Great Books

When John Locke quotes an author at length, it’s worth reading twice. In Locke’s

book Some Thoughts Concerning Education (perhaps the most forgotten classic on education), he quotes an unnamed author on the critical importance of great books. I read this quote every so often at a group I meet with every other week. We discuss the classics at a local pub, and use this quote as our “reason” for gathering. Since the thoughts contained within this quote are so important for the practice of education, I will quote it at length:

The study, says he, of the original text can never be sufficiently recommended. ‘Tis the shortest, surest, and most agreeable way to all sorts of learning. Draw from the spring-head, and take not things at second hand. Let the writings of the great masters be never laid aside, dwell upon them, settle them in your mind, and cite them upon occasion; make it your business throughly to understand them in their full extent and all their circumstances: acquaint yourself fully with the principles of original authors; bring them to a consistency, and then do you yourself make your deductions.

In this state were the first commentators, and do not rest till you bring yourself to the same. Content not yourself with borrowed lights, nor guide yourself by their view but where your own fails you and leaves you in the dark. Their explications are not your’s, and will give you the slip. On the contrary, your own observations are the product of your own mind, where they will abide and be ready at hand upon all occasions in converse, consultation, and dispute.

Lose not the pleasure it is to see that you are not stopp’d in your reading duty by difficulties that are invincible; where the commentators and scholiasts themselves are at a stand and have nothing to say. Those copious expositors of other places, who with a vain and pompous overflow of learning poured out on passages plain and easy in themselves, are very free of their words and pains, where there is no need. Convince yourself fully by this ordering your studies, that ‘tis nothing but men’s laziness which hath encouraged pedantry to cram rather than enrich libraries, and to bury good authors under heaps of notes and commentaries, and you will perceive that sloth herein hath acted against itself and its own interest by multiplying reading and enquiries, and encreasing the pains it endeavoured to avoid.”

A Unique School

There is a unique school started several decades ago in New York that deserves attention. Let me tell you about The Doulos Academy.

It was launched nearly a decade ago as a classical Christian school. Built upon the historic Christian faith as outlined in the Apostles and Nicene Creed, it was a model for education based on the classical tradition developed and perfected by the Western tradition for nearly two thousand years. Depending on the Christian liberal arts tradition, students begin to command language at an early age. Their curriculum is based on the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the expanded Quadrivium (Math, Science (Astronomy), History, and Fine Arts (Music)). And, of course, the Queen of the Sciences, Theology, is at its heart. The pursuit of goodness, truth and beauty were weaved into every classroom and every lesson.

The first headmaster of this school realized, however, that knowledge was not an end in itself. Education always needs an end that looks beyond itself. After a personal spiritual retreat, and much consultation with mentors, a new ethic was born that was hard-wired into the curriculum: service. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.” If the highest ideal of human life is that of the Servant King, then the young must too be shaped into servants. And so the phrase “classical Christian learning for the common good” became its motto.

As they collectively took a look at the streets of New York, they realized that much needed to be done. Buildings were in disrepair, plants were dying, and crime was in the streets. Poor families were the norm, pollution was commonplace, and corruption lived in governments and businesses. Yet faculty and students alike saw not only the need, but the inherent beauty of the city. Image-bearers walking the streets, art in unlikely places, and joy amidst hardship. This city was worth saving.

Problem-based learning was integrated into the curriculum. Students began to make the connection between the liberal arts and their contribution as servants to their community. Physics projects resulted in new bridges, Spanish classes resulted in tutoring recent immigrants, math resulted new formulas for bringing technology to the developing world. And how these students spoke. They were articulate, persuasive, and always kind – their community saw this private school as a new family member, not a separatist enclave.

Over time, the thoroughly rigorous curriculum and the community service began to turn heads in the community. Many low-income families wanted to send their children to this school but could not afford to. And so the headmaster determined to seek creative funding solutions. In addition to tuition and fundraising (which was quite successful in winning support even from secular organizations when they saw the good they were doing in the community), the board sought two “third sources of revenue.”

The first was through business income. When they launched the school, they moved into a historic Victorian building on the corner of Augusta Ave and Martin Luther King Blvd. It was a three floor building with red-brick and arches – a perfect fit for a school that seeks beauty. The second and third floors were made into classrooms and a library. The first floor was for business. Nearly 80% of the first floor was rented to “strategic tenants,” tenants with both a social conscious and a Christian commitment. Businesses included a small pharmaceutical research lab, a karate studio, a dance studio, a fair-trade shop, and two restaurants. The income from these tenants went directly to a student scholarship fund. The other 20% of business were run directly by parent volunteers from the school. A coffee shop, an athletic performance training studio, and a tech start-up (run by both parents and students) brought in another source of revenue, thus off-setting the cost of tuition.

The second source of income was borrowed from the Cristo Rey Network. Students in grades 9-12 take one day per week and work at internships and jobs throughout the city. From law firms and large corporations to Broadway and Good Morning America – they employed these students one day a week. Over 50 corporate partners were recruited to employ students. This experience gave students a real-world context to put into practice their liberal arts training, and their salary paid a hefty portion of their tuition, thus making this school available to nearly all who wanted to attend. For those who did not need the tuition assistance, they worked at foundations, homeless shelters, and non-profits.

With high school students being gone one day per week, adjustments had to be made. School weeks were 4 days per week, but the days themselves lasted from 8am to 4:30pm, and 9am-12pm Saturdays, thus satisfying all accreditation requirements. And after the administration and faculty finished a week-long conference on how American students are falling behind their international peers, they moved to a year-round schedule with only 6 weeks off for the summer (of which the facility was still being used for their Summer Institute for Learning). In addition, faculty, not having teaching responsibilities one day per week, were given 3 day weekends every weekend, with the agreement that Mondays (the day student’s worked) would be used for intellectual pursuits – primarily reading and writing. This made the high school faculty known throughout the city for intellectual distinction.

And thus this classical, Christian liberal arts school—urban, accessible, and service-oriented—was born. And, of course, originally, it was born as a K-8 school. But from the inception, administrators knew that parents would want a high school. If would not suffice to send your children to a non-classical school after having been immersed in the classical Christian tradition. The capstone of the curriculum – rhetorical studies – needed a high school. But after much reflection, administrators realized the colossal challenge of launching a high school. With the need for athletic facilities, a performing arts center, science labs and art studios—and the acute need for well-paid faculty, many of whom would be males needing to support their family—they realized that the whole project would not work. A multi-million dollar capital campaign could build the buildings, but it could not pay competitive salaries over the long haul. In a country where most Christian schools pay their teachers 60-80% of what public schools pay their teachers, they knew they needed more than 40-80 students graduating per year. They needed one thing more than any other: scale.

And thus a movement was born.

Doulos Academy planted a K-8 school. But they did not stop there. In year three of Doulos Academy they began talking to churches and parents within a 15 mile radius about their model of education. Excitement was in the air. Within the next 4 years, 3 other K-8 classical Christian schools were planted: The Arete Academy, The Alcuin School, and the Bronx Classical Academy. Working in dynamic partnership – sharing ideas, faculty, students – not one but four schools were launched…all feeding into a single 9-12 school. With this many other schools as feeders, the problem of scale was all but solved. There were enough students to allow teachers 2-3 preps (not the oppressive 4-5 so common in other small schools), and a competitive salary. The New York Classical Academy (9-12) was born.

Three years ago, the lead administrator at the Doulos Academy was speaking at conference in Buenos Aires about what they had done. This model caught the attention of a recent graduate from UCLA’s graduate school of education – a native Argentinean with a burden for both truth and justice. He created an open source software program that allowed teachers and administrators to share ideas, curriculum, and instructional strategies globally. This information flow gave him the confidence to start in Buenos Aires what had previously only been done in New York. He launched his own K-8 school – La escuela veritas –later that year. Last month he reported that 2 other schools were in their start-up phase.

After hearing about these plans in Buenos Aires, students and faculty members back at the New York Classical Academy, began brainstorming ways to spend their summers. Students said to themselves, “Why don’t we spend summers teaching English courses and launching new schools and businesses in other cities?” They now have plans to work with a school in Guatemala City and one in Bangkok over the summer. Faculty, this time around, followed students. They began to brainstorm ways to bring teacher training and administrative support to schools in need across the globe.

The leader of the Doulos Academy is now nearing retirement, and passing off the reigns to a younger leader. But for this blog post I was able to do a brief phone interview. At the end of our conversation, he told me with a quiet conviction: “I never thought my career would turn out like this. I was simply a kid who had been changed by the gospel, and loved both the world of learning and the world of service. Look at what God is now doing through us. Beautiful. Just beautiful.”

Why Teach for America?

What exactly is the draw of Teach for America? I’m sure you’ve heard about the near exponential expansion of our generation’s peace corps. Teach for America is a two-year teaching program that sends top college graduates to teach in low-income and low-performing schools. It was recently reported that 10% of ivy league graduates applied for Teach for America (and not all were accepted). Highly selective and highly driven to “reform education,” Teach for America alumni are not only in positions of influence within public education, but in public policy, law, and business. Yet my question remains: Why Teach for America? What has drawn so many multitudes of talented young people into this program?

Hailed as the “civil rights issue of our generation,” Teach for America’s purpose is essentially “to close the achievement gap.” Young students in low-performing schools never have the opportunity to succeed in life if they’re stuck in a bad school. So, through employing and recruiting the best teachers, Teach for America aims to close this achievement gap, allowing the poor to rise to new opportunities in college and beyond.

The draw of Teach for America is primarily an issue of social justice. A generation that longs for justice sees in education a means to achieving equity (note: the concept of equity is central to all of Teach for America). Why do we teach? To bring about social change and social justice. This has caught the hearts and minds of many of the most able young people in America.

Now, before I offer my incomplete critique, I should say that I heartily support Teach for America. Getting more talented young students to teach in inner city schools instead of sit in Wall Street offices is inherently a good thing.

Having said that, Teach for America is based on the philosophical premise based on equity. We must ask ourselves a simple question: what if this was achieved? If the achievement gap was closed, and every student performed exactly the same on standardized tests and in college entrance exams, would this be a good thing? When we look at it like this, it seems that this vision of using education to bring about universal social equity is based on a subtle socialism. Whether or not we could prove this is beside the point: education is the engine for social change. It is, in their view, the primary redemptive force.

What is left out of this equation? I would posit that what is missing here is any discussion of truth. Is it not interesting that what is taught receives a back seat (in motivation at least) to the social outcomes it provides? In a pluralist society in which even the concept of truth is suspect, one must step back and rethink the widespread draw of a movement like Teach for America. How is it that throngs of quick-minded young people, many of whom have had an elite education themselves, will throw themselves into a social cause with relatively little discussion of the state-shaped curriculum taught in public schools? Here, it is not teaching what is true that matters, but it is teaching in service a better (more equal) democratic society.

Contrast this with the Christian vision. Christianity is a story of universal history chronicling the words and activities of the one true God and His purposes for mankind. At the culmination of this story is the Christian gospel, the story of the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and second coming of Jesus. This story of good news has the power to transform an individual – to redeem from death, to regenerate, to “break the curse” of sin, and to give hope. The gospel then transforms men and women, and puts them on the path to goodness.

Yet the Christian faith is more than pietism. It is universal history, and as such, it gives a complete picture of both the natural and supernatural world. When fully understand, it is believed to be the landscape for seeing all things, from the intricacies of plant life to the artistry of literature. It is not just religious truth, it is the truth about all things.

And when this goodness and truth are combined in an individual, all of human life, both public and private, become, in a word, beautiful. God is able to turn even the destructiveness of sin in beauty, and as such, his covenant people move through culture and human life creating things of beauty. Indeed, secular people do this as well. But the Christian does this as witness to the beauty of God himself; he does this as an image-bearer and sub-creator reflecting the mind of the maker (to steal a phrase from Dorothy Sayers).

Goodness, truth and beauty overflow from the Christian gospel. There are the things that must be taught. This is what ought to captivate generations of young scholars and leaders who seek to form a better world. Using education as a pseudo-Savior can never really satisfy either teacher or student. For education to be truly powerful, it must look beyond itself.

I envision a different kind of movement…a movement I will blog about in my next post.

Making College Cheaper

A recent column in The Economist attempts to tackle the problem of college tuition head on. Citing Derek Bok’s opinion of higher education (“Universities share one characteristic with compulsive gamblers and exiled royalty: there is never enough money to satisfy their desires.”), Schumpter offers at least two examples of individuals working to bring down the exponentially rising cost of college.

First, Vance Fried, of Oklahoma State University, believes it is possible make a first class undergraduate cost $6,700 a year rather than the $25,900 charged by public research institutions or the $51,500 charged by their private peers. First, separate the funding of teaching and researching. Researching, yes, is a public good, but undergraduates, who mistakenly think they’re paying for their own education (not independent research projects) should not have shell out the cash for expensive laboratories and tomes of research about the jussive use of Hebrew verbs. Second, increase the student-teacher ratio. Successful classrooms are more dependent on the quality of teacher than the size of the classroom (many K-12 experts would agree on this as well). Third, eliminate or consolidate programs with few students. Let the market determine, as least in part, what is offered. And finally, cut administrative costs. Private research universities “spend $7,000 a year per student on ‘administrative support.’” Perhaps the assistant dean of amphibious marine biology isn’t really necessary after all.

Second, Shai Reshef, an educational entrepreneur, has sparked a new idea to make college not just cheaper, but free. His University of the People offers a free higher education online (not counting fees for applications and correcting exams), aimed to help those in the developing world who otherwise couldn’t afford college. How does he do it? First, he’s recruited an impressive cadre of 2,000 academic volunteers who will proctor online courses for free. Second, he utilizes “courseware” on the internet (whether it will remain free, is another question). Resher’s university is not yet accredited, but with the increasing amount of top-notch material online, his idea may just take hold.

College should not be as expensive as it is. In an industry that has raised its fees 5 times higher than the rate of inflation in the past 30 years, something has to give. Especially for those young graduates who are now finding that (a) an undergraduate degree is now like a high school degree was 30 years ago – you need masters to be really competitive, (b) jobs are harder to come by in this economy, and (c) debt sucks. Young people will eventually get wise and decide on forgoing the perceived prestige of a $200,000 education and simply look for a program that gets them what they need.

It’s time for higher education to get the shakedown it deserves.

Monks, Monasteries, and Missional Education

My last post focused on cultural change that the early church’s educational

institutions helped to spawn. The social status conferred by paideia was, however, not a luxury that the cultural icons of the middle ages were afforded. These icons were, of course, monks, and the educational institutions that they bred were the precursor to the modern university: monasteries.

Of the monks who built monasteries across the Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, and Frankish world, none became more famous than St. Patrick. It is said that Patrick was the first to take the call to “teach all nations” literally, as his teaching extended even to the barbarians beyond the frontier of the empire. Records indicate that Patrick helped to establish 365 churches and monasteries, including the storied monastery of Iona, which was the launching point for the evangelization of Scotland and England.

Monasteries were the centers of learning in medieval Europe. Latin was taught to the young as a foreign language, and consequently, writing skills, a technology otherwise nearly unknown in the barbarian West. They also functioned as scriptoriums, where the great biblical and classical texts of the West were copied and preserved. In Irish monasteries, young Anglo Saxons were “welcomed in the cells of Irish monks, where they received food and the books they needed at no expense” (Hunter, 59).

Monasteries were both centers of learning as well as outposts for evangelization. Their ministry focused on regional and local aristocracy, based on the idea that if you convert a king, you convert a country. Barbarian kings such as Clovis of the Franks, Ethelbert of Kent, and Edwin of Northumbria were among the most important converts to Christianity.

In Christianity, the pagan kings saw a more advanced civilization, and converting to Christianity was often just as political as spiritual, both a blessing and a bane for posterity. The advanced learning and culture, embodied in agriculture, law, architecture, and scholarship, was a significant motivation to choose Christ over the plurality of gods.

Monks built monasteries, which were both centers for learning and for mission. Where are these types of missional schools today? This past week I had a conversation with a friend at Denver Seminary, who outlined his understanding of a missional education. “Locate your school’s objectives not in students themselves, but in the greater mission of God in the world.” As a curricular application, he suggested having NT students present the argument of Romans to non-believers instead of only seminary professors. Mission can exist as a part of the curriculum. A good idea to say the least.

Yet when I look at monks and monasteries, I see a civilization that brought scores of influential leaders to faith through providing a “more advanced civilization.” Simply stated, their education was the best, and so the barbarian kings changed their minds.

Until we can produce schools that are centers of learning, schools that make surrounding schools seem barbaric in comparison, a widespread missional education can’t happen. Quality is missional. The door to “teach all nations” will be open not for a pious but substandard curriculum. Instead the flowering of learning in the lives of missional educators on the fringes of unbelief in a pagan, urbanized West—this flourishing of learning can and has changed culture in the past. There is no reason why it can’t again today.

To Change the World

James Davison Hunter’s recent book To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World is an intellectual tour-de-force, and deserves to be read by any Christian interested in the task of culture changing. His interest is in examining how cultures change, and he takes to task the common view: get as many individuals as you can to change their “worldview,” and cultures will change one person at a time. Instead, as a sociologist he posits a more “social” view of cultural change, noting the interplay of ideas, institutions, cultural elites, and wealthy patrons. This is not the place for either a summary or a critique of Hunter’s work (I believe ultimately that the critique is extremely useful, whereas his solution, a “Theology of Faithful Presence,” is unfortunately weak). I hope to provide further posts on Hunter’s work. But it is worth mentioning the central place of scholarship and institutions of learning in cultural change (Chapter 5: Evidence in History).

Hunter notes, “In this story [of early church growth], educations was exceptionally important, for much of the spiritual and cultural creativity of the church resided in the establishment and transformation of the schools of that time.” Schools were established in all the major urban centers of that time: Rome, Alexandria, and Carthage, among others.

There were three factors related to their influence: (1) quality and quantity of intellectual output, (2) institutional strength, (3) care for the poor. First, by the end of the second century, thinkers like Origen developed a form of higher learning which combined higher learning from the Greco-Roman world with the unique insights of the biblical tradition. Thinkers like Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria challenged the central ideas of their day, and established a rich intellectual tradition that posited Christianity as not only one choice among the pantheon of Roman religions, but as the religion: both intellectually tenable and inspiring.

Second, the educational system of the Roman empire was the paideia—a system for educating the young involving a formal curriculum including grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Initially, this system served not only to educate, but provide the wealthy elite with a way to inherent and maintain power. Those in possession of paideia were trusted with influence. Yet over time, as Christians began to take the seats of learning, paideia became commonplace for bishops; and eventually the church absorbed paideia into its catechesis.

Third, Christian bishops rejected an aspect of paideia, which made sharp dinstinctions between urban and rural, citizen and non-citizen. The Christian bishops became “lovers of the poor,” and eventually came to represent not only the wealthy, but the community as a whole. For example, Basil (329-379) exploited his status as a local noble and gained “tax exemptions and personal immunities for the founders of poorhouses.” Care of the poor and disenfranchised caused pagan Roman rulers to grow green with envy (Julian the Apostate wrote a scathing critique of how the “Galileans” show compassion even for the pagan poor!).

These three factors are worth reflecting upon for Christian educational institutions today. First, and not stated above, are they located in the cities, the centers of cultural influence, or on the periphery? Centers of evangelical influence are today in Colorado Springs and Wheaton, IL, and the headquarters of the Christian classical movement is located is Moscow, Idaho. A movement toward the center will have to be a core element of Christian educational entrepreneurs who desire “culture change.”

Second, do Christian scholars and teachers interact, on a whole, with the center of idea creations, as the early church fathers both understood and challenged Greek philosophy? This is surely a mixed bag. In some fields, like philosophy, Christians have made headway in the past two decades. But in film, art, and in “public education,” Christians have been a small minority. The quality and quantity of Christian intellectual production among K-12 educators and, overall, in higher education (with the exception or seminaries), hasn’t made sufficient progress to bring about widespread cultural change.

Third, what is our curriculum? The Christian paideia has experienced a renaissance in the past two decades, but there are still only around 220 Christian classical schools, and only 1.5% of schools nation-wide could be called “Christian.” Public schools, which tend to follow a secular curriculum based on state standards produced by politicians, comprise 97% of how young people in America are trained to think. Though there are clearly good people within the public school system, the Christian classical model has produced cultural giants for hundreds of years—and they do acknowledging “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” For cultural change to happen, we need to build a network of reproducing Christian classical schools and universities that can be the incubators for superior learning.

And finally, these schools need to be accessible to the poor. This is surely the greatest challenge, as all Christian schools today must charge tuition. The challenge will be for creative young, Christian entrepreneurs to create models of Christian education that aggressively drive down the price of education without sacrificing quality.

Urban. Intellectual. Institutional. Accessible. With these four elements in place, Christians could indeed begin to change the world.

Strategic Planning - A Class for the IDEAL Institute

Tonight I begin writing class lectures on the topic of strategic planning for the IDEAL Institute at Denver Seminary. I do not propose any complex, convoluted methodology, nor do I expect to accomplish much by way of innovation. I simply will lay out my story. I will tell the tale of a young student, filled to the brim with ideas and visions, ye emptied like a tin can of the ability to accomplish those visions.

I will speak of the problems we find in both ourselves and our organizations.

Motion, but no progress; everything urgent, nothing enduring; leadership characterized by the random and reactive, and not the intentional and the wise; the presence of frustration that “I’m the only one pulling here” and the nagging doubt of whether we are doing anything of lasting value.

I will tell also of the benefits that are crowned upon the thoughtful planner. Much action in one direction, which leads to visible results; the urgent being redefined around the truly important; greater effectiveness through measurable results; and the joy of building a system designed for many to work together to accomplish a single, God-given end.

I will declare also the God who plans. The God who planned the story of salvation before the beginning of time (Eph 1:9-10); The God who plans for the good of the broken-hearted (Jer 29:11), and the God who calls us to plan and conform our plans to His (Pro. 16:3).

I will define the words “strategic planning” as a guide for future action, a process clarifying organizational aims, a philosophy of contemplation of the future, and a structure for an organization that forms the basis for an organization’s actions. It is a map and a bridge to tomorrow.

I will also warn of the potential arrogance of planning an uncertain future, and not to trust in man’s bravado, but instead to trust in the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

I will lay out two simple models for strategic planning. The first model is “Simple Strategic Planning for Individuals and Small Groups.” This model, which works for individuals who simply want to become more effective, or for leaders of small groups, simply lays out a simple purpose for your action, and sets three conceptual levels of plans: objectives, strategies, and tactics. Objectives are enduring, and form the basic result areas deriving from your mission. Strategies are creative ways to accomplish those objectives based on the best information available to you. And tactics are objective, measure, and time-sensitive tasks that make their way onto your calendar. Upon forming the plan, one must implement the plan and review it each quarter and year for accountability and evaluation.

I will also propose a second model: “Simple Strategic Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Organizations.” This model, as opposed to being the territory only of an individual, involves all the stake-holders in an organization to ensure ownership. It too involves the formation of a clear purpose, objectives, strategies and tactics. But it is formed through several group meetings, whereby brainstorming and strategy formulation is a joint venture.

I will also implore my students to become organized themselves as I hand to the “A Simple Guide to Personal Time Management.” Strategic plans are nothing if they are not implemented in every day’s work. From annual plans, one’s personal calendar must be shaped by strategic monthly, weekly, and daily priorities, not on the tyranny of the urgent.

And I will pray with my students as I endeavor, with fear and trembling, to outline spiritual side of strategic planning, which calls for a quiet heart and a desire to pray daily. Ultimately, the plans of the Lord endure forever.

This I plan to do for my Spanish-speaking students at IDEAL, most of whom are bi-vocational pastors or lay ministers in immigrant churches in Denver. Indeed, what a privilege it is to teach. What a delight it is to learn. What a joy it is to serve.