Throughout most of human history, across many cultures, the best education was reserved for the few. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the concept of universal education was promulgated in response to the Industrial Revolution. Even with the adoption of public, universal education in many countries, questions arose concerning what type of education should be given to which people.

Having taught as a classical Christian educator for twenty years, I saw students with various levels of intellectual ability. I can understand why some educators believe it prudent to separate students based on intellectual giftedness and provide a more rigorous academic course of study to those more gifted students while providing a lesser standard to all the rest. However, I posit that this line of reasoning is mistaken, elitist, and harmful to society.

In Genesis, God tells us that all people are created in His image. This means everyone has value, purpose, and calling. Consequently, we have the obligation to provide the best primary and secondary education to everyone, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, culture, or intellectual capacity. The goal of a classical Christian education is to produce graduates who are knowledgeable in many areas, can articulate their thoughts in written and oral form using logic and reason, and live lives of Christian virtue. We must do our best to ensure all people have the opportunity for this type of excellent education.

The Bible also provides the foundation for classical Christian education. Classical education focuses on teaching children using pedagogy and techniques that are age appropriate. All of these techniques have a basis in Scripture. Recitation, singing, logic, rhetoric, writing, and memorization are key teaching techniques in classical education that are espoused in the Scriptures multiple times. Consequently, all children should be taught using classical pedagogy, not just those more gifted academically, because biblical principles apply equally to everyone.

My own empirical experience teaching in an American classical Christian school shows the value of providing a classical education to all children regardless of ethnicity, historical period, culture, intellectual capacity, and professional calling. In my many years of teaching, I taught students of different races, intellectual abilities, and economic backgrounds. However, I did my best to treat all students equally—I held the same high expectations for them all. As a result, I can share numerous examples of underperforming students who have gone on to pursue college degrees, learn valuable trade skills, and contribute positively to society. There is a mental maturation that can occur after physical maturity. By relegating underperforming students to a lesser, more vocation-based education, we are not honoring God’s directive to treat all people as worthy of the highest respect because they are created in His image. By providing the best education (e.g. a classical Christian one), we help all students reach their God-given potential with the highest standards.

I also have empirical evidence through my experience as Headmaster of a classical Christian school in Tanzania working with the Rafiki Foundation. Does classical Christian education, which many consider to be applicable to only Western civilization, also work in a completely different culture? Yes! I always get compliments on how differently my students conduct themselves in social settings with their peers. People are impressed with my students’ ability to reason, ask questions, and express their own opinions in a clear, logical fashion. They also tell me how impressed they are with the behavior of my students. In Tanzania, the educational philosophy is based on telling students what to learn and then having them spit back what they have been taught. My Tanzanian friends tell me if you are good at memorization, you will be an A student. When parents, educators, administrators, and church leaders visit my school and see what we are doing, they express a strong desire to want this type of education in all their schools. These people cannot explain classical Christian education, but they desperately want it for their children. They understand the egregious weaknesses in their current system of education and they see the value of a classical Christian education. This desire is inherent in them because they too are created in God’s image. They want and deserve the best system of education just like their Western brothers.

I know some who are reading will want to know how closely our curriculum mirrors an American school. Do we Africanize it in some way? I do not have space to fully answer that question, but I will say that while many aspects are identical, we also do our best to provide culturally relevant elements. Our students study the Greeks and Romans and read Western literature. We do face the challenge of limited Tanzanian literature and historical records, but we do our best to incorporate Tanzanian works that teach our students tenets of classical pedagogy. We hope that some of our graduates will become authors, historians, and artists who can research and even create academic works that can be used for following generations of Tanzanian students.

In conclusion, I believe it is an egregious error to limit classical education to only a gifted, intellectual elite. I won’t argue that all students benefit differently, but I will argue that all students benefit. How can people be expected to be Godly contributors to society when they cannot identify logical fallacies? Or understand historical connections? Or are never taught true beauty in art, music, and literature? A society that has classically trained people will be a much better society. As leaders in this classical movement, we must put aside earthly prejudices and glorify our Heavenly Father by providing the best education to all our children regardless of ethnicity, historical period, culture, intellectual capacity, and professional calling.

 

John Cicone, MEd, is the Head Administrator of the Rafiki Foundation School Tanzania.

 

 

 
John Cicone
Headmaster – Rafiki Classical Christian School Tanzania

 

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