Tag: narration

Exploring Educational Alternatives: A Comparison of Charlotte Mason and Maria Montessori

The early 1900s was a watershed moment in education. The second wave of the Industrial Revolution brought about what we might call the educational-industrial complex. Here I intentionally draw upon Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 Farewell Address when he warned against the disastrous potential of the military-industrial complex. Looking back over the previous decades of global warfare, he saw how the industry-fed war machine would never be satiated. Something like this happened in the field of education. Industry, an expanding economy and globalization demanded of education a new kind of production-line format. School buildings began to resemble factories graduating a populace

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What has Ambleside to do with Jerusalem?: A Consideration of Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy of Education as a Model for Teaching Biblical Studies

In this week’s blog post I am going back into the vault to share with you a paper I presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Atlanta on November 20, 2010. This was a pivotal moment in my career, having earned my PhD and taught for a few years at colleges and seminaries in the US and UK. I joined the faculty of Clapham School in 2009 and there first encountered Charlotte Mason. My introduction to Miss Mason’s philosophy of education completely revolutionized my teaching, and this was something I wanted to share with my biblical studies

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Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 4: Charlotte Mason’s Practice of Narration in Historical Perspective

In this series I have contended that the history of narration should bring Charlotte Mason educators and classical Christian educators together. That is because narration’s use as a pedagogical practice in the classical tradition illustrates vividly the connection between the two. When we know this history and turn to Charlotte Mason’s advocacy for the practice of narration as a central learning strategy, we see her not as a scientific modernist, intent on casting aside the liberal arts tradition of education, but as a renaissance-style educator. Mason was seeking to revive the best of ancient wisdom about education, even as she

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Renaissance

Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 3: Narration’s Rebirth

In my previous two articles I framed my discussion of the history of narration with the controversy between Charlotte Mason and classical Christian education advocates. I suggested that narration’s history may be a fact that puts to rest the false dichotomies of either side. While Charlotte Mason did claim discovery of certain principles related to the nature of mind, narration itself is one of the many things she owes to the tradition. As she said of her philosophy and methods, “Some of it is new, much of it is old.” (Toward a Philosophy of Education; Wilder, 2008; 29) As we

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Enjoying the Bible as Literature: 5 Strategies for Engaging Students in Reading the Canon

Guest article by Heidi Dean of Christian Schools International (See Jason’s article on CSI “7 Steps to Narrating the Bible”!) In biblical studies we seek to cultivate the habits of reverence, humility, submission to the text, and other qualities of faithful scholarship. But I propose another goal should rise to the top: enjoyment. The enjoyment that students have in reading a novel, or an eerie poem, or an adventure epic.  When students are engaging with the Bible, we should hear laughter and gasps. We should see quizzical eyebrows and wide-eyed shock. I love to see students jumping out of their

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civic building with classical style of architecture

Narration Course for ClassicalU: A Rehearsal Sneak Peek

As I mentioned in a previous article on the history of narration, I’ve received an opportunity to film two courses at the beginning of December for Classical Academic Press’ ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy for classical educators. Our working titles are A Classical Guide to Narration and Charlotte Mason: A Liberal Education for All. Knowing what I know about the importance of practice for developing skill, I decided to set my hand to the task of practicing my video lectures. Of course, just developing the material fully for these two courses has filled up the

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Training the Prophetic Voice, Part 5: Internalizing the Prophetic Message

So far in this series, we have explored the theological and biblical paradigms surrounding our understanding of what it means to speak prophetically. It centers around God’s divine revelation to humanity and then becomes expressed through people who take up the message of God’s truth and speaking truth into new contexts. The model of discipleship we explored among the OT prophets and then with Jesus and his disciples helps us see that training the prophetic voice is very much an educational enterprise. At this point in the series, we pivot to the formation of individuals in our classrooms. We will

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Quintilian

Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 2: Classical Roots

In my last article I shared the first piece of why the history of narration matters: it has the potential to break down the barrier between the Charlotte Mason community and classical educators. There are some notable exceptions who have tried to cross the aisle, but for the most part these two groups have kept to their own camps — some have even had cutting critiques of the other side to share. And of course, we may be each other’s best critics in a way that would be good for both of us. But for that to happen Masonites would

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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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“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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