.png)
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Aristotle
As a person with an age gap of twelve years to my older siblings, my parents had the chance to choose to change the way my younger sister and I were educated. They chose classical education for us. My older sisters went to public school and they would talk about their student councils, games, and other things of the public school experience. This made me slightly envious of their schooling, until a few years later, I realized what classical learning was. Now I would not change it for the world.
Classical learning allows us to see the world in a different view, away from the colorful distractions of the front page. It shows that there is so much more behind everything we learn. It teaches children to love learning, the good behind each subject, and encourages students to take chances to express themselves and voice their beliefs.
In the classical learning process there are three equal foundations: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. During the grammar process, children learn by repeating an example like how to get home from a separate destination. You learn directions by repetition. There are many things like this that we learn by repeating over and over again.
The second is logic. It is used in the later stages of life when children often have developed a love for arguing. Logic allows them to cultivate their arguments into comprehensive thoughts, understandable ideas, and something that can help them and others understand what the core of their argument is.
Lastly is rhetoric. This is the art of self-expression, which grants children, teens, and adults the opportunity to share their ideas with the world. It's the art of presenting ideas in a way that can help and influence others.
A noteworthy part of classical education is the appreciation of educators. The art of classical education requires the love of learning. Studies that are taught were fabricated by eminent philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Men like these are great influencers to this learning style. To be influenced by such people, fellow lovers of learning, gives eye-opening insight into why this was formed, and shows major differences in how they viewed the world then compared to how we do today. Learning from those who lived before us is the only true way to educate. Instead of reading from a textbook that was written five years ago, we are given the great gift of learning from people that have learned hundreds or thousands of years ago.
Now you're most likely wondering what has this to do with the importance of classical education. Well, to answer your question, the importance is that the classical approach doesn't scare young learners by the "importance" of their test scores, or the fear of “ falling behind”. Classical learning shows young learners how to become virtuous leaders. It gives the opportunity for each child to flourish in their individual or unique talents, instead of mainstream learning systems where their gifts are looked over and ignored. It shows them how to love and allows them to learn how to learn. Many children don’t have this opportunity, and therefore don’t seem to reach their full potential.
We live in a fast-paced world, but the ways of classical learning gives each child understanding of their own unique way of learning and the ability to love and lead. The focus is not on reaching a "standard", it is on surpassing the boundaries to each individual's understanding....learning on their own level without fear of being "left behind". Classical learning goes far beyond the limits of any other learning system. The importance of classical learning is learning in love.
Comments