“The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world,” opens one of the books I like to revisit during advent. (1) This fall, the story was presented as a movie in theaters, so I delightfully revisited it there this season. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is a scandalous children’s tale that questions who is the “right sort” for Christmas pageants. The story reminds readers that Christ’s coming is for everyone, even the Herdmans. If you are unfamiliar, here is a summary: Every year, there is an annual Christmas pageant at the church. This year, the Herdmans—the small town’s infamous family of unchurched, scrappy, and disrespectful children without parental influence—learn of the hearty potlucks held at church, so they show up to the pageant meeting and commandeer the event. The foul-mouthed bully Imogene Herdman hijacks the role of Mary, and her siblings seize remaining roles, such as The Angel, Joseph, and The Wise Men, through manipulation and threats. The answer to this quarter’s disputed question, “Is classical education for everyone?” finds itself nestled in the pondering heart of Imogene Herdman as the mother of Christ.

    Imogene Herdman experiences a moment of Pentecost. (2) During the pageant, “Christmas came over her all at once.” (3) At first, she shows up to church for the cake, but after asking many questions about the story of Christ (and many questions about Herod killing the babies), Imogene and her siblings realize the sanctity of the story. The liturgy of the pageant helps them to know truth as they physically embody the biblical tale. The church parishioners, young and old, who dutifully produce and participate in the pageant every year, yet take the story for granted, wake up from their advent sleepwalk. They recognize the beauty of Emmanuel, “God with us,” as they witness the Herdmans’ realization of truth. The Christmas story is for everyone, even the Herdmans. This benefits all.

    It is much the same with classical education.

    I recently read Plato’s The Republic again and was reminded that while offering beautiful images of education for the soul, Plato also suggests that this beautiful education is only for the aristocratic guardians of a city (he even encourages the philosophical elite to have collective property and families as well). I am not sure what Plato was literally advocating for the community at large with his metaphorical musings, but as an educator in a classless society, I focus on his descriptions of education and adopt Mortimer Adler’s premise about who is educable. Adler asserts that “…every child is educable up to his or her capacity,”(4) and “If all children are educable, all are justified in aspiring to become educated persons.”(5)

    If we read Plato’s cave analogy (Book VII) as a moment of Pentecost, we see education as a distinct human process which leads a soul from shadows to sunlight (educere, the Latin root of the word education, means to “draw forth”). The metaphor that describes emergence from limited shadows in a cave to the direct warmth of sunlit truth suggests that humans can turn their gaze toward the brightness of what is true, good, and beautiful. For Plato, an educated person is one whose soul is liberated to lead the “good life.” For humans, this is the best type of education. Classical education, or a “liberal” education focusing on the Trivium and Quadrivium arts of learning, frees the human soul to pursue virtue. According to Adler, all children in a socially equal society deserve an opportunity for the best education—one that frees the soul and does not predestine them for labor. Former black slave, Anna Julia Cooper, who advocated in the early 20^th century for liberal arts education for all black Americans, agrees, saying, “We must, whatever else we do, insist on those studies which by the consensus of educators are calculated to train our people to think, which will give them the power of appreciation and make them righteous.”(6)

    Classical Christian educators may witness a correlation here to the gospel. When describing who can receive the gift of righteousness, the Apostle Paul acknowledges that the gift is for everyone. Though many of us have been given different advantages in life (wealth, status, gender, race, intellect, skill, talent), according to Christian doctrine, salvation is offered to all made in the imago Dei. All can move from darkness to light. We are one in Christ as Paul says in Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In addition, every race, class, and gender benefit when they realize their common grace in Christ. Previously, the law was the guardian of our righteousness (maybe like Plato’s guardians of the city were the guardians of justice and virtue), but now Christ offers righteousness to all humans. If we are all equal in our humanity, then we all have the capability to move toward truth, beauty, and goodness if we attend and follow its melody. If the good news is for everyone, educators can likewise offer educere to all human souls.

    As Christian educators who know this God and His truth, goodness, and beauty, it is our responsibility to continue to descend to the depths of the cave and offer a hand to those who are shifting their gaze. I propose that with the tools and opportunities provided by classical education, we deliver search-and-rescue teams to as many souls we can to the best of our abilities and resources.

    Classical education can lead all humans from every part of society to the pageant of the true, good, and beautiful. Do not discount those who might not seem to fit the perceived mold of classical education. There is no mold except a human mold. There could be a Herdman waiting for their place in the pageant, and Herdmans make it even more interesting, declares the story’s narrator, “As for ruining the whole thing, it seemed to me that the Hermans had improved the pageant a lot, just by doing what came naturally…”(7)

    While students like the Herdmans can cause tension, Herdmans living in a socially equal society should have the same opportunity for not just the gospel, but also a means to play a part in the pageant. In other words, a beautiful educational liturgy can lead students to the goodness of the gospel. In addition, the tension added by Herdmans creates opportunity for everyone to grow and understand each other better as well as the truth before them. Difference just makes things more interesting. The intellectual virtues of open-mindedness and charity strengthen all souls involved when diverse populations gather in humility to learn how to be virtuous humans. Every race, class, and gender benefit when they can learn in grace together. Like the advent of the Christ child, classical education is for everyone, even the Herdmans. This benefits all.

1. Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (New York: Harper Trophy, 2005), 1.

2. I am reminded what Dorothy L. Sayers says in The Mind of the Maker that, “It is the business of education to wait upon Pentecost. Unhappily, there is something about educational syllabuses, and especially about examination papers, which seems to be rather out of harmony with Pentecostal manifestations.” The Lost Tools of Learning and The Mind of the Maker (Oxford, England: Oxford City Press, 2010), 95.

3. Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, 79.

4. Mortimer Jerome Adler, The Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1999), 7.

5. Ibid, 9.

6. Anna Julia Cooper, “On Education,” essay, in The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper: Including A Voice From the South and Other Important Essays, Papers and Letters, ed. Charles Lamert (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1930), 251.

7. Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, 76.

Works Cited

Adler, Mortimer Jerome. The Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1999. 

Cooper, Anna Julia. “On Education.” Essay. In The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper: Including A Voice From the South and Other Important Essays, Papers and Letters, edited by Charles Lamert, 248–58. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1930. 

Robinson, Barbara. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. New York: Harper Trophy, 2005. 

Carrie Eben, MSEd (PhD student), is owner of Classical Eben education consulting (classicaleben.com), founding board member of Sager Classical Academy in Siloam Springs, AR and adjunct instructor of Integrated Humanities at John Brown University.

 

Carrie Eben
Classical Education Consultant
Founding Board member of Sager Classical Academy
Instructor of Humanities at John Brown University

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