HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive

Dr. Scott Crider of the University of Dallas introduces us to Rhetoric, an art of persuasion that allows our future leaders to lead souls (and themselves) to the good. Dr. Crider discusses the nature of rhetoric, its place in the tradition of liberal learning, its role in a technologically advanced society (and classroom), and how it can be practiced by our students, not only later in life but now, in the context of the academic essay.

In a HeightsCast episode released in September, headmaster Alvaro de Vicente offered guidance for parents on how to understand, interpret, and respond to their sons' grades while also nurturing strong and lasting bonds. This week we welcome Tom Steenson to HeightsCast to discuss grading from the teacher's perspective.

Tom offers practical advice to teachers, framing grades as a means to helping students learn, whether they are relatively strong in a subject or struggling through a class. Approaching grading more as an art than a strict science, Mr. Steenson encourages teachers to be realistic without crushing a student and to challenge students to think beyond the grade, helping them find a real joy in learning.

Chapters

• 2:10 Introduction: Grading from a teacher's perspective

• 3:00 How to think about grades

• 5:05 Dealing with a strong student

• 7:45 Should you grade different students differently?

• 10:53 The grade-monger: Kids who are hyper focused on the grade

• 14:20 Online gradebooks?

• 16:20 Practical advice for students struggling with grades

• 20:00 Grading fairly without crushing the student

• 21:45 Advice for the art of grading

• 28:10 Closing thoughts

Mentioned in the episode

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

The book of Genesis tells us that God made man ut operaretur—that he may work. Far from a punishment for the Fall, work is an essential part of man's original vocation. Indeed, it is precisely as a craftsman—a tektōn, in the Greek—who does his work well (cf. Mark 6:3) that Jesus was identified in the Gospels. Education, therefore, even a liberal arts education, ought to take into account this important aspect of man's nature.

This week on HeightsCast, we welcome John Paul Lechner and Dr. Joseph Haggarty to discuss how a craftsmanship class can fit into the education students receive at a liberal arts school. Both teachers at Sparhawk Academy in Millis, Massachusetts, Lechner and Haggarty explain how students at Sparhawk engage reality through their unique craftsmanship curriculum. They give examples of the ways even their younger students learn to craft meaningful works for their families and community while gaining skills that will serve them for life.

Mr. Lechner and Dr. Haggarty help us see the ways craftsmanship class contributes to the formation of these boys so full of energy and budding strength.

Chapters

• 2:25 Introduction

• 3:10 Origin of Sparhawk's craftsmanship courses

• 6:15 Craftsmanship in the younger years

• 7:19 Craftsmanship and the liberal arts

• 12:30 A brief history of craftsmanship

• 15:10 The dignity of working with one's hands

• 16:20 Examples of projects

• 23:20 Learning to use energy and strength well

• 26:35 Getting started with craftsmanship

Recommended Reading

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford

"I'm a big believer in boredom…. All the [technology] stuff is wonderful, but having nothing to do can be wonderful, too." Thought-provoking words from the man whose company produces one of the most powerful tools for distracting ourselves from any feelings of boredom. Not only Steve Jobs, but seventeenth-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal, too, understood the dangers of perpetual entertainment, the inability to sit alone in a room by oneself.

Given the current cultural moment, a particular arena in which children—and, indeed, parents too—need to grow in self-mastery is that of screens and technology. This week on HeightsCast, we feature a talk given by Colin Gleason, head of lower school. First given at last Saturday's Parenting Conference, this talk addresses how parents can foster the interior dispositions their sons will need to use technology well, and not to be used by it. He encourages parents to train their young sons in other arenas in order to prepare for healthy use of technology. Moreover, he speaks to the need for parents to model the virtues they'd like to see, and accompany their boys in a close and intimate relationship once they begin their digital journey.

Colin underscores that trust is not merely a result of but rather a means to achieving peace. If parents want their children to grow in virtue, they need to first trust that they can do so; for an intimate and personal relationship provides the proper culture for the growth of virtue. While external guardrails can be helpful and are at times necessary, in the end, virtue will be the best defense against evil and the strongest guarantee of the good.

Chapters

• 3:30 A common sense convention

• 6:30 Fostering internal guides

• 9:20 Trust

• 10:25 Training

• 11:45 Let him be hungry

• 15:35 Let him be bored

• 19:30 Let him stay outside

• 23:15 Modeling

• 24:05 Detachment

• 25:15 Manners

• 26:00 Establishing an intimate and personal relationship

• 26:39 Freedom

• 32:45 Ownership

• 33:50 Learning from mistakes

• 34:20 Encouragement

• 37:50 Trust

Missed the conference but don't want to miss out on the content? Check out the Freedom and Technology Collection.

"Man He made to serve Him wittily," said Thomas More in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, "in the tangle of his mind." To serve God wittily requires an orderly mind, one capable of parsing through truths and falsehoods, able to string together arguments. Thus, the trivium endures: grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

To discuss teaching logic to high school students, we welcome to the podcast Mark Grannis, Heights teacher, attorney, father, and author of The Reasonable Person: Traditional Logic for Modern Life. In this episode, Mr. Grannis discusses what logic is, why it matters today, and how to teach it. Given man's nature as a rational animal, Mark argues that the study of logic—what he refers to as the art and science of sound reasoning—can improve the daily lives of everyone, regardless of his professional or academic path. Moreover, as social animals, Mark explains how logic can be a powerful means to attaining consensus in the public arena.

In a world in which thinking has become an increasingly outsourced ability, learning the art and science of thinking well is perhaps more important than ever.

• 2:45 Introduction
• 3:30 Law and logic: Mark's path to the classroom
• 5:40 Why (traditional) logic today?
• 11:30 Symbolic and traditional logic
• 14:30 Examples of traditional logic
• 19:00 Practical benefits of logic
• 22:55 Logic and writing
• 24:40 Teaching logic to high schoolers
• 26:40 Why write your own textbooks?
• 28:40 What's different about The Reasonable Person?

The Reasonable Person: Traditional Logic for Modern Life by Mark Grannis

Logic and the Reasonable Person by Mark Grannis

AI and the Take-Home Essay with Matt Mehan

Why a Liberal Arts Education Today? with Michael Moynihan

This episode of HeightsCast features our Headmaster's Open House presentation, in which he shares our vision of education, along with the specific mission and concrete approach this vision animates. As you will hear, the Heights is informed by the timeless, yet vigorously engaged with the present, sinking its roots as a school and community into the soil of the 21st century. The Heights education, rather than seeking escape, strives to strengthen men who will, in turn, preserve, protect, and promote the good that is abundantly present in our modern world.

The real problem for many today is not ADD; it is, rather, what Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente refers to as IDD: intimacy deficit disorder. This problem is even worse for men, who on average have fewer close friends. Studies indicate that the percentage of males who report having at least six close friends has been cut in half since the 1990s. There is, it would seem, a recession in male friendships. While there is no easy panacea for this problem, as with most things, one's education can have a lasting impact on how a child learns—or doesn't learn—to relate to others.

This week we feature a recording of the annual Headmaster's Lecture titled "Friendship and the 21st-Century Boy." In the lecture, Alvaro discusses what friendship is and how to help children—and young boys, in particular—foster healthy friendships. He discusses contemporary obstacles to friendship and why growth in maturity is necessary for true, deep, and lasting friendships. He also offers a few words on what parents can do about bad friends—or, rather, friends with bad characteristics.

In the end, Alvaro gives some practical advice for how parents and educators can set the stage for the formation of what Cicero called "the greatest of all gifts from the gods," friendship.

Chapters

• 4:42 Introduction

• 6:10 What is friendship?

• 8:47 Fostering friendship by common action

• 12:02 Intimacy

• 17:41 Why maturity is necessary

• 21:26 Characteristics of maturity in friendship

• 26:09 What to do about "bad friends"?

• 30:32 Should parents intervene in their children's friendships?

• 32:17 How to separate your son from a bad influence

• 39:27 Specific challenges to boy friendship in the 21st century

• 50:50 Challenge of living in a hypersexualized environment

• 54:02 Practical ideas

Man is by nature made for movement. As a social-rational animal, he is not meant to live an angelic existence; his flourishing is embodied and, even more, it is familial.

Though we all know this intuitively, living a healthy life can be difficult in practice. Not only does personal experience tell us this, data suggests it: life expectancy in America is dropping. How is such a downward trend possible given the advances in medicine and technology? What humans have done since the dawn of time, and what they have stopped doing in the past fifty, Is to move on a daily, hourly basis.

To speak about the importance of movement for human flourishing and family life, we welcome to HeightsCast our athletic director, Mr. Dan Lively. Keeping an eye on the development of the whole young person, Dan discusses the problem of sedentarism, a lack of movement, which plagues many people's lives.

Rather than focusing on one-off exercise, Mr. Lively suggests we think about our overall relationship to movement. Living a healthy lifestyle involves more than checking a box; it involves developing habits of movement—low intensity, high volume, enjoyable movement that everyone can do for his whole life.

Chapters

• 2:00 Introduction: On Movement
• 2:45 What is movement?
• 6:20 The sedentary person
• 8:25 Keeping it personal
• 11:00 VO2 max and life-expectancy
• 19:00 Healthspan: Peter Attia and the art of longevity
• 23:10 Zone training and movement culture
• 25:55 Movement and the liberal arts
• 28:04 Building a culture
• 30:55 Movement vs. exercise
• 39:43 Step-counters
• 43:00 Movement in the winter

Recommended Resources

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

Alan Couzens

Also on the Forum

Character Formation in Elite Athletics with Brad Soderberg

Systems for Athletic Success with Dan Lively

According to Aristotle (and Aquinas and others), the human person is essentially rational and social; man thinks, and he thinks best in the context of friendship. As such, at the very heart of man's education ought to be learning to write effectively, for good writing is thought clarified and beautified which can be shared with others. Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence, however, seem to pose a formidable challenge to teachers who wish to help their students grow in this most human of crafts.

To help us think through how we as teachers should approach this challenge, this week on HeightsCast we welcome Dr. Matthew Mehan, Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Government for Hillsdale's Steve and Amy Van Andel Graduate School of Government on Capitol Hill.

Despite the risks and challenges associated with it, Dr. Mehan argues that teachers should not abandon the at-home long essay. Indeed, as he points out, the creativity and thoughtfulness required by teachers who still wish to utilize the at-home essay, while mitigating the risks of cheating, may even make them better at their own art. As it becomes increasingly easier for a student to cheat his way through simplistic prompts and an outcome-focused approach to writing, teachers must now think more deeply about the kinds of written assignments they give their students and the process they use to guide them along the way.

All this extra effort is well worth it. As Dr. Mehan reminds us: "If you cannot order your thoughts beautifully and rationally, cogently and powerfully, in writing, you cannot clarify your own thinking, nevermind then share that thinking in the most brilliant and candid way."

Chapters

• 0:55 Introduction

• 4:00 Artificial intelligence and teaching the craft of writing

• 7:20 Are at-home assignments worth the risk of cheating?

• 14:00 The real good of teaching writing

• 15:45 Strategies for mitigating cheating

• 19:30 The importance of writing to thinking and socializing

• 20:55 Imitation and the art of writing

• 21:50 More strategies

• 25:40 Summary of strategies for mitigating risk

• Pre-conversations

• Discussion of thesis statement

• Pre-writing process

• Refining your prompts

• Imitation and style

• 27:00 A new era in education?

• 30:25 Will AI alter language more fundamentally?

• 31:50 Some ideas for essay prompts

• 37:12 Love, fear, and the stealing of ideas: the ethics of AI

• 44:05 Can AI really know anything?

• 46:15 How AI can make us better teachers

• 48:00 Cite your sources: the limitation of ChatGPT as a research tool

• 52:22 In-class vs. at-home essays

Also on the Forum

Writing from the Sentence Up by Joe Breslin

5 Don'ts and Dos When Teaching Writing by Joe Breslin

On Writing: A Personal Reflection by Michael Ortiz

Splashing in Puddles: Finding the Creative Writing Flow by Joe Bissex

Why Our Politics Needs Poetry with Dr. Matthew Mehan

In a culture where autonomy is often pursued as an ideal, it's not surprising to learn that America is also experiencing a so-called loneliness epidemic. Together with loneliness, depression is also on the rise—a correlation that makes sense, given man's nature as a social animal.

What is the solution to these problems? While there is perhaps no panacea, there is a particularly important starting point: the intergenerational family.

This week, we explore the idea of "intergenerational human flourishing" with Fr. Robert Gahl, long-time professor at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome, Italy, who was recently appointed Associate Professor in the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.

In this episode, Fr. Bob weaves research from several disciplines—sociology, philosophy, theology, and neuroscience—together with his own personal and pastoral experience. All the data point to the same fact: if they are to flourish, our sons need to know themselves to be part of a bigger story which includes relationships with parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. Such strong intergenerationality will give our boys a sense that life is a total gift.

Our job as educators, then, is to free young people from an individualistic solipsism, in part by helping them discover the role they are created to play in an intergenerational ecosystem.

Chapters

• 3:30 Introduction: intergenerational human flourishing

• 4:55 Human flourishing

• 10:15 Intergenerationality

• 12:45 Protagonists of a story

• 17:30 The role of grandparents

• 22:30 Family in different cultures

• 27:05 Attachment and independence in the home

• 31:15 Cause for hope

• 37:15 Heroism transmitted in the home

• 42:15 Fr. Bob's work at the Busch School

Mentioned in the episode

The Human Flourishing Program, directed by Tyler VanderWeele

Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI

Master of Science in Ecclesial Administration and Management at the Busch School of Business

Also from the Forum

Shaping Your Son's Moral Imagination with Alvaro de Vicente