Reforming Classical Education: Toward A New Paradigm

by Rhys Laverty

Publisher:

The Davenant Institute

, 2022

Overview

We are now in the third generation of the great educational awakening often called the “classical Christian education movement.” As with all successful movements, rival visions for its future direction have emerged, and fundamental questions beg for answers. Many hail classical education as a panacea for the intellectual and moral degradation of modernity. Others champion it above contemporary education by arguing that it ultimately produces greater career success. Others promise it will create profound thinkers by exposing children to great literature. But will reading Plato really train a Christian child in virtue? Will learning Latin ready them for success in any field–and is that even something for which we should ready them? And literature is well and good, but why doesn’t classical education seem to say much about the sciences?

The essays in this volume address these questions and more, exploring the issue of what a distinctly Protestant form of classical education may look like today. Christian educational renewal undoubtedly involves bringing out treasures old–and there remain some which are still neglected. Yet renewal must also be open to treasures new, as we creatively respond to the challenges and circumstances of our time.

Key Features

• Explores the issue of what a distinctly Protestant form of classical education may look like today
• Addresses common questions

Contents

• Introduction: On Naming the World: A Protestant Vision for Training in Wisdom. - Bradford Littlejohn, The Davenant Institute
• I. The Liberal Arts and the Art of Service: Protestantism’s Challenge to Classical Education - Gene Edward Veith, Patrick Henry College
• II. On Corrupting the Youth: A Platonic Education - Colin Chan Redemer, St. Mary’s College of California
• III. Teaching Books, Teaching Arts: A View of Classical Christian Literary Training. - Joshua Patch, PhD. candidate at University of Dallas
• IV. In Search of Virtue: Why the Quadrivium Matters - Gregory Wilbur, New College Franklin
• V. Cosmic Wisdom: How the Quadrivium Serves Theology and Ethics - Nathan Johnson, New College Franklin
• VI. Form, Content, and Purpose: Reflections on Early Modern Education for Today. - Michael Lynch, Delaware Valley Classical School
• VII. A Confessional Education: Abraham Kuyper, J. Gresham Machen, and the Christian Academy. - Eli West, Covenant High School
• VIII. Subalternation and the Liberal Arts: Vocation and Friendship with God. - Brandon Spun, New College Franklin

Praise for Reforming Classical Education

Reforming Classical Education is the first of its kind. The authors take the reader on a journey, with a Reformed slant, for a well-rounded classical education. The essays are worthy of serious reflection

—Joshua R. Farris, Humboldt Experienced Research Fellow, University of Bochum

Reforming Classical Education is a thoughtful contribution to the classical education movement that deftly makes history, as Frederick Douglass said, useful to the present and to the future.

—Thomas Magbee, co-host of the Classical Stuff You Should Know podcast

Product Details

• Title: Reforming Classical Education: Toward A New Paradigm
• Author: Rhys Laverty
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Pages: 176
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:RFRMNGCLSSPRDGM
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-06-12T20:16:17Z

About Rhys Laverty

Rhys Laverty is Senior Editor of Ad Fontes and Managing Editor of the Davenant Press. He has written for The Davenant Institute, Mere Orthodoxy, and the Theopolis Institute, and podcasts about film and TV on For Now We See. He lives in Chessington, UK with his wife and children.