Classical Education

About Our GuestJarrid Looney was born and raise in southwestern Virginia until 2004. He then attended Berea College, from whence he graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s in Theatre and Classical Civilizations. He attended Royal Holloway, University of London for his Master’s Degree and Doctorate of Philosophy in Classics. Dr. Looney has taught English, History, Spanish, Latin, and a plethora of electives. He currently serves as Millennium Charter Academy's Upper School Director. In his free time, Dr. Looney enjoys hiking, fishing, camping, cooking, gardening, and reading. He enjoys all of his hobbies with his wife, Erin, and their children.Show NotesIn this episode, Trae and Dr. Looney discuss how to reimagine education through the lense of Scholé. If you want to understand what is at the heart of a humane education both for students and teachers, this episode will inspire you to embrace scholé as the foundation of a beautiful education. Dr. Looney gives an anechdote of applying scholé in an AP history and literature class while applying the phases of the trivium into the lessons. Dr. Looney emphasizes that the pedagogy and schedule of a school reflect its anthropological position. Administrators need to establish the culture and carefully consider blocks of time for each class in order to lay the proper foundation for scholé. Some Topics and Ideas in this Episode Include: Definition and application of scholéWhat is labor and how do we work with joy?How does this philosophical idea of scholé work practically in the classroom with students?What makes real culture and how do cultivate good culture in our learning environment?How does the school administration invite the school faculty into this way of living?Resources and Books Mentioned / Referenced Season 1 Episode 11 on May 6, 2023 Episode with Dr. Gary Hartenburg on Aristotelian Education Aristotle: Education for Virtue and Leisure published by Classical Adademic Press.Leisure the Basis of Culture by Josef PieperThe Devil in the White City by Erik LarsonJohn Senior's 1,000 Good BooksThe Restoration of Christian Culture by John SeniorThe Magician's NephewThe HobbitThe Dead Poet's SocietyOn-line Courses with Beautiful Teaching Consultants: https://beautifulteaching.coursestorm.com/_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★

About Our GuestDiana Cunningham is the founding headmistress of Lindisfarne Hall, a classical Anglican school in Fernandina Beach, Florida.   Learn more about the good work going on at this school at https://www.lindisfarnehall.com.  NotesIn this episode, Diana Cunningham shares with Trae how a homeschool resource center at a church turned into a full-scale classical Christian school.  From a very young age, Diana was touched by the importance of atmosphere within places of education. Now that she serves as a school headmistress, she can intentionally nurture an atmosphere informed by classical principles, aimed at beauty, and structured by tradition and worship.    Some Topics and Ideas in this Episode Include: Creating an Atmosphere Worthy of 10,000 Hours of a Student’s Classroom Life How Academics Can Create Tunnel Vision Designing a School Schedule as a Christian Oasis Incorporating a Contemplation Period (An Unexpected Student Favorite) How Non-Churched Students Fall in Love With Traditional English Hymns The Faculty is the School The Church as an Authority Learning by Listening to Church Bells The “Hidden Curriculum” Charlotte Mason’s Principals of Education “Socratic Narration” Teaching History with Primary Sources Avoiding Workbooks (How to “Keep the Words in their Habitat”)Initiating Teachers into the Philosophy of Classical Education The Limitations of the Scientific Method The Church Calendar and the Life of the School Sorting Students into Houses (Yes, like Harry Potter)  The Lives of the Saints Resources Mentioned / ReferencedRead More about the Classical Approach at Lindisfarne Hall HereFind Academic Plans and Sample Reading Lists Here Get a Peak into the Life of the School on Facebook On-line Courses with Beautiful Teaching Consultants: https://beautifulteaching.coursestorm.com/_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★

About our GuestKaren Glass is part of the Advisory of AmblesideOnline. She has four children, ages 13 to 27, who have been homeschooled using Charlotte Mason’s methods from beginning to end.  Karen has been studying and writing about Charlotte Mason and Classical Education for over twenty years and has written the popular books Consider This: Charlotte Mason and The Classical Tradition,  Know and Tell: The Art of Narration, In Vital Harmony, and her newest book A Thinking Love: Studies from Charlotte Mason's Home Education. Online Consulting and Courses with KarenKaren also serves as a consultant for our podcast support team, Beautiful Teaching: Consulting in Classical Education.She leads a book study for our listeners through our online sessions. Click the links to register for her online Book StudiesJanuary, 2023- Norms & NobilityMarch, 2023- Know & Tell: The Art of Narration _______________________________Show NotesKaren has lead book studies with Norms & Nobility in the past and is well-versed in this seminal book. We discuss why this book is so important and what exactly Hicks is inferrring with his title. We discuss Adrienne's favorite passage in the book and how it impacts our teaching methods.  Resources and Books & Mentioned In This EpisodeNorms & Nobility by David HicksConsider This by Karen GlassPlato's RepublicAbolition of Man by C.S. LewisFor the Children's Sake by Susan Sshaeffer-MacauleyHow Then Shall We Live? by Francis SchaefferA Philosophy of Education by Charlotte MasonOn-line Courses with Beautiful Teaching Consultants: https://beautifulteaching.coursestorm.com/_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★

About Our Guest "Autumn Kern is a wife, mother, and keeper of an actual commonplace book. When she was twenty-one, she sat under a tree with a man who told her the woman he married would homeschool his children. Handsome as he was, she didn’t anticipate being that woman, but here she is with three little ones in tow, and, as in all God’s providential ways, it has been the greatest gift" (TheCommonplacePodcast.com). Autumn writes, produces, and hosts The Commonplace Podcast and Youtube channel.Consider joining a community of Charlotte Mason mother teachers (and Trae) and supporting Autumn's work through Patreon here. NotesIn this episode, Autumn Kern shares with Trae some of her journey from discovering classical education through an internet quiz taken on a lark to becoming someone who delights in reading Plato and Aristotle and putting into practice the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. While Autumn has grown in knowledge and reading abilities, she has not lost touch with the common things of life, including common people. If anything, she finds joy in being a "common mom" called to join The Great Conversation, share in fine culture, and relate rightly to all things in the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. And better yet, she gets to share all that with Mr. Kern and their little kernels. Some Topics and Ideas in this Episode Include: What if Education Was Not Utilitarian? Charlotte Mason's Place Within the Classical Tradition Responding to the Herbartian "Mind Bucket"Synthetic Knowledge Before Analytical Knowledge Charlotte Mason's Principal #4: "Authority is not a license to abuse children, or to play upon their emotions or other desires, and adults are not free to limit a child's education or use fear, love, power of suggestion, or their own influence over a child to make a child learn."How What you Motivate With is What You Motivate Towards Moving Backwards Into the Future Searching for "Marks of Authenticity" Solving Problems and Sanctification Through MarriageAvoiding Sin in the Pursuit of IdealsWonder Working Mothers (Doing What's Best for Children)Resources and Books Mentioned / Referenced Grove City CollegeThe CiRCE Institute's Definition of Classical Education Norms and Nobility by David Hicks The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis Confessions by St. Augustine Institutes of Oratory by Quintillian On the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius  Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport Jason Barney on Charlotte Mason and the Liberal Arts Tradition Margarita Mooney Clayton on John DeweySean Johnson on Technology in the Home Joshua Gibbs on The Teacher Who Points Karen Glass Brandy Vincel Heidi White   ★ Support this podcast ★

About Our GuestMargarita Mooney Suarez (Clayton)* is an Associate Professor in the Department of Practical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. She founded The Scala Foundation in 2016 and continues to serve as Scala’s Executive Director. Scala Foundation’s vision is to restore meaning and purpose to American culture by focusing on the intersection of artists (culture creators), liberal arts education, and religion (liturgy, personal prayer, theology).NotesIn this episode, Trae and Margarita Mooney Suarez (Clayton) take a closer look at the philosophical underpinning of modern education. The late American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey maintains a massive influence on how contemporary schools and families think about learning and the role of the school and its teachers. Dewey’s philosophy of education, while seemingly positive on some points, is ultimately grounded in the denial of the spiritual needs of students and a rejection of tradition. As a result, Dewey's views have contributed to the rise of beliefs and practices that effectively turn teachers into little more than bureaucratic therapeutic reformers, cut off from tradition with little to no approaches to teaching outside the scientific method applied across subjects. Today, most schools strip students of traditional beliefs and practices and expect them to build a future on no sure foundation. If we want to undo the influence of Dewey and restore a common unity between the church, the household, and the school, we will need some help. Enter Jacques Maritain and Luigi Giussani. * Margarita married David Clayton after this recording and now shares his last name.  Some topics and ideas in this episode include:Deep Rot in Our Education System The Influence of Philosophy on Education Jacques Maritain and Luigi Giussani's Concerns with John Dewey Teachers as Beuarocratic Therapeutic ReformersTruth and The Scientific Method   All Education as Moral Education The Freedom to Choose What’s Right Teaching as an Art Common Unity Between Household, Church, and School  Tradition and Authority Deconstruction, Questioning, and Scepticism Resources and Books & Mentioned In This EpisodeAfter Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyreA Common Faith by John Dewey Letters to a Young Education Reformer by Frederick M. HessThe Crisis of Western Education by Christopher DawsonThe Burnout Society by Byung-Chul HanEducation at the Crossroads by Jacques MaritainThe Risk of Education: Discovering Our Ultimate Destiny by Luigi Giussani Margarita’s Foundation and Books SCALA Foundation The Acton Institute 28th Anniversary SpeechThe Love of Learning: Seven Dialogues on the Liberal Arts The Wounds of Beauty: Seven Dialogues on Art and Education_________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Used with permission. cellists: Sara Sant' Ambrogio and Lexine Feng; pianist: Alyona Waldo  © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★

About our GuestsDax Stokes is the host of the award-winning podcast "The Vampire Historian," and a frequent lecturer on the topics of Dracula and vampire folklore. As an academic librarian in the North Texas area, he has organized two symposia on vampire studies featuring scholars from across the United States. His published works on Dracula can be found in IndieJudge Magazine, the Fantastika Journal, Vamped.org, and at thevampirehistorian.com. Melissa Smith-Lauro is a corporate writer and content strategist who taught literature & composition at the university level for eight years. She’s the indefatigable mother of four sons who play baseball and attend in-person classes at the Flint Academy in Arlington, TX, and online classes with Miss Esther’s Integrated Homeschool Curriculum through the Classical Learning Resource Center. For fun, she works with local creatives to produce collaborative, beautiful, story-driven multimedia children’s content. Melissa is a proponent of Charlotte Mason principles, classical education content, and Montessori education methods. She is a gentle parenting enthusiast and an advocate for ADHD and autism awareness, accommodation, and inclusion in classical schools. Show NotesTrae and Adrienne invited Dax and Melissa to discuss the two most famous monsters in gothic fiction literature, Frankenstein and Dracula. The big ideas in these classics help us wrestle with what it means to be a human being through exploring the rich stories of these two monsters. What is a monster, and why should we read these books? Should students in classical schools read them? Join us as we explore these two famous monsters and their authors.Be sure to check out The Vampire Historian podcast with Dax Stokes too! Movies MentionedDracula (1992) The Coppola Version- Portrays all forms of DraculaGothic: Movie with Julian Sands and ShelleyMary Shelley’s FrankensteinCount Dracula: BBC 70’s version with Louis JourdanThe Search of Dracula: documentaryDracula Dead and Loving It (Mel Brooks and Leslie Nielson)Nofaratu (destroyed from law suit)Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder (a Mel Brooks film)YouTube on Albertus Magnus, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Robot Books mentioned1818 version of Frankenstein1831 version of FrankensteinTransylvanian Superstitions by Emily GerardIn Search of Dracula: The History of Dracual and vampires The Icelandic Dracula , 1901 - Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula by Bram StokerSwedish version of Dracula  - not translated into English yetVarney the Vampire (Penny Dreadfuls)The Vampire Book (Now the Vampire Almanac)Dr. John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819)_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian PhilharmonicSpecial Music: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 561; Public Domain classics sourced from the: https://archive.org/. © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved  ★ Support this podcast ★

About Our GuestFerdi McDermott studied Languages at Edinburgh University before a decade in Catholic publishing in London. In 2002 he founded Chavagnes International College, an international Catholic school for boys (www.chavagnes.org). He now combines leadership of the school with a lectureship in English literature at the Vendée Catholic university, ICES (www.ices.fr). He is pursuing a doctorate in Education through the University of Buckingham.NotesIn this episode, Adrienne and Trae join Headmaster Ferdi Mcdermott on a journey through the French countryside and into the historic site of a Roman villa turned thirteenth-century monastery, turned junior seminary now operating as a Catholic boarding school for boys that offers a classical Christian education for students from all over the world. To support this good work, please visit their website here. Some topics and ideas in this episode include:Living and Teaching in a Place with a Long History Teaching and Modeling Physical, Intellectual, and Spiritual Virtues The Key Role of the Chapel in the Life of a School The History of Classical Education in Europe The Influence of Ancient Egypt on Education Traditional Catholic Education  What Makes a Good Teacher? Why Should Teachers Sing to Their Students? Resources and Books & Mentioned In This EpisodeLetters to Captains by Andre Charlier Godliness and Good Learning by David Newsome John Senior on the cultural soil being depleted “The Twelves Virtues of a Good Teacher” by Br. Agathon  The National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS)“Lay Catholics in Schools” by The Sacred Congregation of Catholic Education “The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium” by The Sacred Congregation of Catholic Education “Divini Illius Magistri” by Pope Pius XIFerdi’s Favorite Quote (Corrected):“To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”- St. John Henry Newman Don’t miss Mr. McDermott singing a hymn in honor of St. John Henry Newman at the end! Please Support us on Patreon._________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved  ★ Support this podcast ★

About our Guest: Dr. Matthew Post Assistant Professor of Humanities and Associate Director, Saint Ambrose Center for Catholic Liberal Education and Culture at the University of Dallas. He has spent his career teaching the Great Books of the Western tradition, having worked in Canada, Japan and Slovakia in addition to the U.S. In the Slovak Republic, he had the privilege to build a Great Books program at a school whose mission was to renew classical education after decades of communist rule had obscured the country’s history and traditions. His research explores how best to understand and promote virtue, service and leadership through education. His academic interests include the ancient Greeks, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, the Enlightenment, the American Founding and German Idealism.Show NotesThe art of teaching encompasses freedom which allows for students to rest in a state of wonder. If we allow students to enjoy the ideas that they are learning, it captures the essence of teaching with beauty as the center of the lesson. Beauty is not just about a master teacher conducting a symphony, but about all the teachers and the spirit of the school working in community because beauty has form and unity. As Dr. Post unpacks the transcendentals (truth, goodness, and beauty). He explains that If a soul is disordered, the “good” helps to reorder the soul in order to know beauty. Dr. Post also explores where order comes from. The activity of making sense of an idea leads us to commune with or engage with truths that are unchanging. He builds upon these ideas and how they operate through good teaching. The episode closes discussing the importance of the poetic Homer texts, and how they point us towards what true forgiveness looks like. Some topics in this episode include:What is beauty? and How did the Greeks approach beauty through poetry?What are the transcendentals?How does formation help students to recognize beauty?How do teachers balance The True, The Good, and The Beautiful in classroom instruction?How does constraining or forcing, The True, The Good, and The Beautifu affect a student when they go out into the world?The Greek importance of Kalos Agothas (kalokagathos) for the attainment of virtue through a genuine submission to truth.Approaching education with a spirit of reverence for truth to lay a foundation in beauty.Books & Resources In This EpisodeThe Ethics of Beauty by Timothy PatitsasThe Iliad and The Odyssey by HomerPlatonic Texts:The RepublicTimaeusThe SymposiumFavorite Quote & A book that is neglected: Quote: "I have kissed the hands that slew my children" - HomerA neglected work that is worth looking at: The Captives (a play about slavery) by a Roman comedian, PlautusPlease Support us on Patreon_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★

About Our Guest Daniel Olushola is the founder and former headmaster of Reformation Wall School. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Covenant University and was trained in Business Management and Entrepreneurship by African Management Initiate (AMI), Kenya, and Global Business Foundation, Nigeria.Daniel Olushola is reforming education in Nigeria. What started as a small gathering in a two-bedroom apartment has grown into a thriving classical Christian school in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.In our interview, we observed that Daniel constantly uses one phrase throughout our conversation: "I'm still learning."  We are delighted that Daniel and his staff have taken on the task of learning and bringing classical education to their part of the world. We hope you are encouraged by hearing the story of Reformation Wall School. Please visit the school's website here if you want to see more and support this good work.Some topics and ideas in this episode include:The state of education (materially and philosophically) in NigeriaHow discovering a Youtube video about a classical Christian school in the states encouraged Daniel to investigate classical education for his own country The importance of educating virtuous human beingsThe joys of reading great books like The Iliad and Plato's Republic for the first time as an adult The universality of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Charlotte Mason and "living books" Resources Mentioned In This EpisodeThe Rafiki Foundation If you want to support the work at Reformation Wall School, please consider sponsoring a student. Read more about how to become a sponsor here. If you would like to discuss sending books, supplies, or other means of support, please contact Reformation Wall School through their website here. Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★

About our Guest: Dr. Angel Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology and senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia.  Her area is historical sociology, where she engages in research and writing that examine the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely for the future.  Her research and teaching are inspired by classical philosophies of living and learning that emphasize the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. She shares this love of history and of classical learning through Nyansa Classical Community, an educational non-profit focused on K-12 students which provides lower and upper school curricula in the humanities to schools and homeschools. Parham is the author The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature, published with Classical Academic Press (2022). She is also the President of the Board of Academic Advisors for the Classic Learning Test (CLT) which takes an approach to academic testing that seeks to reconnect knowledge and virtue.  Parham completed her B.A. in sociology at Yale University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.If you would like to volunteer or write for Nyansa Classical Community, email Angel. Angel.Adams.Parham@Gmail.com or visit Nyansa Classical Community here.  Show NotesDr. Paham discusses her Christian outreach through Nyansa Classical Community (a non-profit Classical after-school program).  Nyansa works alongside schools to help them give beautiful classical texts in public schools for the children who stay for after-school care. We also dive into the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois in the eduation of African-Americans.  We also discuss "What is a liberal arts eduation and why does it matter?" The origins of "liberal" means that it is freeing and to truly flourish. Some topics in this episode include:Why Homer is important for all students and to help develop good foundations for understanding a virtue-based learning environmentWhat is the African-American tradition?The education debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du BoisWhy a liberal arts education casts a vision for the future and why it matters. Anna Julia Cooper's impact on the tradition of African-American educationWhat is the true heritage of the African-American education in The United States? The grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages according to the essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning" by Dorothy Sayers. What is the black intellectual tradition? The importance of learning languages from other cultures to fully explore other cultures and their literatureBooks In This EpisodeThe Iliad and The Odyssey by HomerSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonOmeros by Derek WalcottUp From Slavery by Booker T. WashingtonMusicans in the Black TraditionJoseph BologneOpera CréoleBook she wishes she had read earlierThe Republic by PlatoPlease Support us on Patreon_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2022 Beautiful Teaching. All Rights Reserved ★ Support this podcast ★