Cohen and Mitchell Rocklin
Jewish teachings have shaped Western civilization from the beginning. How can Jews build schools that encourage the rising generation to take this responsibility seriously?
What Progressive Educators Get Wrong About Creativity
by Daniel Buck
Originality requires both knowledge and technical mastery.
The Dangers of a Sentimental Education
by Jasmine Hu Hollingshead
The push for social-emotional learning brings managerial nihilism and corporate profiteering into the classroom under the cover of helping kids.
The Battle for America’s Academies is Far from Over
by Samuel Mangold-Lenett
In early January, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a group of six conservative academics and activists to the board of trustees of the New College of Florida in Sarasota.
University of Florida Gets its Own Classical Education Makeover
by Mike Sabo
The Hamilton Center looks to broaden and deepen civics education at the university level, an effort that many on both sides of the political divide recognize is necessary.
The Purpose of Mathematics in a Classical Education
by Thomas Treloar
A resurgence of interest in classical education has been evident in recent years. This has been due, in part, to a number of influential writings on regaining “lost” knowledge in our culture which have, in turn, inspired an increasing number of schools founded on a classical model. When surveying the landscape of classical education, it becomes evident that there is a clear vision available for the purpose of the study of humanities. What does not seem as clear, though, is the nature of mathematics in a classical education.
Finding Common Ground on Civic Education
by Hans Zeiger
Bitter political disagreements seem to have driven Americans apart more than ever before in our lifetimes. Difficult as it may seem to bridge the gap between Left and Right, the founders left us a guide for recovering the common good: the U.S. Constitution. A shared conception of citizenship rooted in that document, and its ideas about equality, liberty, and self-government, can inspire real unity in the midst of serious disagreement.
School Choice Promotes National Unity
by R.R. Reno
School choice relieves the pressures of polarization and partisan rancor. This sounds counter-intuitive. In Arizona and now in Iowa, Republican-dominated legislatures have established education savings accounts for families. The effect is to make more than $7,000 available per child for parents to use toward tuition at private schools, should they choose to do so. These measures were fiercely opposed by Democrats and denounced as grievous blows to our tradition of public education.
Helping Yourself to the Western Canon
by Rod Dreher
Responses to Ed West's call for amateurs looking to educate themselves on the Greats.
Must Schools Choose Between Dead White Men and Pop Culture YA Novels?
by Jessica Hooten Wilson
When I attended public high school in Texas more than 20 years ago, I remember reading a couple of Shakespeare plays, The Great Gatsby and maybe a handful of other known classics. Unfortunately, the last several years have not been kind to the required reading lists in public schools. Political factions from both sides have banned works that seem not to fit with their party; the classics have been deemed a biased collection of racist and misogynist works by European males; and we have dropped our expectations of readers lower and lower each year until we ask little more of today’s students than to read excerpts from contemporary works.
Aristotle on Three Kinds of Friends
by Christopher Perrin
Why "Level Three" Friendship Is Needed in Classical Schools.