Reclaiming Classical Education

Sometimes when we you lose something it's long after it has disappeared that you register its existence, and its value.I wasn't educated in the classical tradition, but my teachers were.When my children went to school in the 2000s, I sensed that something was missing.On reading Reclaiming Classical Education it's clear that my children were not simply missing Latin, Plato and Homer but the accompanying sense of purpose.In the 1970s my teachers, still understood their role as 'acquainting students with their intellectual, historical and cultural legacy'.Today's teachers are trained to play a more instrumental role; to get the grades or to develop their self-esteem.This collection of 16 essays goes a long way to describe what has been lost and how it might be reclaimed.It provides a compelling argument for the revival of 'classical' or 'liberal' teaching.Its authors are not driven by nostalgia, but a sense that our contemporary education lacks intellectual substance.The book is published by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a Hungarian education and research centre with a base in Brussels.It is divided into four Penny Lewis is the programme director for the BA Architectural Studies (Wuhan) at the University of Dundee, Scotland and a lecturer in Architecture.She is a parent and a member of the Scottish Union for Education.