Tag: neuroscience

The Soul of Education, Part 1: What Is a Human Being?

Every educational philosophy necessarily relies on a pre-existing view of the human person. Anthropology informs pedagogy. Many of the problems that classical Christian educators have identified in conventional education have their roots in a false or insufficient view of human beings. The factory model of education, for instance, underrates certain aspects of human development and purpose (see articles on the problems of Technicism or Scientism for example).  This is why it has been so crucial for classical Christian educators to return to foundational questions. The average parent or teacher in our movement may tire of such stargazing, but it is

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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 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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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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“Education is a Discipline”: Virtue Formation in the Classroom

“’Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life’––is perhaps the most complete and adequate definition of education we possess. It is a great thing to have said it; and our wiser posterity may see in that ‘profound and exquisite remark’ the fruition of a lifetime of critical effort (Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p. 33). In the quotation above, Charlotte Mason identifies what she believes are the three instruments of education at a teacher’s disposal: atmosphere, discipline, and life. In my first article in this series, I explored the instrument of atmosphere.  In Mason’s view, the sort of atmosphere a

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Fostering Grit Through Charlotte Mason’s Practice of Habit Training

We write and speak often at Educational Renaissance about the importance of cultivating good habits (you can listen to our podcast on habit training here). Habits are, as Charlotte Mason put it, the railways of the good life (Home Education, p. 101). A person with good habits experiences a life of ease, while a person missing such habits often finds life burdensome and difficult.  By “ease” I don’t mean easy, of course. I mean smooth, orderly, peaceful, and effective.  For example, the habit of timeliness is indispensable for a life of ease. Imagine how difficult life is for the person

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The Human Brain and the Liberal Arts

For some Christians, brain science and talk of “caring for your brain” can be uncomfortable. It smacks of a physicalist conception of reality in which all we are is our physical bodies. As Christians, we believe in the reality of the soul and a transcendent immaterial world. To focus myopically on the brain may cause us to lose sight of the spiritual aspect of what it means to be human and the hope we have for eternal life. Moreover, some Christians fear, utilizing brain science to boost cognitive performance through strengthening the brain sounds like a mad scientist’s version of

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Moral Virtue and the Intellectual Virtue of Artistry or Craftsmanship

It might seem strange after the paradigm delineated above to focus our attention back on intellectual virtues alone, just after arguing for the holistic Christian purpose of education: the cultivation of moral, intellectual and spiritual virtues. But it is impossible to do everything in a single series or book. The cultivation of moral virtues requires a book of its own, at the very least, and the same can be said of spiritual virtues. And there have in fact been many authors that have treated these subjects admirably, even if they have not always traced their practical implications for teaching methods,

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Human Development, Part 3: Get in the Zone

It is a dangerous thing to become a Jedi padawan. The training and trials are extremely difficult; one might say almost impossible. Qui-Gon Jin tells Anakin Skywalker, “Anakin, training to be a Jedi is not an easy challenge, and even if you succeed, it’s a hard life” (from Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace). As difficult as the training might be, there is even greater danger in not fully completing one’s Jedi training. You are liable to lose a limb. Both Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker lose their right hands when they face Sith Lords before being fully

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What Bloom’s Left Out: A Comparison with Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues

In the last three articles in this series, I laid out the good, the bad and the ugly of Bloom’s Taxonomy. After the last two posts it is perhaps worth reaffirming the value of Bloom’s project. While I ultimately believe that Bloom and his colleagues may have done more harm than good, I do affirm the importance of clear objectives in education. The clarity and focus of their project, which raised the issue of teaching objectives in a unique way in the history of education, leaves a real and positive inheritance to the discipline. Moreover, I am convinced that where

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