Learning to Wonder: A Deep Dive into the World of Geometric Thinking

The painting of Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci seems to be one of his final paintings. Leonardo depicts John the Baptist with a similar enigmatic smile as the famous Mona Lisa. Yet, there is no background and the hues are dark enough that the viewer struggles to identify the Baptist’s garments. Leonardo poses his subject in such a way that he points upward while looking downward. In many respects, the Baptist pulls us into a contemplation of a spiritual enigma. How does the spiritual relate to the physical? One of the elements that pulls us into this

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The Imitation Brain: Three Ways to Make the Most of Mirror Neurons

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Is it possible that imitation is also the pathway to learning? In the late 1990s and early 2000s, scientists at the University of Parma published a series of studies singling out neurons that respond both when accomplishing a certain action and also when observing others accomplishing a certain action. We might call this colloquially the “monkey see, monkey do” paradigm, perhaps all the more appropriate as the initial studies were done on monkeys. In 2010, a study took mirror neurons to the next level by identifying mirror neurons in humans. Scientists were able

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Counsels of the Wise, Part 4: Preliminary Instruction in Prudence

How does a person become wise? What are the proper ingredients in an educational paradigm aimed at prudence? Where would we even begin? So much of K-12 education seems to have nothing to do with practical wisdom, as Aristotle defines it. How do we recover the classical goals of wisdom and virtue in earnest, and not simply as a marketing claim?  So far in this series we have had occasion to develop the Christian underpinnings for prudence. “Be wise [phronemoi, prudent] as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16), Jesus tells his disciples, utilizing the same word for prudence that

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Virtue Formation and Rightly Ordered Loves

The cultivation of virtue is unarguably a core objective in the classical vision for education. In contrast to knowledge acquisition or skills mastery, growing virtue in our students is about strengthening their internal moral structure. It is fundamentally a project of formation, changing a person for the good in pursuit of it. Interestingly, Augustine of Hippo, the great medieval theologian, observed that the lives we live and the things we love are inextricably linked. What we love impacts if, and how, we embody the virtues. In this way, seeking to live a virtuous life is both a moral enterprise and an

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The Habit of Reading: Five Book Recommendations for 2023

It’s January of a new year! And so you are probably inundated with a number of calls to implement new habits, to try new practices, and to start new programs. Hopefully this list of recommended reading for 2023 cuts through the noise and provides you with at least one great read for the upcoming year. C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man I begin with a book that rivals in many ways the essay by Dorothy Sayers that got our educational renewal movement started. In fact, C. S. Lewis delivered these lectures (the Riddell Memorial Lectures were a series given over

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Counsels of the Wise, Part 3: The Practical Nature of Prudence

In this series we are recovering several lost goals of education by exploring Aristotle’s intellectual virtues as replacement learning objectives for Bloom’s taxonomy. Prudence or practical wisdom (phronesis) is one such lost goal, which is endorsed by the biblical book of Proverbs and the New Testament, even if Aristotle’s exact terminology is not adhered to. The classical tradition too aimed at moral formation, including moral reasoning or normative inquiry as a primary goal. (See Counsels of the Wise, Part 1: Foundations of Christian Prudence.) At the same time, we noted in the last article that our recovery movement has at

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Love the Lord Your God With All Your Mind

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”  Luke 10:25-28 ESV What does it mean to love God? How are we to

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Exploring Our Educational Ideals: Following along Gulliver’s Travels

Since its publication in 1726, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift has been a popular read both for its initial audience as well as for generations of readers since. In my most recent reading of this travelog with our Enlightenment Humanities class at Clapham School, I was struck by Swift’s thoughts on education. Excavating the claim he is making about education can be difficult as the book is an overt satire of English literature and society. Yet, the point he is making can stimulate our thinking about education today, particularly as we think about the values inherent in our educational renewal

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3 Leadership Books for Teachers

Teachers are the leaders of their classrooms. Now, this may seem obvious (who else would be in charge?), so let me explain. Teachers are responsible for the execution of classroom objectives and the development of their students. In a healthy school, they are given the freedom and responsibility, within a broader structure of administrative oversight, to make key decisions pertaining to how they will empower their students to learn and grow. For example, a teacher responsible for teaching The Great Gatsby must consider how the book will be taught, what she will focus on, and how she intends for students

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Learning Gratitude: A Pathway to a Good Life

Among the greatest characters created by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings is the noble prince Faramir. He is the younger brother of the fallen Boromir and is characterized by wisdom and judgment. When we first meet Faramir in the forests of Ithilien, he chances upon the hobbits Frodo and Sam who have already journeyed far on their quest to destroy the One Ring. The character of Faramir is demonstrated in his resistance to the temptation of the ring. The downfall of Boromir had been his desire to possess the One Ring. Having brought the hobbits to the secret

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