None of us has arrived when it comes to classical education. We are all laboring to cultivate truth and wisdom. As we continue to recover our own educations, we purpose to share our edification with you.
“…parents are not simply seeking education freedom: They are, in increasing numbers, seeking an education for freedom for their children—a classical liberal arts education that aims to form adults capable of understanding, exercising, and protecting their American rights and responsibilities. This report constitutes an inquiry into that model of education by surveying the growing number of classical liberal arts schools committed to it.”
Luther revolutionized education in the 16th century, and his wisdom continues to ring true for Lutheran education today. As we recall and are fortified by the kind of learning which Luther advocated, we will provide a legacy which will nurture the blessings of Lutheran education and impact both the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and our culture.
Christians Are To Be Taught
Microschools: Meeting a Need and Fulfilling a Mission
Parents are seeking educational choice as modern education thwarts parental desires and ignores children’s needs. Many LCMS churches – even with a small quantity of children or a limited amount of space – can begin a microschool and serve the educational needs of their congregation and the broader community. Lutheran education is a generational investment with eternal consequences.
“It is easy to be unaware of the premises underlying educational theories and practices, the assumptions that quietly creep into our thinking and impact our actions. Understandably, as we apply ourselves to the day-to-day duties of teaching, learning and living, it can be challenging to identify where ideas and activities in opposition to our faith have stealthily saturated our pedagogy… In today’s turbulent, unmoored culture, Lutherans have a profound opportunity to enrich our already fruitful schools with faith-nourishing, biblically grounded pedagogy.”
Reaffirming the Tenets of Lutheran Learning
The Threefold Purpose of Lutheran Education
Within Lutheran education, “we dare not lose sight of what we are about, what we are aiming to do and accomplish, and why. How we go about serving those purposes and reaching those goals will certainly vary to some extent from place and to place, depending on a host of circumstances, but the solid intentions of a Lutheran education remain steady and consistent and ought to undergird all of our practice.”
“In no small part because of their timeless appeal, classical schools are becoming increasingly attractive in the United States, and they have the potential to reach a broad cross-section of the school-age population. Below, the matrix sets forth six key differentiators that characterize classical schools in contrast to other academic philosophies. In our review of various academic approaches, these differentiators set classical schools apart from any other schools in the elementary and secondary education landscape.”
Market Analysis of U.S. Classical Education in Grades PK-12
Classical Education Is Taking Off. What’s the Appeal?
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“Classical education has seen remarkable growth in recent years. Since the pandemic, hundreds of new classical schools have opened. Across the nation, it’s estimated that there are around 1,000 classical schools in operation today. These schools have tapped into a population of families attracted to their “back to the future” emphasis on the great books, traditional virtues, and the foundations of Western civilization. But it’s not always clear what this translates to in terms of pedagogy or practice. What’s driving the appeal? What’s happening in these classrooms? And where does this model fit in the educational landscape?”
“Everything we do is a confession…The world presents many opportunities that shift our attention, invert our priorities, and lead us into disorder and sin. Even within the broad spectrum of American Christianity, much of the music, lyrics and common jargon can elicit disorder…While God’s ways are always orderly, in this sinful earthly life worldly and even avowedly Christian influences can bring disorder to our lives. As we daily battle the devil, the world and our flesh, the church ought to aid in spiritual and temporal living, not create more chaos. One of the potent ways the church can resist disorder and chaos is through the liturgy.”
Liturgy Brings Order to Our Disorder
Classical Education Is The Best Defense Against Dysfunctional AI-Infested Schools
Modern academia advocates education purely for labor, ignoring purposes beyond wage-earning. Few argue that poverty is desirable. Yet everyone knows purchasing power alone does not fully enrich life.
Classical education pursues higher aims, opposing the modern view. When greater goals are pursued, subordinate goals are also attained.
Education is soul-work, not mere preparation for employment, affluence, and entertainment. As classical education shifts the focus of education back where it belongs, it becomes an increasingly large target for progressives.
Schools That Teach The Classics Instead Of Marxism See Exponential Growth
Classical Education: Timely, Timeless, and Tried-and-True
To what end, and how, should we educate our children? As our fragmented culture struggles to find answers to this question, classical education is timeless in its value and efficacy, and timely in its application. While society focuses on utilitarian training, classical education is a model for raising and equipping future generations.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” Cast your mind’s eye on the vision it evokes for a moment: a man leading his thirsty horse to water, knowing that the horse must drink in order to function and flourish – even to survive – but being unable to force the horse to take what it needs.
This is a metaphor for education…
Children Who Thirst
Educating Men with Chests: Climbing Parnassus
“Mount Parnassus…came to embody those things which man, at his best, wishes—and ought to wish—to achieve…”
Education today focuses on vocational training to prepare citizens for jobs—work that is productive with respect to community, personally beneficial, and financially rewarding. We live, however, in a time in which these expectations are being bitterly disappointed…
What is classical education? Who has the authority to define it and categorize it? What is its purpose and what should its outcomes look like?
These questions frequently circulate in classical circles, and, at first, it may appear that such debate is a mark against classical education. In reality, that which we argue about the most heatedly is likely to be of profoundest value and profit – even if we sometimes get stuck wrangling over details…
Wrestling with Classical Education
People Are The Point
Could there be a primary criterion used to best evaluate the educational vision, methods, and curricula for students? Surrounded as we are by a multitude of approaches, programs, and techniques – all clamoring for our time, attention, and purchasing power – we need to focus on one vital truth: People are the point…
Classical Consulting 