Three Assumptions About Classical Christian Education
Alice Merton鈥檚 catchy lyrics – 鈥淚鈥檝e got no roots, but my home was never on the ground鈥 鈥 may stick in our heads, but they also offer a haunting reflection for many modern schools. Far too often it seems that schools build their foundations not on time-tested truth, but instead on ever-shifting educational trends and jargon. Today it is collaboration and creativity when yesterday it was BYOD; today it is STEAM when yesterday it was STEM. Absent a deeper foundation, absent a clear 鈥渞oot鈥, schools drift, chasing the latest fad rather than standing firm.
Having completed my twelfth year in classical Christian education – my seventeenth as an educator – I still find myself in awe of how deep and rich the classical Christian tradition is, and how impactful the roots of this approach to education are in raising the next generation. While there are many aspects to classical Christian education, I want to point out three core assumptions, once taken for granted, that now stand as distinctives in classical Christian schools. These are some of the deep roots that not only shape classroom practice, but also guard our schools from the instability of fad-chasing education.
At the core of education are questions such as, What is the purpose of education? What is man? What is the good life? Progressive education draws from many cultural sources to answer these questions, if they even acknowledge them as questions pertinent to answer today. Classical Christian education has answered these questions, and the answers are based on these three foundational roots:
- There is a fixed order to the world, and we are to conform to it.
- Education forms the whole person, not just the mind.
- All truth is unified because all truth comes from God.
There is a fixed order to the world, and we are to conform to it. A classical Christian education begins with the conviction that truth is not something we invent, but something we receive. God has ordered His world with moral laws, natural laws, and spiritual laws. While man may build and innovate, there remain immovable realities such as what is true, what is beautiful, and what is good. These immovable realities are not determined by the whims of society or culture; they are eternal truths rooted in the character of God, and therefore imprinted onto the world. We are to conform to it, not conform it to our desires. This assumption radically alters how we teach and what we value.
Education forms the whole person, not just the mind. The goal of education is not college readiness, job skills, or test scores; it is the formation of virtuous human beings who possess wisdom, excellence, and purpose in the modern world. Classical education is rooted in the liberal arts 鈥 not 鈥渓iberal鈥 in the modern political sense but in the classical sense of liberation. A liberal education frees students from ignorance, from vice, and from narrow thinking. Classical Christian schools teach math and science, but always as part of a larger vision: that students might learn to love what is true, to choose what is good, and to delight in what is beautiful. Our students are not data points or future employees; they are image bearers of the living God.
All truth is unified because all truth comes from God. In a classical Christian school, subjects are not isolated silos. Math, literature, history, and science are threads in a single tapestry woven by the hand of God. This unity of truth means we do not teach Bible class for thirty minutes only to move on to the real subjects. Rather, every subject is studied as part of God鈥檚 truth. History leads us to see God鈥檚 providence; science awakens us to wonder at His design; math reflects the order of His mind. When truth is unified, education becomes a coherent whole 鈥 an act of worship.
These three roots are what help drive decisions at classical Christian schools 鈥 they are not add-ons but represent the foundation. While educational trends come and go, classical Christian education remains rooted, drawing nourishment from deep wells of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.
Disclaimer: The above article solely represents the views of the author and does not represent any endorsement or statement by the Academy. Read more here.
