Mike Rowe, star of the Dirty Jobs television series, was classically educated. He reflects on his classical education and what he has learned from Dirty Jobs in this video. He begins his presentation by describing lamb castration in more detail that you might want to hear, but there is a point to his story.
Another quote from Digital Barbarism by Mark Halprin:
In my education it was assumed that one would … study Latin, in much the same way that today it is assumed that a student will … collect aluminum cans.
Related post: Independent thought
The following discussion of early American education comes from Mark Halprin’s book Digital Barbarism.
… the quality imparted in the study of classical languages, the Bible, and great works of literature (including the documents of the Founding) enlarged autonomy of thought. For, contrary to modern educational theories, discipline fosters not subservience but independence, as independence requires great strength to uphold.
Why sloth is the most subtle of the seven deadly sins.
Forbes magazine online has an article interviewing leaders regarding what they learned from reading the classics. The interviews are excerpts from the book “Power Ambition Glory” by Steve Forbes and John Prevas.
See The Art of Asking Questions for a discussion of the importance of training students to ask good questions.
See this blog post: Spurgeon: Yet He Want’s Books. Justin Taylor comments on Charles Spurgeon’s sermon on 2 Timothy 4:13. In that passage, Paul asks Timothy to bring him his books.
He is inspired, and yet he wants books!
He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books!
He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books!
He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books!
He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a men to utter, yet he wants books!
He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books!
I’m teaching a graduate class in statistics. The semester is almost over and I’m teaching a topic not included in our textbook. I wanted to use a book that I believe is one of the best on the subject, but it’s too hard for the students to read on their own. I thought about using a more accessible text, but instead I decided to guide them though the difficult book.
I copied the first few pages of the advanced book and passed them out. We’re going through these pages line-by-line the way a literature class might go through a difficult passage from Milton. I provide lots of commentary. We have discussions. We go on tangents. But we have a text to return to that keeps us on track. So far I believe this experiment in applying classical pedagogy to advanced statistics is working well.
Covenant Academy won five gold medals in the ASCI speech meet in Huntsville this morning.
ACSI meets are unusual in that the first place winner does not necessarily win a gold medal. To win a gold medal, a performance must not only be best, it must also rise to a certain standard. The judges may give up to three medals (gold, silver, bronze) but do not necessarily give any medals in a particular event.
