A Good Education
Intro
This is Time's Corner, a weekly newsletter by Christian Leithart. I’m the editor of Good Work magazine and the creator of Psalm Tap, a yearly colloquium for church musicians. By day, I teach, and by night, I edit this newsletter.
Don’t forget about the Thursday question, which comes at the very bottom of this email.
A Good Education
On Saturday I spent a little while going through an old shoebox from the office closet. I found photos from high school, class notes from college, old assignments, syllabi, and speeches—a museum of my education from sixteen to twenty-two.
I’ve started meeting with a few friends to discuss the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason, a British educator from the early twentieth century. It’s hard to summarize Mason’s philosophy in a few sentences, so I’ll only give one example. She strongly believed that teachers should not use rewards to motivate children to learn. Children naturally hunger for knowledge like they hunger for food, she argued, and all teachers must do is offer appropriate knowledge at the appropriate time. A child will grasp what he or she can understand, happily remember it, and readily explain it to anyone who asks. In this way, learning is one continuous feast with better and better food.
Obviously Mason believed in her methods. But my friends and I have never, as far as we know, met anyone educated this way. Does it work? Assuming a boy was educated in a strict “Charlotte Mason style” from ages six to eighteen, what kind of adult would he become? I’m still curious about the answer. During our discussion the other night, however, I, in typical fashion, made a controversial statement. In some ways, I said, a person’s education doesn’t seem to matter. I know great people, strong Christians, whose education was less than perfect. Our imaginary Mason-scholar may not have turned out well, despite his wonderful education. Parents must do their best, of course, but ultimately, God giveth the increase. Why worry about it?
Looking through that shoebox, however, I realized how foolish my comment was. If there are better and worse books, better and worse teachers, better and worse friends, and better and worse role models, then there must be better and worse educations. I can say with confidence that I was *very* well educated. It may be partly that I have an aptitude for that kind of thing, but that can't be the whole explanation. I still hold to principles that I was taught when I was seventeen. I'm not being narrow-minded; I've studied these things and made them my own, and I've confirmed again and again that what I was taught was true and leaned on it throughout my entire adult life. How many other people can say the same?
Links
H. W. Taylor with some writing tips gleaned from Marvel comics
Search all used book websites with BookFinder
If you’ve ever wanted to browse a collection of the outlines of various celebrities’ feet, you can do so with the “Feet Book” in the London Metropolitan archives. (via Derek Guy)
Upcoming
The second issue of Good Work will be mailed to subscribers in April. Sign up to get your copy. It's free.
The fourth annual Psalm Tap will take place in Birmingham on July 19th. Registration opens soon. In the meantime, you can watch recordings of previous years’ talks here.
Up To
Reading: An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason.
Watching: 1917 again. It didn’t make as much of an impact as it did the first time, perhaps because I couldn’t stop myself from hunting for the cuts.
Listening: Bach cello suites.
Thursday Question
Thursday’s issue will be devoted to your replies to this question:
Would you say you had a good education? How do you know?
About
I’m Christian Leithart, a writer and teacher living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m not active on social media, but you can read my blog here. Use the button below to share this issue of Time’s Corner, if you so desire. Thanks much for reading.