There is a very interesting discussion that I have become involved in on Linked In which is sort of network where people talk about topics. I am in a thread on business and educations where local leaders are decrying the fact that our culture is not providing students with an education that gives them soft skills that transfer from one job to the next. I am going to send you my slightly altered comments because they touch on why we are doing what we are doing at Veritas Academy. The concern of the discussion is that most schools are not producing students ready for the actual work world, but instead are producing students who are prepared for a world that no long exists. Here is my first post:
(Rob Spykstra) mentioned the discussion to me and I had to jump in. There are so many good comments. I think that (an earlier past was) starting hitting around one of the biggest problems. The whole system, presently, is set up to produce students for a work world that does not exist. The discussion of soft skills is good, but we have to come to grips with the fact that this is exactly what we are NOT doing. We are giving them basic facts (and ironically sometimes really obscure facts too), but we are not teaching them to think well, and to communicate well. We are not even teaching them the facts that matter most. (Personally, I think we are expecting too much if we expect them to have a great attitude when we prepare them in this manner.) I have interacted with a number of public school administrators that feel this pinch. I tell them that they are looking for what we call the Trivium--the skills at the heart of a classical education. These three skills are called grammar, logic, and rhetoric. You could call them learning how to learn, critical thinking skills, and communicating winsomely and persuasively. These skills are critical as the economy changes. Here is a link to an essay on the method from Dorothy Sayers (a friend of Lewis' and Tolkien's...she also did ad work for Gunniess--it is a little long, but it is really good):
