Progressivism Is Incompatible With Classical Learning
At long last, classical education might finally become mainstream in the U.S. After so many years of classical schools’ successes versus the many decades of progressive public schools’ failures, The New York Times deigned to publish an essay in favor of the classical model. In it, writer James Traub notes how Eagle Ridge Academy, a charter school in a suburb of Minneapolis, has been reviving classical virtues, assigning books from the Western canon, and thriving as a result.
Unfortunately, Traub is not an educator, but an unapologetic leftist boomer whose last experience of a K-12 classroom was during the Vietnam War. He has no problem basing his whole argument on a singular observation made in one class at one school. As such, his analysis is utterly superficial — missing the forest for the trees — and comes away with the wrong conclusion.
As a high school English teacher at a public school who has his own children enrolled in a classical charter school, I can attest that the first thing to look for in a good school is its actual pedagogy, not the vibes it gives to visitors. For instance, while Traub marvels at a thoughtful discussion over a scene in the Aeneid, he never bothers to check how the students are assessed on the book, nor does he consider just how much harder the Roman epic is to read than the typical fare served up at public schools. In my experience, most public school teachers today don’t assign books at all (opting instead for short passages and excerpts) and avoid objectively testing kids on their reading (opting instead for group projects).
Although he cheerfully notes some of the student work in the halls showing a concern for modern-day issues like the environment, at no point does Traub stop to wonder what the technology policy is at the school or whether kids need to have hall passes. At most classical schools, the rules are strict and simple: no technology at any time and remain in class as much as possible. At most public schools, it’s the complete opposite: kids are nearly always on technology (school-issued and personal), and many of them loiter in the halls with impunity. Basic safety, class disruptions, and chronic distraction are always challenges for even the “good public schools.”
Discipline
Most importantly, Traub never thinks to ask what happens to kids who do not follow the rules at Eagle Ridge Academy. Are they invited to sit in a circle with their teachers, counselors, administrators, and a few peers so that they can talk about their struggles with meeting expectations? Are they sent right back to class after being referred to an administrator for discipline? Do they get infinite extra chances if they are the right racial minority or play the right sport? Because all these responses are quite popular at public schools.
If Eagle Ridge is like other classical charters, they likely have a demerit system that eventually ends with repeat offenders being expelled. It obviously helps that their students apply to go to their school and must accept these rules beforehand. This allows administrators and teachers to demand better conduct and more academic effort. If any of it seems too difficult or unfair, families can send their children to the neighborhood public schools, which will do everything possible to accommodate their deficiencies.
Altogether, the rules, expectations, and disciplinary consequences largely determine a school’s culture and values. Because classical schools like Eagle Ridge can force their students to wear uniforms, read the Aeneid, and have civil debates, and can kick them out if they refuse to cooperate, they can then have them seriously consider the classical virtues of “wisdom, justice, courage and temperance.”
Christian Values
However, it’s all too common for progressives like Traub to ignore this essential framework for an orderly civilized school and assume its success has everything to do with the messaging. If young people are sufficiently indoctrinated with the proper combination of approved values, they will then apply themselves in the classroom and become upstanding individuals. Better still, these values are not necessarily Christian or conservative, so leftists who read The New York Timescan promote them with a clear conscience.
But actions speak louder than words, and when it comes to classical education, those actions are most definitely Christian and conservative. Holding kids accountable, stressing agency and personal responsibility, honoring the Western tradition, and implementing a meritocracy are all Christian conservative priorities even if educators avoid citing Bible verses and parables from the Gospels. On the flip side, erasing standards, flouting tradition, and making excuses all in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion are part and parcel of secular progressivism.
Reform
It therefore follows that in order to reform public schooling and thereby ensure that “every future American citizen would receive an education like the one they get at Eagle Ridge,” every school district will have be entirely transformed from the inside out. In practical terms, administrators would have to administer discipline, teachers would have to teach content, and students would have to study and behave. Disruptors and distractions would have to be removed. Leftist ideology and gimmicky progressive pedagogy (i.e., project-based learning, standards-based grading, social-emotional learning, etc.) would be replaced by conservative sensibilities and tried-and-true traditional pedagogy (i.e., direct instruction, objective assessments, allowing failure, etc.).
Then, and only then, could excellence and virtue ethics truly take root, not just because students see it on the walls or have a conversation about it, but because they are already applying it every day in their lives.
Moreover, it would require honesty about the problems plaguing schools today, which seems to be a real struggle for most progressives. Perhaps they know that ensuring a quality classical education for all American students is only possible if they are willing to ditch John Dewey’s failed progressive model and admit that conservatives and Christians might have been right about education all along.
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