Educating Humans

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 Ge...

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,  Aced...

Difff and James speak with Father Stephen David, who is the founder of St John of Kronstadt Academy, a new Orthodox Classical school starting in Brisbane in January 2024. They discuss how Fr Stephen became interested in classical education, and why he decided to start a school, despite having no background or training in education. St John of Kronstadt Academy has been granted accreditation and pl...

Why should we study history? How important is it in a classical education?  As part of our Good Books series, we talk about two great historians of the 20th Century, Christopher Dawson & Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Difff bring Dawson's  The Dividing of Christendom  and  The Crisis of Western Education and explains how Dawson masterfully explains how we have arrived at our current point in wes...

In Anthony Esolen's book  Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child,  Esolen takes a 'Screwtape-style' approach to explaining the ways the modern society has inadvertently (or perhaps intentionally) been geared towards reducing childhood and blunting imagination. Difff and James discuss this brilliant book by considering how to revitalise our vision of childhood by questioni...

Difff and James discuss two books specifically about classical education. Difff describes The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education by Ravi Jain and Kevin Clark as a 'one-stop-shop' for anyone interested in the classical education renewal who doesn't know where to begin. It is a great combination of classical and theoretical, and has a foreword by Pet...

In a bit of a meatier philosophical conversation, Dr Paul Tyson's book  Returning to Reality  gets a an entire episode dedicated to it. What is Christian Platonism, and what relevance does it have for classical education? Difff and James discuss the importance of a coherent metaphysics in the classroom, and how three medieval metaphysical innovations have impacted modernity. A brief explanati...

What role do virtues play in education? Can virtues be taught? In this episode of our Great Books miniseries, we get to the meaty stuff - ancient Greek philosophy. James starts with the guy to whom all other philosophical treatises throughout history are footnotes, Plato. He discusses the Republic, with special attention to The Allegory of the Cave.  Difff then thinks about virtues and the 'e...

In this episode of the Great Books mini-series, Difff & James get philosophical with two very different books. James discusses his Peter Kreeft bonus book, which is The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind 'The Lord of the Rings' which was James' way of smuggling in his favourite fantasy series, but is also a great introduction to philosophy in general. Difff then takes a...

In the second episode of our Great Books mini-series, Difff & James tackle some heavy heavenly and diabolical epic poetry. James looks at Dante's Divine Comedy , discussing contrapasso in the punishment of sin in Inferno, and we ask the question why Protestants should read Catholic works. Difff then dives into the Satanic Impulse in Paradise Lost , questioning to what extent a similar imp...

This is the first episode about some good books worth reading for anyone interested in classical liberal education. Covering genres such as philosophy, history, educational theory and fiction, these books are not only about classical education, but also constitute a good platform for a liberal education. James discusses The Great Conversation by Mortimer Adler, which is an introduction to reading...

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 tha...

Continuing from Episode 12, Difff and James tackle two more misconceptions about classical education. The first is that classical education has a narrow and specific definition.  Is it all Socratic Discussions?  Is it all The Trivium?  What are the non-negotiable elements that must be included for an education to be considered Classical, or Liberal?  The second is the claim that classical educatio...

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"....

In the final episode in the mini-series unpacking C.S. Lewis' book  The Abolition of Man , we learn about the dangers of approaching the world only through the scientific lens.  When everything is reduced to nature, nature overcomes everything, including humanity, resulting in the abolition of man. This approach to education - a philosophy that unwittingly forms the foundation of many a conte...

In the second last episode focusing on The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis explains how stepping outside of the Tao results in the abolition of man. With a particular focus on technology and the illusion of power that it gives us, Difff & James unpack the first half of the culminating chapter of this important book. Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College , a ne...

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. Please consider becoming a founding...

In this bonus episode, Difff interviews Kon Bouzikos, the President of The Australian Classical Education Society. Kon speaks about his passion for Classical Education, and the mission of the ACES. Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College , a new independent classical school in South Brisbane. Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundclou...

"The practical result of education in the spirit of The Green Book must be the destruction of the society which accepts it." These are the opening words of the second chapter of C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man, and it is a big claim that the remainder of the book sets out to defend.  In this episode which deals with the first half of chapter two, called 'The Tao', Difff a...

Continuing the miniseries on The Abolition of Man , this episode concludes the discussion of the first chapter of the book, by leading into an explanation of what Lewis calls the Tao - the recognition that there is objective value in the world. The chapter concludes by commenting on the parodic tragicomedy wherein we laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst, the exact situatio...

In part two of the mini-series on C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man , Difff and James discuss what it means to teach objective value, and how even the attempt to teach from a purely subjectivist approach cannot escape the fact that there is no value-neutral education.  All education is formational, and as Lewis quotes Aristotle: "the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike...

In the first in a series of episodes looking at C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man, we read about the (possibly) unintended impacts that can smuggle their way into a classroom. These hidden philosophical and anthropological positions end up shaping young people to see the world a certain way. Lewis argues for the existence of objective value in the world, with the necessary correlative being th...

Having looked briefly at the history and curriculum of Classical Education, this episode discusses a broad overview of some of the main pedagogical principles of Classical Education, including: Make Haste Slowly, Much Not Many, Repetition is the Mother of Memory and the concept of Schole. There are plenty of great resources online that go into these principles in more detail. One of the best is fr...

Difff and James go into a broad overview of what we mean by the terms Classical and Liberal Arts Education. As a general historical overview we discuss the Seven Liberal Arts of Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music & Astronomy, as well as the Great Books approach and a focus on the humanities of History, Literature, Philosophy and Theology. Please consider becoming a founding...

James recounts his educational journey from being a capable yet apathetic student who did the bare minimum, to someone who loved learning and was excited about the good the true and the beautiful.  How did a teenage boy who thought school was just about getting a job, and passing was all that mattered, grow up to choose to do a seemingly 'useless' degree like a Bachelor of Liberal Arts?...