{"id":1247,"date":"2020-05-23T08:12:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-23T13:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2024-01-26T14:35:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T20:35:37","slug":"the-problem-of-scientism-in-conventional-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/05\/23\/the-problem-of-scientism-in-conventional-education\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem of Scientism in Conventional Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scientism is precisely not<\/em> a focus on the importance of learning all that we can about the natural world in school. This we applaud, and classical education<\/a> has a lot to tell us about how we can teach our knowledge about nature, our scientia<\/em> n\u0101t\u016br\u0101lis<\/em> as the medievals would call it, better than we currently do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, scientism is the trend in the social sciences, like the field of education, to conform to the pattern of the wildly successful hard sciences by proving themselves through data and pure reason alone. If we can prove it through an experiment and logic without appealing to any traditional belief, then we will accept it as true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational schools have become labs, where white-coated practitioners test the latest theories on the millions of children scattered in their suburban and inner-city habitats across America. The best teachers read the educational journals and carefully follow the latest research on how to most effectively manipulate the environments of their subjects in order to attain society\u2019s desired ends. Scientism listens to evidence and data, not to history or philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Scientism Is a Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scientism is a problem because the field of education is not a hard science, but a branch of moral philosophy, scientia m\u014dr\u0101lis<\/em>. Every philosophy of education necessarily relies on a previously established account of what it means to be human. And yet, as Kevin Clark and Ravi Jain document in The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education 2.0<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe methodologies of the contemporary social sciences implicitly critique traditional moral philosophy by suggesting it relies on assumptions about human nature and human purpose that are not rationally or empirically verifiable\u2026. In actuality\u2026 all reasoning in the social sciences depends on a tradition of inquiry, whether Christian, Freudian, or Lockean, as well as personal and communal judgments and assumptions about the nature and purpose of human persons.\u201d (132)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But scientism screens out such foundational questions about man, the good life, and ultimate purpose, in an attempt to be more precise\u2014or precise in a different way\u2014than the subject matter admits of (cf. Aristotle<\/a>, Nichomachean Ethics<\/em> I.3, 1094b<\/sup>12-15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In so doing, it does not actually attain a neutral, \u201cobjective\u201d viewpoint; instead, half-baked philosophies and unexamined assumptions rush back in, as seven demons take the place of the one that was exorcised. Scientism promises us firmer knowledge, not swayed to and fro by the winds of history and the waves of philosophy, but in reality it delivers only ignorance of how we are recycling old ideas by recasting them into new, scientific-looking forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, Paul Hirst, an educationist of the last generation, popularized a view of \u201cseven forms of knowledge\u201d that was essentially an unacknowledged recycling of Isocrates\u2019 vision of the seven liberal arts. One scholar has documented Hirst\u2019s grave historical inaccuracies in his account of the history of education\u2014all the more disturbing because of the work\u2019s placement in a standard encyclopedia! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Muir writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHirst\u2019s \u2018history\u2019 of liberal education, though found in a standard reference work, is inaccurate to a degree that it is difficult to exaggerate, and it is now imperative that this article be replaced by an historically informed discussion.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, this lone voice has not been heeded. Why? Because almost no scholars in education departments are engaged in any meaningful way with the history of educational philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Enjoying this article? Read its twin, The Problem of Technicism in Conventional Education<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Classical Contrast to Scientism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The classical education movement, at its best, is a way of saying \u201cNo!\u201d to the scientism of conventional education, and saying \u201cYes!\u201d to the rich tradition of philosophical thinking in our past. Being willing to look to the past rather than merely to the lab of educational researchers is a great gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, in our recovery movement\u2019s first feeble steps in this direction, we have sometimes fallen into the same pitfalls as Paul Hirst, who attributed a doctrinal abstraction of his own invention (\u2018classical realism\u2019) to a historical abstraction (\u2018the Greeks\u2019) without any evidence from their actual writings: \u201cThere is little resemblance between the ideas which Hirst attributes to \u2018the Greeks,\u2019 and the educational ideas any of them actually held,\u201d Muir points out.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How often have we heard or promulgated similar doctrinal and historical abstractions in our stump speeches on the value of classical education?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To the extent that we attribute our<\/em> educational ideas to the Greeks and Romans or even to the medievals without the hard, historical work of recovering what Isocrates or Aquinas actually wrote, we may be unwittingly participating in the scientism of our day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bronze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Please do not misunderstand. We may need to use such abstractions and generalizations for heuristic purposes: for instance, an informational meeting for those interested in classical education<\/a> probably shouldn\u2019t be citing Isocrates, Plato and Quintilian, and distinguishing between their very different philosophies of education! There are times for making a careful contrast between the trends<\/em> of modern educational practices and those of earlier eras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if in our books, conferences and blogs we do not rise to a higher standard of historical accuracy, then I am afraid, even the classical education movement will be doomed to suffer the repeated recycling of old ideas only partially rediscovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Avoiding Scientism in our Classical Recovery Movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Arguably we have made great strides in this direction in the successive waves of the classical education movement. Clark and Jain, authors of The Liberal Arts Tradition<\/em> are to be commended for, among other things, their substantive and rigorous research to lay out a paradigm that is based on historical and philosophical analysis of the tradition. No end of commendations and endorsements are due for such a crucial foundation stone for our growing movement (especially the expanded and revised version 2.0<\/a>). However, their primary goal is still to recover a generalization of the tradition, even if they land at different authors, times and places for various aspects of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about a careful analysis of the practices and philosophy of educational philosophers and practitioners, in the context of their time and place, one author at a time? We have been so concerned with defining what classical education is<\/em> monolithically that we tend to omit the obvious truth: there have been many <\/em>classical educations, practiced very differently in various times and places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A generalization of the tradition is a helpful thing, but it is only as good as the data from which the generalization comes. In other words, our generalizations about classical education<\/em> rely on our detailed knowledge about specific expressions of classical education. The only way to get a Liberal Arts Tradition 3.0 is to first write a series of books exploring the differences and disagreements in the tradition. (Classical Academic Press has started in this direction with their Giants in the History of Education Series<\/a>, but these short books are mostly meant to serve as basic introductions and contain little of the detailed historical and comparative analysis I am talking about.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The only lasting solution to scienticism in education is ultimately an entire Renaissance project in which we return ad font\u0113s<\/em> (\u201cto the sources\u201d) in an effort not simply to generalize a definition of what classical education is<\/em>, but to distinguish between the different visions and practices of the multifaceted tradition. In so doing we will have to be prepared to not like everything we see; we may be forced to engage in some negative judgments on some aspects of the tradition, even as we are inspired and challenged by others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would be all well and good and would probably have the positive side effect of making our commendations more winsome to a wider audience. I have known quite a few educators and parents who are slightly put off by some of the overly idealistic and sweeping rhetoric of classical education advocates. They, at least, might be more inclined to take a renaissance movement seriously that was more historically nuanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Likewise, we will have to give the devil his due: it\u2019s not as if modern educational research has nothing of value, when burgeoning new disciplines like cognitive psychology and mind, brain and education (MBE) science are taking advantage of legitimate advances in neuroimaging and our understanding of the brain. (I owe my awareness of MBE primarily to Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education<\/a><\/em> by Glenn Whitman and Ian Kelleher.) In so far as such insights reflect true developments in our understanding of human nature as created by God, we should expect to be able to integrate them with the best ideals and practices of the classical tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why at Educational Renaissance we are committed to interacting in a meaningful way with sources of educational wisdom, both ancient and modern. Quoting from Aristotle<\/a> and Charlotte Mason<\/a>, Quintilian<\/a> and John Locke<\/a> helps keep us honest about what we’re talking about at any one time and avoid the sweeping generalizations so common in our world. Integrating their ideas with those of modern research, while being open to challenging either side, provides both a confirmation of their value and a translation for modern ears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Renaissance Solution to Scientism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What I\u2019m calling for in education is something analogous to the Renaissance<\/a> itself: a recovery of ancient sources of wisdom alongside a host of new advancements in science and technology<\/a>, art and literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cicero\u2019s famous dictum applies to the classical education movement as a whole: \u201cNesc\u012bre autem quid antequam n\u0101tus s\u012bs acciderit, id est semper esse puerum<\/em>\u201d (\u201cHowever, not to know what happened before you were born, that is to be always a boy\u201d). To grow up into mature manhood, we must know the history of educational ideas, not in word or in name, but in action and in truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This realization should be liberating and exciting, rather than leading us into the despair of what we do not yet know. Hindsight is 20\/20 and we have the God-given glory of kings to enable us to surpass our forefathers, should we seriously take on the endeavor of historical inquiry. To use the common analogy, standing on the shoulders of giants can enable us to see further than they did, even if our stature does not match theirs. This is not an encouragement to hubris, but an acknowledgement of our high calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Hamlet said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world.\u201d (II.2)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is this Christian humanist vision of humanity<\/a> in all its glory and possibility that supercharged the work of the Renaissance, and it can function similarly in the educational renaissance<\/a> we are promoting today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great path of discovery lies before us, and after all, Rome was not built in a day. In fact, the recovery process must take time, if only because there is so much educational philosophy to recover. We should ask ourselves the encouraging question of possibility, \u201cHow might our schools grow, if we devoted ourselves fully to learning the history of educational philosophy, rather than the watered-down summaries of scientism?\u201d I, for one, hope to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> James R. Muir, \u201cThe History of Educational Ideas and the Credibility of Philosophy of Education,\u201d Educational Philosophy and Theory<\/em>, 30, no. 1 (1998): 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 17-18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nota Bene<\/em>: An earlier version of this article appeared on Forma: The Blog of the CiRCE Institute<\/em>, February 2015, under the same title: https:\/\/www.circeinstitute.org\/blog\/problem-scientism-conventional-education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like this article? Read its twin, The Problem of Technicism in Conventional Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientism is precisely not a focus on the importance of learning all that we can about the natural world in school. This we applaud, and classical education has a lot to tell us about how we can teach our knowledge about nature, our scientia n\u0101t\u016br\u0101lis as the medievals would call it, better than we currently 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Barney","author_link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/author\/jasonmbarney\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"Scientism is precisely not a focus on the importance of learning all that we can about the natural world in school. This we applaud, and classical education has a lot to tell us about how we can teach our knowledge about nature, our scientia n\u0101t\u016br\u0101lis as the medievals would call it, better than we currently…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7K1D-k7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1879,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/02\/13\/breaking-down-the-bad-of-blooms-the-false-objectivity-of-education-as-a-modern-social-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":1247,"position":0},"title":"Breaking Down the Bad of Bloom’s: The False Objectivity of Education as a Modern Social Science","author":"Jason Barney","date":"February 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In the first two posts of this series (which I am reviving after a 6 months long hiatus) I proposed replacing Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy of educational objectives with Aristotle\u2019s intellectual virtues. The major flaw in Bloom\u2019s taxonomy, which is a hierarchical categorization of educational goals in the cognitive domain, is that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern Research"","block_context":{"text":"Modern Research","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/modern-research\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bloom's Taxonomy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/blooms.jpg?fit=498%2C366&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1591,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/","url_meta":{"origin":1247,"position":1},"title":"Why The History of Narration Matters, Part 1: Charlotte Mason’s Discovery?","author":"Jason Barney","date":"October 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve decided to put the series on Bloom's Taxonomy vs. Aristotle\u2019s Intellectual Virtues on hold for a couple months after contracting with Classical Academic Press to film two courses in December for ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason\u2019s philosophy for classical educators. So I\u2019m returning to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History of Education"","block_context":{"text":"History of Education","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/history-of-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"an old and traditional school room","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3822,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/06\/10\/charlotte-mason-the-educational-philosopher\/","url_meta":{"origin":1247,"position":2},"title":"Charlotte Mason, the Educational Philosopher","author":"Jason Barney","date":"June 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In researching\u00a0Charlotte Mason\u2019s life for my book on her with Classical Academic Press (published 2023:\u00a0Charlotte Mason: A Liberal Education for all!), the latest in the\u00a0Giants in the History of Education series\u00a0(see my recorded\u00a0webinar with Classical Academic Press!) 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This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charlotte Mason"","block_context":{"text":"Charlotte Mason","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/charlotte-mason\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/charlotte-mason-podcast-pic-young.png?fit=800%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/charlotte-mason-podcast-pic-young.png?fit=800%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/charlotte-mason-podcast-pic-young.png?fit=800%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/charlotte-mason-podcast-pic-young.png?fit=800%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4207,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2024\/03\/09\/the-soul-of-education-part-1-what-is-a-human-being\/","url_meta":{"origin":1247,"position":3},"title":"The Soul of Education, Part 1: What Is a Human Being?","author":"Jason Barney","date":"March 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Every educational philosophy necessarily relies on a pre-existing view of the human person. Anthropology informs pedagogy. Many of the problems that classical Christian educators have identified in conventional education have their roots in a false or insufficient view of human beings. The factory model of education, for instance, underrates certain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classical Tradition"","block_context":{"text":"Classical Tradition","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/classical-tradition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Coram-Deo-Academy.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Coram-Deo-Academy.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Coram-Deo-Academy.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Coram-Deo-Academy.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Coram-Deo-Academy.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2018\/07\/20\/the-classical-distinction-between-an-art-and-a-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":1247,"position":4},"title":"The Classical Distinction Between the Liberal Arts and Sciences","author":"Jason Barney","date":"July 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the encouraging recent developments in education is the recovery of the classical educational tradition of the liberal arts and sciences amongst Christian classical schools. Of course, we\u2019re already laboring upstream, since to most people the term \u2018liberal arts\u2019 simply refers to general studies or the humanities. 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Tertullian was writing at a time in which church leaders were weighing the pros and cons of mining the Greco-Roman philosophical tradition for insights they could utilize in the development of a distinctively Christian philosophy.\u00a0 Similarly, within\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charlotte Mason"","block_context":{"text":"Charlotte Mason","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/charlotte-mason\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4158,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/4158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}