In the Trenches What if There is No Rhetoric Stage?
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Jan 8, 2025 The discussion kicks off by questioning the foundational beliefs of classical Christian education and its effectiveness in promoting independent thinking. It critiques the staged development theory, particularly concerning older students, while emphasizing the value of classic literature and philosophy over personal opinions. The conversation highlights high schoolers' struggles with critical thinking, urging innovative teaching methods to encourage creativity. Finally, it challenges the relevance of the rhetoric stage, suggesting a reevaluation based on students' developmental readiness.
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Questioning "How To Think, Not What"
- Gibbs links skepticism of "how to think not what" and the rhetoric stage to Enlightenment assumptions that overvalue abstract thinking.
- He argues classical education should teach substantive content (what to think) rather than prematurely prioritizing abstract method.
Rhetoric Stage May Occur Later
- Joshua Gibbs doubts Dorothy Sayers' poetic/rhetoric stage fits most high schoolers and finds Socratic/Platonic stages more accurate to long-term development.
- He sees the capacity for synthesis and true rhetoric arriving in the mid-to-late 20s rather than at 14–18.
Classroom Catechism Shifted To Classics
- Gibbs recounts his initial classroom catechism where he wrote both questions and answers and later shifted to texts as sources.
- He stopped asking students to memorize his claims and began having them commit Shakespeare, Augustine, and Boethius to memory.
