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Educating Humans

Educating Humans

Difff & James

Discussions about Classical and Liberal Arts education in Primary and Secondary schools in Australia. What is it, how it might be achieved, and most importantly, why it matters.
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Top 10 Educating Humans Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Educating Humans episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Educating Humans for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Educating Humans episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Educating Humans - 35. Learning How to See Again - Josef Pieper
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03/20/24 • 22 min

Difff & James read and discuss Josef Pieper's short essay Learning How to See Again. As the essay begins: "Man's ability to see is in decline." Why is this? Pieper, writing in the 1950s, suggested that one of the reasons was that - even back then - there was too much to see. The proposed remedy is a great insight into how the arts can be thought about within the classical education tradition.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Difff is joined by Heidi White, a classical education consultant with the CIRCE Institute to discuss, well, a whole lot of good stuff. Beginning with some foundational questions about the classical education renewal, Heidi talks about the formation of classical teachers, Aristotle's Five Common Topics, and understanding virtues, before moving on to thinking about Shakespeare's humanism and why he's a quintessential example of the kind of literary figure that shapes classical education.
This episode has everything - it's not only theological and philosophical, but it's also intensely practical, with Heidi explaining how to structure lesson plans around the Five Common Topics.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Educating Humans - 32. Subjects Reconsidered
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11/01/23 • 38 min

In our short series on conversation topics for things we're reconsidering: subjects - yes, we're even reconsidering subjects. Something as foundational to the structure of schools is often overlooked, but what are the pitfalls that can sneak into a school when they think in terms of distinct siloed 'subjects'? Difff and James think through how disconnecting subjects can impact not only how and what a student learns about the subject, but also what they learn about themselves. Difff also spends some rather tedious time explaining the requirements within the Australia National Curriculum and how - and why - subject thinking comes to dominate, before offering some potential solutions that could help to align better to the telos of education as understood within the classical paradigm.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Educating Humans - 30. Assessment Reconsidered
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10/03/23 • 32 min

What is assessment? What is its purpose, and how do we know if we're achieving it? This episode is a shorter discussion starter, aimed at provoking some questions in listeners' minds about the purpose of assessment; ways that it can be helpful or harmful; and how it should be reconsidered in light of the aims of a classical education.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Educating Humans - 29. What is Wisdom & Can it be Taught?
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09/05/23 • 48 min

Wisdom is one of the most common stated intentions of a classical education, but what exactly is it? Using the work of St John Henry Newman and John Ozolins, Difff and James discuss Newman's definition of it and how he saw it fitting into education. This includes the importance of a foundation of knowledge that can then be connected together to form a synthesised picture of the whole of the world, rather than experiencing the world as dissonant disconnected parts. We also discuss how this might happen in a classroom, and the importance of cultivating an atmosphere of the desire for wisdom within the staff and across the school.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Difff speaks with Dr Laura Eidt from the University of Dallas about the new Latin program she is writing for teaching Latin to young children through stories. The conversation covers the reasons for teaching Latin as well as methods for effective instruction. They also discuss the importance and power of narration as a pedagogical approach for classical teachers.
Dr Laura Eidt has taught in the German, Spanish, Comparative Literature, and Humanities programs at the University of Dallas since 2006, and is Director of the Humanities Program and Faculty Advisor for the K-12 Classical Curriculum Team.
You can find out more about the Latin through Stories program here:
https://k12classical.udallas.edu/k-5-latin-curriculum/preliminary-access/

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Educating Humans - 24. Orthodoxy & Acedia - Some Books, Part 9
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06/29/23 • 49 min

As James and Difff start to wrap up their series on some great books, they discuss two works of cultural criticism that have significantly impacted them. James discusses G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and in particular the chapter 'The Ethics of Elfland' and its relation to the purpose of classical education. Difff then introduces the topic of acedia in R.J. Snell's book, Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire. Acedia, the despairing refusal to be one's self and the disgust at human limitation and being, is the modern condition, and combatting it is one of the highest callings of a classical liberal education.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Educating Humans - 14. Chat GPT & The End of Education
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01/27/23 • 52 min

James and Difff return for the second season of Educating Humans to discuss the big buzz-word of the moment: ChatGPT. What are the implications of artificial intelligence for education? Is it really the 'end of the high school English classroom' and 'the end of the college essay?' Or perhaps rather than spelling the end of education, it should instead have us returning to that fundamental question - what is the end of education, anyway?

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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Educating Humans - 12. Myths about Classical Education
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11/15/22 • 51 min

Difff & James tackle some of the big myths around classical education. These can be confusing for people as they first looking into classical education, and they sometimes appear pretty controversial.
The myths discussed in this episode are:
"Classical education doesn't help me get a job"
"Classical Education is elitist" and
"Classical Education is racist".

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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In the second half of the second chapter of The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis asks whether those value reformers who want to reject The Tao can use instinct as a first principal - a primary foundation upon which to construct any semblance of value. This, however, ultimately results in an infinite regress of first instinct that fails to satisfy the prerequisites.

Check out Difff's other podcast: Chiron, conversations about the past to help make sense of the present.
And James' other podcast: The Art of Inquiry, inquiries into the nature of the world and humanity with expert level guests passionate about their field.
Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

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FAQ

How many episodes does Educating Humans have?

Educating Humans currently has 59 episodes available.

What topics does Educating Humans cover?

The podcast is about Literature, Theology, Classical Education, History, Podcasts, Education and Philosophy.

What is the most popular episode on Educating Humans?

The episode title '38. The Paideia Approach' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Educating Humans?

The average episode length on Educating Humans is 39 minutes.

How often are episodes of Educating Humans released?

Episodes of Educating Humans are typically released every 14 days, 2 hours.

When was the first episode of Educating Humans?

The first episode of Educating Humans was released on Jun 14, 2022.

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