On Classical Education

This entry is devoted to helping parents understand the curriculum and philosophy behind the Classical Education tradition.

The seven liberal arts of classical education are:

The Verbal Arts (Trivium)
1. Grammar
2. Logic
3. Rhetoric

Math Arts (Quadrivium)
4. Arithmetic
5. Music
6. Geometry
7. Astronomy

Historically, western civilization built a system of education (today called Classical Education) that was made into a sequence of two schools; a lower and an upper school. The lower school (formally called the Trivium) was divided into three distinct stages (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) with each stage being applied to all other subject areas. The upper school (formally called the Quadrivium, translated four roads), was more focused in subject matter and built on the foundations learned in the Trivium. More specifically, the Quadrivium was a study of “Math Arts”. This portion of study, while it may have begun during the High School years, was traditionally relegated to the university.

Little if any of the Trivium needs to be tailored or adjusted significantly to our modern society. However, for the Quadrivium, while many of it ideas can be useful, needs to be revamped to meet the demands in our modern economy. The remainder of this post will be devoted to the Trivium. Another post will lend more time to a more modern description of the Quadrivium.

The first stage is Grammar, which is about gathering information. This stage is not limited to “English Grammar,” but is more associated with basic facts and knowledge of any subject matter. All subject areas have basic information that must be grasped before an individual would be able to move on to the next level of competency.

The next level is Logic, or understanding. Once basic facts (or content) are mastered, one must understand how facts relate to one other and affect the whole of the subject. This is the stage where all the questions are asked: who, what, when, how, why, where, to what degree, etc.

Finally, the student is prepared for Rhetoric, which is best described as original thought. Students at this level have mastered the basic facts, understand the relationships, and are ready to take the subject matter to the next level-forming their own personal interpretation or developing new applications. This is where problem solving and creative thinking emerge. In addition to developing these original thoughts, students are expected to be able to express them in a polished, well-conceived written or verbal format.

The Trivium roughly coincides to: Grammar grades K-6, Logic grades 7-9 and Rhetoric grades 10-12, although portions of each can be found integrated at all levels.

Grammar (or Poll-Parrot)

For centuries Classical Education was the standard. All educational institutions in the western world used this approach. About the turn of the last century, educational “fads” began to take over public education and the classical approach became passé. In 1947 a British mystery writer, Dorothy Sayers, wrote a short essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning" in which her major premise was that students/adults no longer knew how to learn. Schools taught in a disjointed, unconnected flow of facts, not giving the students a logical system by which to organize material and absorb it. We recommend this essay; it is brief and insightful. Copies are available in our school library.

Here we will take a closer look at the Grammar stage. Dorothy Sayers refers to this stage as “Poll-Parrot,” because the students love to share what they have learned reciting back, singing little songs and jingles, rhyming words, playing on words as with Doctor Seuss and so on. They have a wonderful ear for words, which gives rise to their ability to pick up a foreign language. The Grammar student memorizes things very easily and quickly, such as math tables, the periodic table, biological classifications, and the Preamble to the Constitution. Anything presented in an interactive, fun method they will learn and love to parrot back. The excitement of learning literally oozes from these children. Our job as educators and parents is to cultivate this passion for learning and not to extinguish it by rushing the student into the next stage.

Logic (or Pert Stage)

In about the seventh grade, the student enters into the Logic, or as Dorothy Sayers would say, the Pert Stage. The student is no longer interested in just learning facts, now he/she wants more. Students want to go deeper into the subject: what, who, where, how, why of a subject. They are no longer content to just know about the Civil War. They want to understand the issues leading up to the firing on Fort Sumter. They want to understand the economics of the war, the state rights issues, and the moral and legal factors that came into play. What was General Lee's strategy at Gettysburg? Why did General Sherman burn everything on his march to the sea? Why did some people hate President Lincoln? As you can see, they ask a lot of questions.

Often times this questioning or, as it may be interpreted, challenging, may come across as being disrespectful. In the hands of a wise teacher the pert stage is very exciting. A teacher must recognize this for what it is; the student has moved on to the next stage and is asking to go deeper. The teacher must respond and change the goals from "the student will know and be able to answer," to "the student will understand and be able to explain." This is not only challenging for the teacher but is extremely rewarding. Students are excited because this is the dawn of a new learning stage that is different, and the teacher is responding to this new demand for additional information. A rich partnership is forged between teacher and student and a new ownership of his/her education is accepted. If this fire is fed properly, students will thirst for new material.

It is during the Logic Stage that a curriculum of formal logic is introduced. This has all but disappeared from today's classrooms. We have established Logic as a formal course in our seventh and eighth grades. The desired outcome is clear: logical thinking and the ability to separate truth from fiction and fact from theory. Students will also discern what does and does not support an issue and what is relevant and is not relevant in making a correct decision.
The also sets TCA apart. Our seventh and eighth graders are doing something that most other students this age in public schools in Colorado will be doing or learning. These are special students, pioneers in raising the standards of education.

Rhetoric (or Poetic Stage)

It is during the Rhetoric Stage, or as Dorothy Sayers would say, the Poetic Stage, that we get our first glimpse of the fruits of our educational efforts. In this stage, students now hopefully express themselves in polished, well thought out, grammatically correct, spoken and written verse. The Rhetoric Stage should demonstrate the subject content from the Grammar Stage and the organized thought process from the Logic Stage and introduce the first signs of mature original thought.

Of all the stages this has to be the most exciting! We are waiting expectantly for our students to bring forth new insights to ordinary subject matter we had previously overlooked. Creative thinking, new approaches to old problems that provide more effective answers, may change the way we think and do things. Remember, creative thinking, problem solving, and new applications do not spring forth from a void but come from the foundation of content and organized thought (grammar and logic).

It is here, for the first time, that students are able and allowed to begin the process of specializing in subject matter of their interests. This does not promote the total elimination of social studies from the science/math student or visa versa. Nor does it permit the students to ignore the finer points of the spoken and written word. But, if a student's interest and ability lies either in the math/science or the liberal arts areas, an emphasis in that area is encouraged.

The Rhetoric Stage climaxes with graduation to the Quadrivium.