This course invites classical educators to explore student behavior not merely as a matter of compliance or noncompliance, but as a look into the interior disposition of their soul. In the first three seminars, through close reading and discussion of the excellent stories The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis and The Wise Woman by George MacDonald, participants will trace the moral and emotional journeys of children who must know and master themselves through the guidance of excellent teachers (the Lion and the Woman). These books portray the teacher not as a technician but as a guide and shepherd, cultivating virtue in the lives of two children in unique ways.
In the final session, participants will reflect on the teacher’s disposition and the nature of anger and frustration, and its proper (and improper) place in school discipline through a reading and discussion of a small excerpt from Seneca the Younger’s On Anger. Participants will be able to articulate the strategies employed by the characters in the book, connect those strategies to their work, and strengthen their philosophical understanding of directing and redirecting student behavior.
This course consists of a series of readings along with regularly scheduled seminars held on Zoom. All materials and important links can be found in Brightspace. Learners will also receive an Outlook invitation to the live Zoom seminars. The seminars can be accessed via the Outlook invitation or by clicking the corresponding link in Brightspace.
Texts: Please purchase the Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis; all other texts will be provided.
Schedule: 9/25, 10/9, 10/23, and 11/6 from 5:30-7:30 CST (Arizona participants, please note that daylight savings will affect the time of the last session. See the syllabus for details.)
Facilitator: Luke Ayers
GH employees (and affiliate school employees): use voucher code ghemployee (case sensitive) at checkout.
