{"id":911,"date":"2020-02-15T08:09:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T14:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=911"},"modified":"2023-05-20T13:52:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T18:52:30","slug":"charlotte-mason-and-the-liberal-arts-tradition-part-1-mapping-a-harmony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/15\/charlotte-mason-and-the-liberal-arts-tradition-part-1-mapping-a-harmony\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlotte Mason and the Liberal Arts Tradition, Part 1: Mapping a Harmony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhat has Athens to do with Jerusalem?\u201d the church father Tertullian skeptically asked. 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, within the Christian classical school movement, some have asked, \u201cWhat has Charlotte Mason to do with Dorothy Sayers?\u201d In other words, can the pedagogical insights of the British educator Charlotte Mason be conducive for classical education today? Where is there harmony? Where is there discord?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a full treatment of this question, and the subsequent questions I posed, would require more than a single blog post, I want to begin the conversation by highlighting one prominent interpretation of classical education and then dispelling of two myths that would suggest Charlotte Mason and the tradition are at odds. The interpretation of classical education I will highlight comes from Kevin Clark and Ravi Scott Jain\u2019s The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education<\/a><\/em>, which has become a seminal text <\/a>in the Christian classical school movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Paradigm for the Liberal Arts Tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get started, let me first summarize Clark and Jain\u2019s proposed paradigm for the liberal arts tradition. To be clear, I am not suggesting, nor do the authors, that this paradigm gets everything right about the western tradition of education. The history of education in western civilization<\/a> spans millennia and cultures. It therefore encompasses a variety of thinkers and ideas that vary depending on their context and position within its development. Nevertheless, to suggest that there is no tradition at all is equally incorrect. Through careful study, we can observe some common threads present across time and place, which together bear witness to a single living tradition. It is precisely this rich heritage of education which Clark and Jain seek to uncover and illuminate for modern day scholars and practitioners alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The authors define the purpose of the liberal arts tradition in the West as follows: \u201cGrounded in piety, Christian classical education cultivates the virtues of the student in body, heart, and mind while nurturing a love for wisdom under the lordship of Christ.\u201d To unpack this purpose statement and help their readers keep the big picture in mind, they divide the paradigm into multiple categories\u2014Piety, Gymnastic, Music, Arts, Philosophy, and Theology\u2014or PGMAPT, for easy remembering. Let me briefly walk us through each category now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piety<\/strong> is the abiding love, gratitude, and loyalty members of a tradition share for their heritage. When fully realized, piety harnesses the heart and will toward a proper sense of duty for what has come before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gymnastic<\/strong> is the focused and intensive training of the physical body. As embodied souls, or ensouled bodies, humans must gain mastery of their physical bodies if they are to truly flourish in a physical world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music<\/strong> (not to be confused with the modern “subject” of music) tunes the heart to wonder, delight, and love. It forms the affections and moral imagination of the youngest students. Rather than focusing exclusively on instruments or singing, musical education is directed toward joyful engagement with reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arts <\/strong>refer to the Liberal Arts, both the Trivium (language arts) and Quadrium (numerical arts). Together they are to be understood as the tools of learning, the intellectual skills required to create and justify knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philosophy<\/strong> is the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge about the world, understood in a threefold division: knowledge about humans, nature, and metaphysics. Together these divisions point toward a single unified and synthetic view of knowledge and reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Theology<\/strong> is the study of divine revelation, which is the culmination of knowledge in the western educational tradition. Theology provides the unifying framework for all the liberal arts and sciences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Learning Tree<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Together these categories work together sequentially, resulting in a paradigm, or a comprehensive structuring, of the liberal arts tradition. To help their readers grasp this structuring, Clark and Jain liken it to a tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"tree
Used by permission of CAP<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The roots of the tree are piety, for, without piety, a person would have no reliable map or compass for one\u2019s purpose in life. Piety serves both as a launching pad and source of sustenance for one\u2019s understanding and approach to a meaningful life. Next come Gymnastic and Music, located on the lowest part of the tree trunk, indicating that these categories begin during the earliest years in a child’s education. Physical development and self-control, for example, are crucial during this stage. What initially begins with basic head movement and rolling on the floor quickly turns into crawling, walking, and soon enough, running and jumping. Likewise, the minds of children are incredibly active and curious, seeking to absorb everything in their paths. Therefore, the right stories, songs, and art should be offered and assimilated for their moral imaginations to flourish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this foundation laid in the early years, training in the liberal arts occurs next. Not understood as stages in childhood development, but rather as dynamic tools of learning across grade levels, students learn how to use these tools as they engage with linguistic and mathematical content. The language tools have to do with all that is necessary to read and interpret a text, think critically, engage in discussion, and communicate both orally and in writing with eloquence. The number tools have to do with understanding the complex relationships between quantity, size, location, and shape, and then applying this knowledge toward practical outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together the liberal arts of language and number are the tools of learning <\/a>that equip a student to think independently and dynamically. And while the training in these skills includes the transmission of some knowledge content, the focus is on honing skills that they may then go on to utilize in their own pursuits of knowledge down the road. Philosophy, the pursuit of wisdom, consists of all the subjects, or fields of knowledge, that one can study, such as chemistry, biology, economics, history, or literature. Philosophy, as the domain of all knowledge, is located at the highest point on the tree trunk, indicating that if a student has made her way up to this point, she is now ready to begin the real work of the tree: bearing fruit. This feature of the illustration is crucial for it reminds us as educators that the ultimate purpose of education is not mere knowledge, but virtue formation and the cultivation of desire directed toward the good, true, and beautiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And where does\ntheology belong on the tree you might ask? Interestingly, theology itself is\nnot located in any one particular place on the tree, but instead is situated\nabove the tree. This unique positioning communicates that knowledge and\nunderstanding of the Triune God transcends<\/em> all the other categories of\neducation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dispelling Two Myths about Charlotte Mason and the Liberal Arts Tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that I\u2019ve sketched out Clark and Jain\u2019s comprehensive interpretation of the liberal arts tradition, I want to now dispose of two myths that question whether Charlotte Mason’s educational principles fit within the tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Doug Wilson of New Saint Andrews College<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The first myth is the simplistic notion that while Charlotte Mason emphasizes ideas, classical education focuses on something else entirely: facts. While it is true that Charlotte Mason greatly emphasizes the power of ideas<\/a>, it is not accurate to say that classical education, or the liberal arts tradition more broadly, focuses on facts. The popularization of this viewpoint is, of course, understandable. The birth of the classical Christian school renewal movement began, in some ways, with Doug Wilson\u2019s interpretation and application of the Trivium<\/a> as he understood medievalist Dorothy Sayers to be explaining it. According to this treatment of the Trivium, the elementary years should focus exclusively on fact memorization as a way of honing the liberal art of grammar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, however, this\nview of grammar has been shown to be insufficient and inconsistent with the\nliberal arts tradition. The liberal art of grammar, as it would come to be shown,\nhas more to do with reading and interpretation of language rather than fact\nmemorization, and, additionally, was never historically confined to a\nparticular stage in childhood development. So the idea that classical education\nnecessarily elevates facts over ideas isn\u2019t historically accurate and therefore\nnot essential to the liberal arts tradition. More and more classical schools\ntoday are moving away from this approach, in fact, while retaining Sayers\u2019\nfundamental insight that young minds can and should be intellectually\nchallenged appropriately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second myth I wish to dispel is that Charlotte Mason elevated, above all else, the cultivation of a love for learning, while classical educators prioritize academic rigor. In response to this myth, let me say that Charlotte Mason was indeed passionate about awakening the minds of children to real knowledge. She believed that each child was a person made in the image of God, and, therefore, parents and teachers are limited to certain methods for raising and teaching these young scholars. She was deeply committed to educating children in a way that is befitting of their personhood<\/a>: morally, spiritually, intellectually, and physically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this conviction is in no way incompatible with an academically rigorous education. In fact, it is reasonable to argue that this high view of children warrants<\/em> an academically rigorous education properly defined. Children are not be treated as mere cattle on a farm or products on an assembly line. They enter this world with immense potential to think, create, explore, write, observe, perform, analyze, and more. As a result, the sort of work we give children to do in the classroom ought to activate and strengthen these capacities to the limits of each child\u2019s potential. Charlotte Mason herself pokes fun at the sort of educational environments that are free of hardship, adversity, and genuine challenge. Humans, as it turns out, thrive in the face of challenge and experience real joy when coached to achieve excellence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"scientist<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, to be sure, Charlotte Mason did question the usefulness of grades and competition as tactics for motivating children to learn. Stemming from her view of human minds as living and hungry for knowledge, she firmly believed that knowledge itself ought to be the reward for the worthy work of learning. Interestingly, the strength of intrinsic motivation for learning has been confirmed in recent literature. For example, in David Pink’s Drive<\/a><\/em>, the author shows that modern research has revealed that for worthy tasks, like learning, intrinsic motivation is more powerful for long-term gains and sustained achievement. So although Charlotte Mason was careful to not permit motivators often associated with academic rigor to enter her classrooms, there turns out to be good reasons, which are actually a,menable toward academic rigor, for doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully I have whet your appetite for the possible harmony Charlotte Mason and the liberal arts tradition may share. In my next article, I will continue the conversation through providing some specific examples, such as narration (download Jason’s eBook here<\/a>), habit training<\/a> (download Patrick’s eBook here<\/a>), and nature study from Charlotte Mason’s pedagogical practices that fit within Clark and Jain’s PGMAPT paradigm. For now, I encourage educators today who are interested in synthesizing these inspiring approaches to education to step back into their classrooms and give these ideas a try!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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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.  Similarly, within the Christian classical school movement,…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7K1D-eH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1591,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":0},"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":967,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/03\/07\/charlotte-mason-and-the-liberal-arts-tradition-part-2-educating-the-whole-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":1},"title":"Charlotte Mason and the Liberal Arts Tradition, Part 2: Educating the Whole Person","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"March 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"What has Charlotte Mason to do with classical education? In my first blog in this series, I began exploring this question through a close reading of Kevin Clark and Ravi Jain\u2019s The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education. In this book, Clark and Jain offer a paradigm\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\/03\/Parthenon-.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Parthenon-.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Parthenon-.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Parthenon-.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4513,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2025\/02\/01\/a-coherent-and-holistic-education-book-review-of-elaine-coopers-the-powerful-and-neglected-voice-of-charlotte-mason\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":2},"title":"A Coherent and Holistic Education: Book Review of Elaine Cooper’s The Powerful and Neglected Voice of Charlotte Mason","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"February 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In this series, I want to review and highlight the Charlotte Mason Centenary Series of monographs released in 2023. The 18 books in this series are brief and readable volumes that encapsulate a diverse range of topics related to the life, writings and philosophy of Charlotte Mason. My intention is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?fit=399%2C441&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3822,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/06\/10\/charlotte-mason-the-educational-philosopher\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":3},"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!) I was struck by Mason\u2019s insistence on the importance of educational philosophy. 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":1816,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/01\/23\/history-narration-charlotte-mason\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":4},"title":"Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 4: Charlotte Mason’s Practice of Narration in Historical Perspective","author":"Jason Barney","date":"January 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In this series I have contended that the history of narration should bring Charlotte Mason educators and classical Christian educators together. That is because narration\u2019s use as a pedagogical practice in the classical tradition illustrates vividly the connection between the two. When we know this history and turn to Charlotte\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History of Education"","block_context":{"text":"History of Education","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/history-of-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16813474792_c751c5480b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16813474792_c751c5480b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16813474792_c751c5480b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3219,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2022\/08\/20\/7-notable-schools-educational-renewal-across-the-globe\/","url_meta":{"origin":911,"position":5},"title":"7 Notable Schools: Educational Renewal across the Globe","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"August 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I visited Ireland a few weeks ago and met with a group of homeschool parents just outside Dublin. As I was presenting on Charlotte Mason\u2019s method of narration, it struck me that the principles and values of our educational renewal movement are not beholden to one single culture. Across the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Educational Leadership"","block_context":{"text":"Educational Leadership","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/educational-leadership\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/globe-gb2dac1473_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/globe-gb2dac1473_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/globe-gb2dac1473_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/globe-gb2dac1473_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/globe-gb2dac1473_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1003,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions\/1003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}