What is Classical Education?
Augustine School believes a classical education can be generally summarized in the following way:
1. The centrality of reading and words
A classical education puts a high premium on the written and spoken word. This is appropriate, since the God of Scripture has chosen to speak to us through words. Thus, we emphasize an education in which both the written and spoken word are central.
2. The centrality of a telos ("goal")
A classical education towers above its modern counterparts, in that classical education had a genuine goal, or “telos.” The goal of classical education was the formation of a certain type of person—a wise and virtuous person. As Christians we construe this goal in a more distinctively Christian way. The goal of education is the formation of a wise and virtuous and Christian person, who has learned “to take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10).
3. The centrality of the past
A classical education puts a significant emphasis on the past, not because the past is sacrosanct, or because people were infallible in the past, but because we learn from the past, and to be educated means to be grounded in one’s own intellectual inheritance. As C.S. Lewis has written, “The educated man habitually, almost without noticing it, sees the present as something that grows out of a long perspective of centuries.” Also, by paying attention to the past, our modern blinders are at least partially removed, and we are able to see and understand our own age more clearly.
4. The centrality of the classical languages
A classical education includes a retrieval of the languages of classical antiquity—Greek and Latin. Perhaps the most important reason to study such languages is simply that they are the languages of our cultural inheritance, and to be educated means to understand and know one’s past. The study of Greek and Latin are also worthy of our attention because through the study of these languages, we learn our own language and its grammar more thoroughly, our critical and logical thinking skills are honed, our English vocabulary improves, and our abilities in other areas such as math improve immensely.
5. The centrality of rigorous thinking, speaking and writing
A classical education is dedicated to forming students who think, speak and write well. A truly excellent education should result in students who think well, and who communicate well, whether through the spoken or written word. Whether in debate, or in letters meant to persuade, or in various leadership positions, a classical education prepares students who can present themselves in a winsome and eloquent manner.