Academy for Classical Teachers

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle emphasizes that cultivating virtue is a matter of forming the proper habits. But the best way to form virtuous habits is not through individual, isolated efforts to make good decisions. Rather, it is by dwelling in good communities and abiding by the laws they set down. Aristotle concludes, therefore, that "someone who wishes to make people better...should try to acquire legislative science...."

In Book X, then, he proposes to "study the collected political systems" in order to "grasp better what sort...is best; how each...should be organized so as to be best; and what laws and habits it should employ." But just as he proposes those things, he ends the book! The closing words are "let us discuss this, then, having made a start."

The Politics is where this promised discussion takes place, and our goal in this course will be to take up Aristotle's charge - to study the collected political systems and better grasp what sort is best. We will be reading the text in its entirety, and we will be attempting 1) to understand his classification of regimes, 2) to see how he thinks they are best organized, and 3) to clarify the laws and habits he thinks they should employ.

In this self-paced course, Brighton Demerest-Smith (a classically trained artist and veteran educator with Great Hearts Academies) moves from how to teach the elements of drawing up through still life and master study. Grounded in fundamentals and close observation of subjects, his methods of teaching drawing are traditional and time-tested.

In this self-paced course, veteran mathematics teacher and leader Jake Tawney provides a clear and engaging introduction to the beauty of Mathematics. This course does not propose a specific curriculum. It does, however, present a list of “those things from mathematics you should have learned but probably didn’t.”

In this self-paced course, Dr. Joshua Avery guides teachers through Shakespeare’s sonnets as well as seven of his plays, providing key insights into enjoying and understanding these classics with your students. 

The novel is a story about the personal moral development of the protagonist, and it is executed with literary and imaginative mastery. In this course, we will read this book carefully, observing how Bastien's journey to self-possession is a powerful allegory for the educational journey classical education offers. We will discuss the details and themes of the book, but our focus will not be on how to teach the book for any particular level; rather, we will explore together, as educators, how Bastien’s journey can clarify our understanding of the journey our students are on and equip us with a new realm of ideas in guiding them on that journey.

This course is both an encounter and discussion of a great novel and a seminar for discussing our vocation as classical pedagogues, refreshing our hearts with the wonder and danger Bastien encounters along the way. The course is thus suitable for teachers of all levels.

In this self-paced course Jerilyn Olson connects classical principles to practical techniques that teachers can employ in the classroom.