The poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once said “We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.” His words seem to be truer today than when they were first penned more than a century ago. Education is not a solitary adventure. It is, and must be an affair done in community. When education is divorced from family, community and religion the end result is people who have information but in reality “do not know a thing.”
Just before the time of Christ, the Greeks instituted an educational mindset that sought to teach a child naturally and create a love of learning. This approach was refined in the Middle Ages and today is known as classical education.
Classical education seeks to complement the physical development of a child. For instance, in the very early years memorization is a key component. Songs, rhymes, and chants all help a child remember material that in later years will be recalled to further enhance and refine. As the child grows, he or she moves through a three-stage process called the trivium. The end result of this process is to produce an adult who is a life-long learner, knowledgeable, articulate, and gracious.
Classical education also complements the faith development of a child. It provides the tools to develop a worldview based on absolute truth. Starting from this foundation, children are encouraged to explore and interact with their world through timeless literature, historical understanding, mathematical precision and scientific inquiry. Subjects are integrated with each other to produce a holistic perspective.
The conclusion has yet to be written about the long-term effects of the modern educational system as formulated by psychologist John Dewey in the early twentieth century. Classical education on the other hand has been proven by two millennia of practice and refinement. It has generated notable scholars, practitioners, philosophers and theologians. It actively seeks to avoid producing persons with a “belly full of words;” rather, it strives to produce individuals with wisdom and the knowledge to use it.
