Training the Prophetic Voice, Part 2: Speaking Truth to Power

Among the primary aims of our educational movement is to train our students in the art of rhetoric so that they can contribute meaningfully to the major cultural debates of our society. Enacting real and lasting change occurs as people dare to promote and defend what is true, good and beautiful in a world that is fallen and hurting. As we continue our series on training the prophetic voice, we consider next what it means to speak truth to power. Previous articles in this series, Training the Prophetic Voice: Part 1: The Educational Heart of God A Sweltering Day in August

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Work, Toil, and the Quest for Academic Rigor

American educational culture is obsessed with the idea of academic rigor. It shows up on marketing materials, core value statements, and school comparison charts. Rigor has become the gold standard of education, separating the wheat from the chaff and the excellent from the mediocre. Public schools, private schools, classical schools, progressive schools–they all claim academic rigor as a distinctive, leading to a market overrun with near-identical tag lines. The irony, of course, is that when competitors lay claim to the exact same distinguishing factor, the supposed distinctive ceases to function as such. In the case of many schools today, the

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modern classroom

Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Purpose of Education

One of the major themes in the classical education renewal movement has been to challenge the utilitarianism of modern education. The purpose of education, the argument has gone, is so much broader and more far-reaching than modern educators are making it out to be. It is not merely job training or college preparation, but the formation of flourishing human beings. The cultivation of wisdom and virtue is the purpose of education. There is joy in seeking knowledge for its own sake and as an end in itself.  Next Article in this Series: “Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Importance of Objectives: 3

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Training the Prophetic Voice, Part 1: The Educational Heart of God

The God we worship and serve is an educating God. Our God has chosen to reveal himself to those whom he has created. God’s verbal communication with his creation is expressed in the opening of John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word.” Our God is a speaking God, which means he is continuously teaching people, taking them from a place of ignorance to a place of understanding. There are numerous implications emanating from this concept of God as an educator. In this article, we will explore the many facets of God’s educational heart. We will see that the foundational

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Back to School: 3 Principles for Returning to School Amidst the Pandemic

Our world has been turned upside down in the last five months, or so it feels, and a course-correct doesn’t seem likely soon. While educational leaders across the country have sought to stay positive and assure families of an in-person return to school in August, some are having to pivot back to remote and hybrid scenarios last minute. Meanwhile, those who are returning to school in-person must continue to endure the incessant news cycle and the unpredictability each new day brings. How are teachers to begin the school year in such times? Let me suggest three principles for returning to

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Plato and Aristotle and Socrates

20 Quotable Quotes from the First Half of 2020 Educational Renaissance

At the end of 2019 we shared a series of memorable maxims from that year’s blog articles. As we transition toward the next half of 2020, we thought we’d do something similar and share 20 Quotable Quotes from Educational Renaissance articles January through June. These are longer block quotes that will whet your appetite for exploring old articles you may have missed. If you’re new to Educational Renaissance (as many of you are), think of this as a cliff notes guide to some of the core ideas in education we’ve been recovering during these past 6 months. The longer format

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Class of 2020: The Next Greatest Generation

The class of 2020 has felt the full force of the disruption caused by the Coronavirus. Graduation ceremonies have been cancelled, postponed or held virtually online. Nothing about the spring of senior year went according to plan for the class of 2020. It has been described as catastrophic and traumatic by students, parents and teachers. In the face of such obstacles, how do we maintain a confident faith? Part of gaining the courage to lead, we must come to grips with our current circumstances. I myself find great meaning in the quote by Marcus Aurelius, “What stands in the way

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“Teach Like a Champion” for the Classical Classroom, Part 3: Check for Understanding

It’s happened to every teacher I’ve ever met. You put together a great lesson, one that you are sure will engage the attention of your students and draw them in to explore some new concept or idea. After teaching the lesson and providing opportunities for students to engage, you confidently pass out the exit slip, a final question they are to submit before lunch. A few hours later, you’re in your prep period and you can’t wait to see what your students learned through the exit slip exercise. You’re especially excited to read the answer of the boy who kept

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Summer Conference Edition

Welcome Summer Conference Attendees to Educational Renaissance It’s a busy summer . . . of staying home. In previous years you may have traveled to take in several of the summer conferences that are part of our classical Christian schooling movement. This summer everyone’s staying home and attending conferences virtually. Many of you will have discovered Educational Renaissance for the first time through one of Jason’s talks at either the ACCS Repairing the Ruins conference last week or the Society for Classical Learning conference this week. We welcome you summer conference attendees to explore the resources available here at Educational

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“Teach Like a Champion” for the Classical Classroom, Part 2: Teacher-Driven Professional Development

There are two general approaches to professional development in education, one that is supervisor-driven and the other that is teacher-driven. In the supervisor-driven approach, the principal or dean is the primary driver for teacher development. The principal sets the goals, schedules observations, provides feedback, and identifies future growth areas. The strength of this approach is that it puts the responsibility of developing teachers on administrators, field experts who have been on their journey as educators long enough to develop a general sense of best practices to pursue and pitfalls to avoid. The notable weakness of the supervisor-driven approach is that

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