The podcast discusses the challenges of teaching virtue, explores the four cardinal virtues of classical education - temperance, prudence, courage, and justice, and emphasizes the importance of developing virtue in children. It also touches upon the role of parenting in character development and the impact of modeling behavior. The podcast concludes with a discussion on creating a safe environment for middle school students and the limits of teaching virtue.
Teaching virtue is about creating a space for children to choose and find virtue good.
Temperance, prudence, courage, and justice are the four cardinal virtues of classical education.
Creating an environment that normalizes risk and failure helps cultivate courage in children.
Deep dives
Developing Virtue Through a Classical Education
A classical education aims to develop virtuous and moral human beings, going beyond academic skills. Teaching virtue is not about imposing it from the outside, but creating a space for the child to choose and find virtue good. Temperance, the ability to exercise self-control for future gain, is the first virtue taught in the grammar stage. Prudence, the ability to discern the appropriate course of action for a given situation, develops as children gain life experience. Courage is the ability to move forward without knowing the outcome and requires creating an environment where it is safe for children to fail. Justice, the act of applying wisdom in relationships, is the final virtue cultivated and integrates academic skills with character development.
Teaching Temperance in the Grammar Stage
Temperance, introduced in the grammar stage, teaches self-control and the ability to delay gratification for future rewards. It involves doing what is necessary or right, even if it is not immediately pleasurable. By normalizing risk and failure, parents can create an environment where temperance is practiced. External rewards can also be used to reinforce the concept of delayed gratification and the long-term benefits of self-control.
Cultivating Prudence in Middle Grades
Prudence, the ability to discern the appropriate course of action, develops in the logic stage as children gain life experience and learn to recognize patterns and predict outcomes. Parents can help cultivate prudence by sharing their decision-making processes and asking children questions to encourage critical thinking. Literature discussions can also provide opportunities to explore prudence by analyzing characters' choices and consequences.
Nurturing Courage in Middle School
Courage, the ability to move forward without knowing the outcome, is a virtue that develops during the transition to middle school. Creating an environment where it is safe for children to fail and normalizing risk can help cultivate courage. Middle school is a time when children become more aware of others' reactions, and encouraging them to act despite the fear of failure or judgment helps develop this virtue. Modeling courage and discussing the experiences of characters in literature can also reinforce the concept of courage.
Applying Wisdom in Relationships through Justice
Justice, the virtue of fairness and righteousness, is the culmination of a classical education in the rhetoric stage. It involves applying wisdom to act rightly towards others and is facilitated by a strong sense of self developed through the earlier stages. Parents can help open the space for justice by modeling just behavior, asking questions to prompt critical thinking about relationships, and reinforcing the idea that virtue extends beyond oneself and should positively impact the world.
