Category Archives: CiRCE Links

“One of the greatest needs in classical Christian education today is a chorus of voices who are willing to boldly speak against the modern corporate values, ethics, aesthetics, iconography, and strategies that are constantly demanding entrance into our schools. Leadership isn’t a virtue. Community isn’t a virtue. Teamwork isn’t a virtue. Soft capitulation to suchContinue reading “How To Give A Lecture At A Summer Conference”

“Regardless of their subject, teachers need to read fiction about children who are the same age as their students. Teachers who don’t read enough fiction about youth can quickly come to believe ‘kids used to be different—better,’ which will lead the teacher to despise his students. Fiction about youth corrects the pretentions of a teacherContinue reading “Every Teacher Should Read Fiction”

“Our distaste for courage is born of sentimentalism, the belief that it is never right to ask or force others to endure emotional discomfort. Given that the Lord teaches ‘no discipline is pleasant,’ and Solomon teaches ‘with much knowledge comes much sorrow,’ sentimentalists and honest educators are necessarily on a collision course.”  -from my latestContinue reading “Teaching Courage In A Sentimental Age”

“A classical education is a place for remedy, medicine, balm, ointment, and healing. It is a confessional booth. If a classical school is a place for therapy, then it is a place for learning to walk again after a car crash, not a place for a psychiatrist’s couch. It is a place for people whoContinue reading “A Classical Education Requires Humility, Not Brilliance”

“Of all sentient beings, humans are unique in this: once spiritually broken, they can be repaired. Like angels, man may fall. Like animals, man may die. But unlike angels and animals, between the falling and the dying, a human being may be restored to God. A classical education is the education that naturally follows fromContinue reading “Only Man Can Be Healed”

I’m On A Roll This Time, the latest episode of Proverbial, begins a run of shows devoted to the sayings of Boethius. First up: “Bad fortune is of more use to men than good fortune.”

“A Presbyterian teacher should sound like a Presbyterian, not ‘a Christian.’ A Lutheran teacher should sound like a Lutheran, not ‘a Christian.’ An ecumenical school must be on guard to not create an image of ‘a Christian’ for students which is generic, vague, non-committal, and more concerned for diplomacy than truth. I would rather myContinue reading “Gutsy Ecumenicalism”

“As a philosophy teacher, I think coaches have it pretty good. Coaches never struggle to convey the importance of their work. Because the work of coaches is more important than the work of teachers, coaches are allowed to speak to students passionately, realistically, and without sentimentality. Part of the reason kids take sports seriously isContinue reading “We Need Fewer Philosophy Teachers And More Philosophy Coaches”

“Last month, I told my sophomores, “You have written enough for me this year. Let me write something for you.” And so we hashed out a deal where, on the appointed day, the class would give me four essay prompts, I would choose one and write a 1000 word essay in response during class. OfContinue reading “A Guide To Dating In High School”