This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Learning Like Lewis: Oxford-Style Tutoring with Justin McGeary.

Most people who know 7SistersHomeschool and Vicki, know that she LOVES the writings and the story of C.S. Lewis. Thus, she was to have a conversation with Justin McGee, who shares about Oxford style tutoring (the education that Lewis received from Professor Kirkpatrick)!

Justin is a homeschool graduate himself. He remembers, back in the day, his family going to homeschool conventions and buying their curriculum for each school year! (BTW- Homeschool conferences are still great continuing education for homeschooling parents and great opportunities to meet people and look at curriculum.)

When they started homeschooling, his mother was excited, while Justin and his father were a bit reluctant or nervous about it. But then one of my siblings was diagnosed with leukemia. Homeschooling part time became necessary because of his brother’s treatments. During that time, Justin would talk to his teachers every day or every few days and get his homework for him.

Then, when Justin was in middle school, his mother took the dive because the Christian school they were attending closed. She homeschooled five children at some points. In those days the were mostly doing “traditional school at home”. Mm-hmm.

Over time, they gained the confidence to became more flexible, adding learning experiences like traveling, projects. and co-op classes. One co-op class that Justin enjoyed was physics with a physics professor!

Actually, the teacher was their dad, who taught physics at a major university nearby. He tested out one of his physics textbooks on the co-op teens!

When Justing was gearing up to graduate and go off to college, a lot of people would say to him, “Oh, you’re homeschooled and you’re going off to college! Oh, I hope you’re okay!”

Because of the questions, Justin wondered if going into college after being homeschooled, if he I must be at a disadvantage compared to my peers. However, it turned out to not be the case. It turns out that his home education actually better adapted him for the college level academics. This was, in part, because homeschooling high school is about developing independent learning skills that are needed in college.

During his junior year of college, Justin had the opportunity to study at Oxford, which he loved. He was part of a Christian liberal arts college consortium that have a program in Oxford. The name of the program is Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford. During his term of Oxford study, he was able to experience the tutorial system, go to lectures, see all the libraries, as well as traveling and experiencing British culture and history.

Justin’s turorials were in Modern English Literature and 19th century American Literature. He also attended different types of lectures. One of the most interesting was a lecture series on JRR token and the use of old English literature in The Lord of the Rings.

He was fascinated by how different the college educational system in Britain is from the US. It reminded him of the difference between his experiences with home education versus his experiences with traditional education. These created a real interest in understanding how we learn.

At the heart of the Oxford education is the tutorial. The goal of the tutorial system is to create independent learners with good critical thinking skills.

There are two key features of the tutorial. One is the importance of essay writing, and the other is then the importance of the conversation. Through each course, the tutor gives the student a list of essay topics with resources for the week.

The student reads through them and decides which essay question they want to tackle. The tutor then discusses with the student  the most important things that have been said on this topic.

The first tutorial Justin attended in his Oxford Modern English Literature course was on TS Elliot’s poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Proofrock. His tutor assigned him to read the poem, a list of the important things that had been written on that poem, and then come back with an essay.

Then he read the essay to his tutor. The tutor gave him feedback, discussed other things he had learned, and asked what he thought about what he read.

Justin discovered that the difference between the Oxford tutorial model versus American college instruction is the emphasis on asking, “What does the student think? What are the students’ arguments?” 

The goal is not for them to regurgitate what another important person in order to pass a test. It’s about learning through writing, thinking critically, and discussing critically. Students learn to develop and defend their ideas.

Justin was so impressed with his education at Oxford that he wanted to share it with homeschooling high schoolers. That’s why he started Trinity House Tutorials.

Tutorials with Justin at Trinity House work like those he experienced at Oxford. Students are given topics to select and research materials. They do research, write essays, have conversations with the tutor, get feedback, and learn to refine their thinking processes.

Teens are telling Justin that they are enjoying the writing because it matters, and because they receive feedback on it. It’s rigorous, but it’s enjoyable in many ways. Teens learn that they can strengthen their discipline and hard work skills.

Not only that, teens tell Justin that they appreciate the relational learning part of the tutorial system. The conversations with the tutor are helping them build their thinking skills.

Parents also appreciate that tutorials at Trinity House come from a Christian worldview.

There are number of courses offered at Trinity House Tutorials. These have included:

If you have students that are kind of motivated looking for a unique learning opportunity or gifted, who wants to learn like Lewis, check out this inspiring conversation with Vicki and Justin McGeary at Trinity House Tutorials.

Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing.

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