I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature, pure theology cannot at all endure, just as heretofore, when letters have declined and lain prostrate, theology, too, has wretchedly fallen and lain prostrate… Certainly it is my desire that there should be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see by these studies as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truths and for handling it skillfully and …
Author: Scott Postma
The famed UCLA basketball coach, the late John Wooden, once told a reporter who asked that the key to good leadership (i.e., having influence) is to be a good listener. Teachers who desire to have long-term influence in the lives of their students and their student’s families (i.e., younger siblings, friends and family, etc.) are good listeners, proactive communicators, and gracious encouragers. They are leaders because they know the difference between teaching students and teaching …
Not everyone is obliged to excel in philosophy, medicine, or the law, nor are all equally favored by nature; but all are destined to live in society and to practice virtue. —Vittorino da Feltre (1378 – 1446) …
The public interest in the individual’s life and learning is not that of a prospective employer or bureaucrat. Although, the individual must live in harmony with the community, his life of virtue ought not to be subsumed by the political purposes of the state—for ultimately, the state’s only justification is that it makes the good life, the life of virtue, the life that takes responsibility for what it knows, possible… Reacting to “missle gaps” and …
Annie Sullivan was a classical educator who began teaching Helen Keller when Keller was only six years old. Sullivan used fingerspelling, a tedious method of tracing out every letter of every word in the palm of Keller’s hand. By the time Keller was 13, she could read Latin and French using raised print. In high school, she read the Iliad—in Greek. As you’re likely aware, Keller was blind, deaf, and dumb, and had been since …
There is one sense in which the teacher should be predictable: well-prepared lesson plans, punctuality, grading standards, cheerfulness, orderly classroom, etc. But there is another sense in which a teacher should be equally unpredictable: timely appropriate humor, relevant rabbit trails, impactful stories, and impromptu displays of beauty: art, music, and poetry. A surprising piece of art, a beautiful poem or even a clichéd joke about polynomials (Rats FOILED again!) might be the inspiration, wonder, or …