In one way, Christian classical education is the new kid on the block. Classical education has been around for millennia, obviously since ancient Greece and Rome, and Christians through much of Western history embraced classical learning. But with the rise of progressive education in the early 20th Century, and it’s promoters like John Dewey, the classical model went dormant (Henry T. Edmondson III had written an excellent book on the baleful influence of Dewey on American education). By the 1980s almost everyone agreed that American education wasn’t doing well, even if they wouldn’t specifically blame the progressive model.
A few Christian educators in the early 1990s responded by rediscovering classical education. The genesis of the movement goes back to a 1947 essay called “The Lost Tools of Learning,” by English author Dorothy Sayers, but got its substantive start with the 1991 publication of Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education by Idaho pastor and theologian Douglas Wilson. According to the Association of Classical & Christian Schools website, there were 10 ACCS member Christian classical schools in 1994, and that number grew to 236 last year. Enrollment in ACCS member schools has gone from 17,000 in 2002 to over 40,000 last year. Impressive by any measure.
If you are not familiar with classical education, a good place to start is this brief piece by Christopher Perrin. He also wrote the excellent little booklet, An Introduction to Classical Education: A Guide for Parents. If you are an educator or are interested in getting involved in some way in Christian classical education, there are two organizations you should be familiar with. One is the Association of Classical & Christian Schools. They have a yearly conference that looks incredible, and other opportunities to learn and get involved. The other is The Society for Classical Learning, which also has an excellent annual conference and other resources.
A personal note. I wasn’t aware of classical education three or four years ago. I’ve always been a lover of the liberal arts, but it took my son attending a classical Christian school, and my daughter attending Hillsdale College at the same time, to completely sell me on the concept. And I mean completely. All three of my children attended public schools, and our two oldest graduated from public high schools, and my attitude was, “They survived.” We couldn’t afford a private school even if we wanted to send them to one.
When our youngest was in fourth grade my wife, who works in public schools, saw the environment of the junior high school he would be attending in a couple years, and she was distraught. She was determined he would not attend that school! Again, I was apathetic. We’re very involved in teaching our children at home about life and truth and their faith, so like I said, I was sure they would survive. But would they thrive? No. Where a child spends 6 hours of their day, 180 some odd days a year, learning whatever it is they learn, is critical for their development and their future, even if they have very engaged and hands-on parents.
It so happens a Christian Classical school had recently opened not too far from where we live. My mother-in-law stepped in to help us afford it, and our son is now in his third year. Seeing Classical education first hand has convinced me there is no comparison with what public or other private schools can offer. I was further convinced of the superiority of the Classical model as our daughter happened to be attending Hillsdale College at the same time. She fell in love with the liberal arts and classical learning, and now teaches fifth grade at a charter classical school.
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