The Crisis of Literacy: the Value of an Educated Populace for a Republic Joshua Katz, Jacob Howland, Kathleen O’Toole
The literacy crisis in the United States is a calamity for a self-governing republic. The purpose of this panel discussion is to engage in a lively exchange about why a republic – perhaps above all other political arrangements – requires a literate, educated citizenry, and what has occurred in American K-12 education and universities to undermine the strong literacy we require. We will trace the classical antecedents of American republicanism and consider why the American founders placed such great value on an educated populace, as a means to assessing how we restore American literacy.
The New School Choice Landscape: How can Charters and Private Schools Innovate, Cooperate, and Thrive in States with ESAs and Vouchers? Katherine Haley, Raphael Gang, Robert Enlow, Derrell Bradford
This panel will explore the contours of the new choice landscape, and specifically how charter and private school operators can work in mutually beneficial ways to make the most of new private choice funding opportunities. How do ESAs and vouchers create opportunities for new school models, and incentivize innovation within existing school models (e.g., charters)?
Teaching the American Founding in a Classical School Colleen Sheehan, Zachary German, Andy Smarick
A Classical Education proceeds through the study and Socratic discussion of the best texts and ideas thought by the greatest minds over the centuries and throughout the Western tradition. The premise of this panel is that a classical education should include a deep consideration of the founding principles and documents, speeches, and history that inform the establishment of American republican government. Classical liberal arts students are citizens and the future leaders of American democratic life, and as such, they should come to understand the knowledge of the human condition and the limits of politics the American Founders, the “great oracles of political wisdom,” possessed about how to make a government by the people and for the people succeed.
The Future of Literacy in an AI World Alex Petkas, John J. Goyette, Erin Valdez
What is the future of literacy in a world where AI tools can be used to produce research, poetry, essays, and other creative work formerly assumed to be solely the domain of humans? This panel will steel-man the case against literacy and challenge the panelists and audience to set aside wishful thinking to explore the most robust and compelling responses to the critics of classical education.
Preaching Beyond the Choir: How Should We Make the Case for Classical Education to the Uninitiated? (This panel is cross-referenced as an Educational Accessibility Workshop) Steven Wilson, Ian Rowe, Angel Adam Parham
Most (if not all) Symposiasts have a clear notion of classical education and find its virtues to be self-evident. But how should we make classical education legible and attractive to new audiences? How can the virtues of classical education be conveyed to the unversed, the circumspect, even the hostile? And how ought we to do this without undermining, distorting, or dumbing-down its essential elements? What are the biggest misconceptions about classical education? And what are the best ways to defuse them? Our panel of experts will contemplate these questions and more.
Teaching Math Classically: How do Classical School Educators Think it Should be Done and How Can They Actually do it? Jonathan Gregg, Josh Wilkerson, Sandra Schinetsky, Albert Cheng
What does it mean to teach mathematics classically? This question is often asked by not only math teachers in classical schools but also teachers in other content areas and school leaders. While there is some clarity about how to teach other content areas such as literature, history, and natural philosophy from a distinctively classical approach, there is much less in clarity and consensus when it comes to mathematics. In this workshop, attendees will first learn about the findings from an experiment that identifies what classical school educators think math classrooms should look like and how students themselves describe their math classrooms. Dr. Albert Cheng from the University of Arkansas will moderate the panel discussion about these findings with Dr. Jonathan Gregg of Hillsdale College and Dr. Josh Wilkerson and Sandra Schinetsky, math teachers at the Regents School of Austin and directors of Restoring Mathematics. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the panel and consider how to implement with greater fidelity a classical vision of mathematics education in their classrooms. The aim of the workshop is to inspire imagination about what mathematics classrooms can and, perhaps, should look like in classical schools and to equip individuals to take steps to realize such classrooms.
The Place of Civics in a Classical Education Soren Schwab, Thomas Merrill, Brenda Hafera
In 1796, in his final year as president of the United States, George Washington called on the U.S. Congress to establish a national university, a “primary object” of which, he said, should be “the education of our Youth in the science of Government.” The purpose of this panel is to discuss the place of teaching Civics in a Classical Education. How should it be taught? With what ends in mind?