Training the Prophetic Voice, Part 4: Jesus as Prophetic Trainer

In my ongoing series on training the prophetic voice, we have looked at several biblical and theological aspects of what it means to speak with a prophetic voice. We have seen how speaking truth is the heart of the prophetic voice, and that God himself is the theological grounding of our conception of truth-speaking. In my last article, I developed the concept of the schools of the prophets in the Old Testament. The master prophets not only spoke truth to power, but they cultivated the prophetic voice among their disciples. In today’s article, we will explore how Jesus founded a

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Educating for Humility: Promoting a Classroom Culture of Excellence in Service to Others

Of the many ills that plague modern society, perhaps one of the most insidious is the wedge we have driven between character and excellence, or ethics and achievement. Contemporary examples abound of  “successful” men and women who have earned impressive accolades despite deep recesses in character, and occasionally, because of those recesses.  As a result, for many young people today, it remains an open question whether character actually counts, and if so, to what degree. Today’s sports stars don’t exactly illustrate this truth during their excessive victory celebrations. Nor do the upper echelon of celebrities and business moguls as they

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an old and traditional school room

Why The History of Narration Matters, Part 1: Charlotte Mason’s Discovery?

I’ve decided to put the series on Bloom’s Taxonomy vs. Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues on hold for a couple months after contracting with Classical Academic Press to film two courses in December for ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy for classical educators. So I’m returning to the topic of narration and Charlotte Mason to help me deliberately prepare. (By the way, if you have suggestions for what topics you’d like to see tackled or questions you’d like answered in either of these courses, email us at educationalrenaissanceblog@gmail.com!) It’s been some time since I’ve written explicitly on narration for

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Training the Prophetic Voice, Part 3: The Schools of the Prophets

In my previous two articles on training the prophetic voice, I laid some groundwork by establishing first that our understanding of prophecy (truth telling) is grounded in the character of God as a truth-telling God, and second that the kind of truth we are talking about is of a moral nature when we are considering prophetic acts and speeches. My goal with this series of articles is to promote the idea that our schools are aimed at developing the prophetic voice of our students. In this next article, we travel back to the Bible to make some observations about where

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Handwork: Fostering Excellence Through the Habit of Creating

Guest post by Joleen Steel, Classical Christian Educator and Director of Camping Stick Kids We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle What do you find yourself repeatedly doing? In this digital world, it is easy to immerse ourselves in the repetition of scrolling through social media or clicking out words on a device in the hope of inspiring minds and garnering followers. Yet, the digital world falls short of satisfying our deepest longings for meaning and purpose. The best moments in life are not found on a screen, but in deep,

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Building Ratio: Training Students to Think and Learn for Themselves

In 1947, medievalist Dorothy Sayers took the podium at Oxford University and delivered a lecture that would launch a referendum on modern methods of education. It took time, to be sure, but from our current vantage point in 2020, there is no doubt that her words left a sizeable imprint on the current educational landscape. The Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) reports the existence of hundreds of Christian, classical schools across the nation, many of which point to Sayers’ lecture as a source for both inspiration and guidance. What did Sayers share that day that elicited such a response

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target

Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Importance of Objectives: 3 Blessings of Bloom’s

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” Lewis Caroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 71-72 The case of Alice may be considered a good cipher for that of many modern educators. We have a vague awareness in all our modern ‘subjects’

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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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