EDU Trending: Classics Never Go Out of Style
Today, in classical education, many teachers use the Socratic Method to pose questions about fact-based knowledge that provoke and encourage thought and inquiry, leading to respectful debate and an exchange of ideas.
The result is that students learn to trust their teachers, each other, and themselves. They learn that they have the power to listen, think deeply, be innovative, reach responsible conclusions and solutions, and to admire others for doing the same. They learn that sometimes disagreement can result in new options and opportunities when people are willing to collaborate. And they become confident, independent, well-grounded, authentic, and humble citizens of courage and integrity.
Classical education may be detoured by passing educational fads or sidelined by political ideology. But the classics never truly go out of style. They simply wait to be rediscovered, appreciated. That time is now.
News for Your Views: And Reflection
Liberal Arts, the Humanities, Classical Education – whatever you call it – it is on the way back to a place of honor and choice in universities and colleges, and in K-12 public schools (although it has always been a mainstay in private institutions of learning). Its purpose is to teach students to think and learn independently with a specific focus on the core subjects: Literature, Math, History, and Science.
Underlying this revival is the desire of ordinary people to study politics, but to be done with political ideologies masquerading as educational enlightenment, and their full-throated craving to once again embrace civics and civility, both foundational to classical education.
Some purists believe this means a return to learning that is teacher-directed where students absorb facts and acquire knowledge by rote and notetaking. Others know this is not the case. To stay in vogue, even classics need to update their profile to meet the needs of the times.
How much influence can money and servility buy? Bend the knee to power. Sweeten the pot with money. Whatever the metaphor, tech giants are swearing allegiance to President Donald Trump.
Meet the new American oligarchs. Manservants in waiting. An unlikely and uneasy band of brothers.
It’s a rich man’s world. But where does that leave the rest of us? For a little levity, here is the wonderful ABBA and their 1976 woman’s point of view on power, money, and how to get some of both. You won’t stop smiling.
Note: This lyric video is an update of the 1976 original and official video.
The ultimate dumbing down: ‘Brain Rot.’ Oxford’s 2024 word of the year. More than an overuse of social media, brain rot content aborts learning, creativity, focus, and healthy social interaction. It promotes knee jerk reaction to nonsense words and repetitive memes. It dehumanizes our children and reduces them to helpless creatures. Learn how to combat it here.
Online book sales are soaring. Likewise, sales in the booming sector of Indie bookstores. What is the secret to their success? And why is the newest kid on the Indie block the venerable, Barnes & Noble?What strategic makeover took them from stodgy to cool again?
Question of the Day: Do Not Apply
In 2024 graduate students saw a decline in job hirings for which of the following degrees:
a) M.Ed. (Master of Education)
b) LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)
c) PhD (in Biology/Genetics)
d) MBA (Master of Business Administration)
e) DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy)
For the correct answer, please go to https://www.merleschell.com/blog/the-appeal-of-the-indie-bookstore
From Me to You: A New Beginning?
So, why the references to Fahrenheit 451? Ray Bradbury’s 1953 book (at the height of McCarthyism’s Red Scare) was first seen only as a warning about the danger of a society that controls and corrupts humanity by imposing a culture of ignorance, censorship, and apathy – a numbing of the mind and senses that belies and distracts from the realities, challenges, memories, wonders, and opportunities of our world. Yet the book ends in hope when former book burner Guy Montag joins a group of ‘rebels’ committed to the importance of individuality and the power of knowledge.
We start 2025 with a new administration. Whatever our personal beliefs and political persuasions, we wish them well. We hope they will truly represent ‘we, the people.’ Just as we hope social media and other tech CEOs will police and ban disinformation so that it cannot harm, betray, or control us - especially our children. We hope, and we know that hope is not enough.
Throughout our society is a new awareness that changes must be made. A rise in schools teaching classical education in correlation with parents seeking a return to knowledge-based curriculum explored in a civic-minded culture of learning. Schools where cell phones are not allowed in classrooms and computer technology is used only in service of learning and research. Classrooms where the Pledge of Allegiance has been restored as a reminder that we are one nation indivisible with the right and responsibility to strive toward liberty and justice for all if we so choose. Cities and towns where the local bookstore has become a gathering place that welcomes young and old to stay for a while and commune. Hope is all around, and we are making it reality.
We are not powerless. 2025 is more than a new administration in D.C. More than self-serving tech CEOs. It marks a reawakening of the American psyche. We have the power in ur own hometowns to define the future for our children and ourselves. We feel the urgent freedom to reclaim who we are and how we want to be in the world.
One more thing: This year Unpacking Education will be published quarterly. With the world moving quickly, but change more slowly, we need the perspective of time to better understand and accurately report on issues and trends. I will continue to share the power of positivity and joy, self-love, community, and belonging (which I try to live every day) through the books I write for our children who inspire me and for the adults who love them Thank you. See you in April.