Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America examines the decline of American education and offers a solution. It is not more spending or a new and innovative program. Rather the solution, according to authors Gene Edward Veith, Jr. and Andrew Kern, is classical education.

“America education cannot improve until we have a new theory of education. Fortunately, one exists,” Veith and Kern write. “An increasing number of schools and educators are returning to an approach to education that is the bedrock of Western culture:  classical education.”

Veith and Kern examine contemporary education theories that have failed during the 20th century. Among them are modernism, postmodernism, and multiculturalism. They in turn produced Whole Language, Goals 2000, School-to-Work, critical thinking and technology in the classroom. It is clear that these approaches are not working.

In Classical Education, the authors examine six different approaches elementary and secondary schools use to tie the “3 Rs” to the moral and civic education of the Western tradition. They include Christian Classicism, which is advocated by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools; Democratic Classicism, which has been adopted by over 100 public schools; Moral Classicism, which is based on the idea that education is a path to virtue; and Liberating Classicism, Marva Collins’ program for minority children in poor neighborhoods that emphasizes phonics and character education.

This revised and updated edition includes new chapters on classical education in Catholic schools and in the homeschooling movement.

Veith and Kern also review the best liberal arts colleges in the U.S. that teach Western tradition and they provide a directory listing of organizations that work for a return to classical education.

Gene Edward Veith is Professor of English and Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia University-Wisconsin. He is the culture editor of World magazine and author of a dozen books, including Reading Between the Lines: A Christian Guide to Literature, State of the Arts: From Bezalel to Mapplethorpe, Modern Fascism: The Liquidation of the Judeo-Christian Worldview, Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture, and Christians in a Dot.Com World. Veith is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas.

Andrew Kern is director of CIRCE (Consulting and Integrated Resources for Classical Education), a consulting and research service to classical schools and those that want to start one. He helped establish two classical schools, Providence Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Foundations Academy in Boise, Idaho, and has taught every grade from third to twelfth on almost every subject. A sought-after teacher-trainer, Kern is a popular speaker at classical education conferences and workshops. He is a graduate of Concordia University.

What They Are Saying:

“This is a perfect little book on a vast subject: lucid without being simplistic, opinionated without being dogmatic, comprehensive yet to the point. In unaffected, everyday language, it conveys a wealth of ancient education wisdom to modern minds.”–David Hicks, author of Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education

“Classical Education reminds us that every achievement of humankind is valuable, and every child’s soul is damaged when we fail to demand that they achieve. Our young people respond with violence and anger when schools and teachers put labels on them: “Inferior,” “born to fail,” “inability to cope.” Our children don’t need tags, measures, inkblot tests. They are screaming for a curriculum that challenges their minds.”–Marva Collins, founder of Westside Preparatory School, Chicago

In Educating for Virtue, five scholars address one of the most pressing issues of our time: the relationship between education and the development of moral character. With Essays by Claes G. Ryn, Russell Kirk, Paul Gottfried, Peter J. Stanlis, Solveig Eggerz.

Editor Joseph Baldacchino is the President of the National Humanities Institute and Editor of the academic journal Humanitas. For many years he was a Washington reporter and editor, in which capacity he addressed most aspects of national policy and politics but with particular emphasis on ethical and cultural issues. Baldacchino is author of Economics and the Moral Order and, with others, Irving Babbitt in Our Time. His present writing project, with others, is a constitutional history of the United States entitled Who We Are: The Story of America’s Constitution.

From the Foreword:

“If there is a single thread that runs through these essays, it is the recognition of a universal order that transcends the flux of human life and gives meaning to it. Insofar as men act in accordance with this order, they experience true happiness and are brought into community with others who are similarly motivated. But men are afflicted with contrary impulses that are destructive of universal order. When acted upon, these impulses bring suffering and a sense of meaninglessness and despair; the result is disintegration and conflict–within both the personality and society at large. Yet so tempting are the attactions of these impulses that they frequently prevail and must be taken into account in any realistic assessment of human affairs. This tension within the person between competing desires–the conflict between what Plato called the One and the Many–is the ultimate reality of human experience. To apprehend this reality, and to act in the light of the transcendent purpose with appropriate reverence and restraint, is the essence of wisdom; and to help deepen and strengthen this apprehension–through philosophy, history, literature, and the arts and sciences–is the overarching purpose of any education worthy of the name.”

Suzie Andres explores the basic premise of the household as the primary place of education and the role of parents as primary educators. Her book is engaging and helpful regardless of the method of education selected by parents—homeschooling, unschooling, or even public and private schooling.

“Andres’s wise and witty little book is, as billed, a gentle approach to homeschooling. Any reader who comes to this subject with fears will have them quickly allayed.”— Ralph McInerny

Larry P. Arnn, the President of Hillsdale College, traces the history of education from the founding of the U.S. Office of Education (based on the Prussian system) in 1869 to the Higher Education Act of 1965 and its subsequent reauthorizations, to contemporary legislation. He connects these changes to fundamental shifts in our understanding of what education is, of the purpose and ends of government, and of what it means to be human. He offers insight into the idea of liberal education as it developed in Western civilization, marked by the confluence of biblical religion and Socratic philosophy.

Publication Date:  October 2010

The Neighbor’s Kid tells the story of what twenty-four year-old Philip Brand discovered regarding American education when he drove his car cross-country during the 2008-09 school year visiting two schools in each of forty-nine states. The schools were public and private, religious and secular, urban and rural, typical and unusual. Brand wanted to learn first-hand what students, parents, teachers, and principals think about their elementary and secondary schools and what they expect from education. His principal discovery:  When it comes to picking a school parents care most about the kids with whom their own children associate. Not the curriculum, not the teachers, but the other kids. That concern has important consequences for how school districts, states and the federal government set education policy. A second conclusion:  Government policymakers cannot set standards of educational “achievement” because true education is intimately tied to the cultural and civic experiences of families and communities.

Philip Brand is the director of EducationWatch, a program of the Capital Research Center that monitors advocacy groups engaged in the debate over school choice and education reform. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with degrees in economics and political science.

What They Are Saying:

“Phil Brand’s purpose-driven road trip to schools across America has resulted in a book that is both insightful and delightful. His ground-level descriptions of scores of local schools and their communities illustrate the immense variety in American education. Brand is well suited for this Tocquevillian adventure. He is open and curious, and he can change his mind. From his classroom visits, conversations with educators, and wide-ranging reading he demonstrates the unwisdom of attempting to impose excessive uniformity on America’s schools. Brand shows that education is more than passing tests; it’s also about preserving the fabric of communities.”—William A. Fischel, Dartmouth College, author of Making the Grade: Economic Evolution of American School Districts