Author: Patrick Egan

Ancient Wisdom for the New Economy

Our educational renewal movement comes at a peculiar time in history. Classical education around the globe plugs us into something the predates many of the movements that shape the conventional educational assumptions of our day. One could identify the Enlightenment as the starting point of conventional education, largely because of the empirical epistemology that championed scientific fact over religious faith. Surprisingly, the classical educational renewal movement has not attempted to rewind the clock to take us back to a world before modern plumbing let alone the internet. Instead, it has called out today’s conventional education for selling short our view

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Learning to Appreciate Beauty: A Deep Dive into Picture Study

Amongst the subjects that epitomize Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, picture study – otherwise known as artist study or art study – offers so much scope for us to consider how classical education can benefit from a deeper understanding of Mason’s methods. When we think about the classical tradition, we often focus on the great books, from the classics of the ancient world to the literary and philosophical masterpieces down through the ages. Yet, the tradition of the visual arts has generated masterpieces of a different sort, and in some cases of greater esteem that the written tradition. The Visual

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How to Teach Grit and the Growth Mindset

Over the years we have written about grit and growth mindset here at Educational Renaissance. These are important areas of recent research that align well with the aims of our educational renewal movement. But one of the really tricky issues is whether we can teach grit and growth mindset. Is it the case that children are either gritty or not? What do we do when a child comes to us with a fixed mindset? We might be committed to the ideas of grit and growth mindset, but to really have transformative classrooms, we need to consider the question of how

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Goal Setting and Habits: Starting the New Year SMARTer

It is the start of 2024 and I return once more to the topic of habits. There is an ancient tradition associating habits with virtues. It was Aristotle, for instance, who wrote that “moral virtue comes about as a result of habit” (Nichomachean Ethics 2:1 or 1103a15-b25, trans. W. D. Ross). At the beginning of each new year it is worthwhile to take stock of the virtues we would most like to cultivate and then set out a course of action for how we plan to grow in that virtue. It takes a certain amount of creativity and advance planning

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The Incarnation of Jesus and Incarnational Ministry in the Classroom

During a recent podcast recording session, I developed a theological argument about the incarnation that I think it worth unpacking in greater detail. The episode will be released during Advent, so be on the lookout for our next podcast, coming December 10 at 4:00 p.m. It’s at this time of year that we cultivate a sense of the incarnation with the buildup to the Christmas holiday. We see lots of decorations. There are school performances and church pageants. Our routines change to accommodate a plethora of Christmas parties. Despite the celebrating and decorating, there’s a deep concern about the commercialization

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Miss Stacy and Miss Shirley: Three Characteristics of an Effective Teacher

Set amidst the idyllic scenes of Prince Edward Island, one of Canada’s eastern most provinces, the story of Anne Shirley serves up excellent reading for Middle Schoolers. The first in a series of short novels written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables tells the story of an orphan girl, Anne Shirley, who is adopted by the aging brother and sister, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. Through Anne, we are introduced to the community of the fictional town of Avonlea. Anne’s coming of age story is shaped by the people and countryside of this small community. And yet her arrival

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Guiding a New Generation: Six Alternatives to College

In this series on college guidance, we have worked within the framework that most if not all students are destined to attend a four-year college. I began by questioning the current state of affairs in higher education. There is a massive educational-industrial complex that serves as the gateway to the industrial economy. However, many recent developments have seriously impacted the role higher education plays across the economy. Despite the rising costs of higher education, the value of such an education remains high. Thus, college likely remains the normal outcome for high school graduates. Yet, a growing number of alternatives have

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Funding the Dream: An Honest Look at College Financial Aid

One of the biggest investments you can make in life is in the education of children. With the rising cost of higher education, many are questioning this proposition. Has the traditional four-year college remained a good investment? Or has it saddled the next generation with a debt burden too great to bear? In this article, we will do a little bit of cost analysis to determine whether students, parents and schools should continue to aim for college placements. We will also look at how financial aid works with some guidance on how to navigate a fairly complex set of factors

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Playing the Game: The Typical Rules for College Entry

Let’s be honest, there’s a game being played here. College entry has traditionally been about a very few factors that tell so much about a high school student’s ability to play this game, and not so much about the individual qualities that make that student an interesting person with the potential to be a great addition to the academic atmosphere as well as student life. Now COVID went a long way towards changing the game in radical ways. And we will get to some of the new currents in admissions such as student interviews. For some students, they adeptly navigate

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The State of Affairs: Higher Education as an Educational-industrial Complex

As I begin this series on college guidance, my aim is to take seriously our mission to cultivate lifelong learning and flourishing. We must begin with the current state of affairs. We really cannot guide students into the higher education of today without taking stock of the long backstory of colleges and universities. Industrialization has had a massive impact on higher education, transforming these institutions into destinations for most high school graduates as a pipeline to the job market the industrialized economy created. As we go into this historical review, we will keep in mind that much of what our

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