Educating Humans

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

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

In another short conversation starter, James and Difff chat about the place of homework, specifically in relation to the classical classroom. As usual, the conversation comes back to considering first principles of purpose. Often homework is given 'just because' rather than being tied to a meaningful and thoughtfully considered purpose. But what should the purpose of homework be? And does it hold a mandatory place in 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

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

In another short FAQ episode, Difff and James discuss why history is such an important and central focus of 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