Course Introduction: Introduction to Classical Education
Dr. Perrin introduces this course, which he has designed to provide parents and educators with a clear vision for classical education.
Recommended Reading & Referenced Works
- The Lost Tools of Learning, an essay by Dorothy Sayers (available in essay form here and as an audio recording here)
- Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver
- Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
- Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation by Josef Pieper
- When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, a poem by Walt Whitman
- Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, a painting by Caspar David Friedrich
- The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills our Children Need–and What We Can Do about It by Tony Wagner
- Manalive by G.K. Chesterton
- “On Reading Old Books,” an essay by C.S. Lewis
- The Case for Christianity by C S. Lewis
Recommended ClassicalU Courses:
- The Liberal Arts Tradition with Ravi Jain and Kevin Clark
- Plato: The Great Philosopher-Educator with David Diener
Outline of Session
Discussion Questions
- In your country and culture, what would you say are the ideals are that the nation seeks, as revealed in the educational system (curriculum, setting, etc.)?
- How would you answer the following questions, which Dr. Perrin references as questions every educational approach must ask:
- Who is the student? (Implicitly, what is a human being, and what is the human being for?)
- What curriculum do we teach?
- In what setting do we teach?
- To what ends or purposes do we teach?
Introduction to Classical Education (PDF)
What is Classical Christian Education? (PDF)
For years, I have struggled to put an emotional I carry with me into words…a solemn check that keeps me humbled when I approach something ancient or beautiful. The poem referenced here helped me to identify it: not just one word, but an idea…that facts apart from truth and beauty hold no meaning. We can learn algorithms and regurgitate numbers, but if we don’t find beauty in what we are being taught, it will not stay. Thank you for this introduction. The next time I find myself struck by this idea, I’ll be able to explain it.