Educating Humans

Having discussed the metaphysical and epistemological ruptures that have impacted education, Difff & James move to ethics. If all education points students towards some conception of good, what is good? How can we come to understand good, especially in a flattened materialist world which doubts our capacity to know, or relativises reality? Is there any such thing as a value neutral education? And how will all of this lead to the final question about anthropology?

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
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In the second episode asking the question of what is wrong with modern progressive education, Difff & James discuss epistemology - the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of what is knowledge, what is knowable, and how we come to know things.  The implications of a reduced metaphysics are a fragmented and relativistic epistemology. Modern education has inherited the scientific reductionist epistemological view of its surrounding culture, but there are more ways to know things than just analysis, and real meaning is found not in apprehension, but comprehension; not deconstruction but contemplation; not dissecting, but harmonising.

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

In the first of four episodes attempting to detail some of the major differences between classical and modern or progressive education, Difff and James discuss metaphysics. Rather than going after specific particular elements of modern education that are problematic, they approach it from a philosophical perspective, recognising that faulty practice stems from faulty thinking, which usually stems from unspoken assumptions that are incoherent or confused. The first of four philosophical foundations of a school is metaphysics - what the school believes about the nature of reality. After this, episodes will focus on epistemology, anthropology and ethics.

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

Difff and James have another amiable argument about a contentious issue in education. This time, we're asking how much say teachers should have over what and how they teach in the classroom?  Does a top-down approach stifle teacher autonomy and creativity and create situations where students are not met where they are at? Or is this just a symptom of poor leadership and structures?  Ultimately, this episode ends up asking the question of idealism versus practicality when it comes to how much teachers should continue to learn.

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

What role does the concept of harmony play in education? This episode is a talk that was presented by Difff at the Brisbane Classical Education Conference in June 2024. Focusing on the work of St John Henry Newman, Difff discusses how true education is a harmonising process, designed to conform the soul to reality, and to recognise the natural order in the world and the connection between all things. 

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

Difff adopts his real name - Kenneth Crowther - and discusses St John Henry Newman College with James. Newman College is a new classical school starting in 2026 in Brisbane, and Kenneth is the school's first principal. In this episode, he explains the school's approach to classical education, the mission and vision of Newman College, the joy of hard work, the importance of the community of families and parents, and the role of technology at the school and in the classical home.

St John Henry Newman College is holding its official launch on Thursday July 11th at 6pm.  Find out more and register to attend here.

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

Difff & James are joined by Ben McCabe, who runs the Augustine Academy. The Academy offers a Certificate IV for students between 16 and 19 years of age. Primarily designed for homeschoolers as a way for them to gain an accredited certification for university entry, the Academy is a one year course in Literature, Philosophy, History and Theology, with a little agriculture thrown in on the side.

Ben and his wife are taking the Academy on tour to capital cities around Australia. To find out more, look for the Augustine Academy on Facebook, or go to their website: https://augustineacademy.com.au 

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

You've probably heard the saying before, that parents are the primary educators of their children. In fact, it has been said on this very podcast. But are they?  And if they are, what does this really mean?  Difff and James engage in a pseudo-debate about the topic to try to get to the heart of the proposition. They end up discussing the importance of family, the power of the state, how to work with schools, and the weight of responsibility that parenthood entails.

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

The Paideia Approach is a theory and practice of education proposed by a number of luminaries including Mortimer Adler. In this episode, James discusses the Paideia way to think about curriculum design, such as anchoring subjects of study in The Great Ideas, as well as pedagogical design, such as the use of the lecture, academic coaching, and the Socratic seminar. 

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

C.S. Lewis' 'On the Reading of Old Books' is the topic of discussion in this episode of Educating Humans. James reads most of the excerpt unabridged, and then the conversation ensues, touching on various topics based upon Lewis' main point that old books provide a lens and viewpoint that is foreign to our own and therefore valuable because it does not suffer from the same blindness of our age. We also question why people shun old books - is it too much humility, too much pride, or something else?

Please consider becoming a founding donor for St John Henry Newman College, a new independent classical school in South Brisbane.

Music: 'Inspiring Dreams' by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0