Human Flourishing: The Goal of Education

Merry Christmas!

Hello and welcome to A True Good Beautiful Life. I am your host, Jennifer Milligan and this podcast explores the ideas and practices of a Charlotte Mason and Classical Education. Today I am treated to a fascinating conversation with the Dean of Templeton Honors College, Dr. Brian Williams. We will discuss the telos or purpose of education and how to incorporate seven different areas of formation in the lives of our students (as well as ourselves) to promote long-term human flourishing.

The areas of formation include the Intellectual, Moral, Aesthetic, Spiritual, Physical, Practical, and Social. Dr. Williams takes each one and discusses what question they each ask, the end goal for each one, the means or virtue to acquire to accomplish the end goal, the vices to overcome for each area, and finally the danger that arises if one pursues this area of formation exclusively.

 

The Seven Areas of Formation (and some suggested readings):

1. Intellectual (the Bible, Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy, Calvin's Institutes, Kevin Clark & Ravi Jain's The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education, Josef Pieper's An Anthology, Devin O'Donnell's The Age of Martha: A Call to Contemplative Learning in a Frenzied Culture, Nathaniel Bluedorn's The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-eight Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning, John Taylor Gatto's The Underground History of American Education, Derrick Jensen's Walking on Water, C. S. Lewis'  Abolition of Man + Mere Christianity, Tolkien's Leaf by Niggle, Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society series, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre)
2. Moral (the Bible, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, The Rule of St. Benedict, Vigen Guroian's Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination, Dante's Divine Comedy, Homer's The Odyssey, E. Nesbit's The Best of Shakespeare: Retellings of 10 Classic Plays, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Christina Rossetti's Time Flys: A Reading Diary)
3. Aesthetic (Artistotle's Poetics, Josef Pieper's Only the Lover Sings, Plato's Republic, Book X, Steve Turley's Beauty Matters: Creating a High Aesthetic in School Culture, Jacobson, Silverstein and Winslow's Patterns of Home, Roger Scruton's Beauty, Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness, John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture, Emily Lex Studio's watercolor workbooks, Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, poetry from Christina Rossetti, William Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Robert Frost, etc., art books featuring Vermeer, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Constable, Gainsborough, Turner, Wyeth, etc., musical pieces from classic and contemporary composers)
4. Spiritual (the Bible, Augustine's Confessions + The City of God, R. C. Sproul's Defending Your Faith, Nancy Guthrie's Blessed, Jen Wilkin's Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds + her various Bible studies, Helen Talyor's Little Pilgrim's Progress, John Milton's Paradise Lost, C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series)
5. Physical (books that teach exercise, stretching, strength-training, games, sports)
6. Practical (John Holt's How Children Learn, Charlotte Mason's Vol. 6:  A Philosophy of Education, Sarah Mackenzie's Teaching From Rest, Chris Hall's Common Arts Education, Rory Groves's Durable Trades, cookbooks (like Gooseberry Patch volumes, DIY Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen), DIY manuals (like Reader's Digest's New Fix-It Yourself Manual, Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional Skills, and John Vivian's Manual of Practical Homesteading), Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook, Jennifer Berry's Organize Now!, Floret's Cut Flower Garden, Christie Purifoy's Garden Maker and other gardening books, The Passionate Penny Pincher's menu plans and yearly planner, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series)
7. Social (Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, Margaret Peterson's Keeping House, Sally & Sarah Clarkson's The Life-Giving Home, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Starcatchers series, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice + the rest of her novels)

 

COMMONPLACE QUOTES

. . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information . . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174

 

APPLICATION

1. Sit down for an hour or two (maybe enjoy coffee and donuts with your collegues or other homeschooling moms and dads) and think about each of the seven areas of formation and how your school or homeschool is doing well with them and how you can improve in cultivating the means to strive for the goals of the True, the Good, the Beautiful, the Holy, the Healthy, the Beneficial, and the Neighborly.
2. Learn about Artistotle's Intellectual Virtues. They include Artistry or craftsmanship, Prudence or practical wisdom, Intuition or understanding, Scientific Knowledge, and Philosophic Wisdom. 
3. After you have read a piece of literature for the pure enjoyment of it, consider back to how, if at all, it showed the means and benefits of seeking and aquiring virtues and the dangers and tragedies of falling into vice. How do those characters, in turn, relate to you?