Science and Math in a Classical School
I find some of the common assumptions about classical education to be quite odd. In certain circles, you’ll find yourself thinking that classical education is suited only to aspiring philosophers and the kids of Latin professors. And, apparently, kids who play with legos and who like math aren’t the right fit — send them to the local school for STEM.
It’s almost a humorous misconception because classical education has given us some of the greatest scientists, inventors, and mathematicians in history. For proof, look to classically educated scientists like da Vinci, Copernicus, Darwin, and Einstein — or to the scientific and mathematical interests of great thinkers like Aristotle, Aquinas, and Jefferson — or, for a striking modern example, to someone like the late neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, who took solace in writing when he found that the methods of science could no longer help his terminal cancer. Their lives and work convince me that science and math are at home in classical education, and that any assumptions to the contrary are simply false.
Why do so many believe that classical schools care only for things like literature and history? I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that many classical schools are low-tech, but many modern math and science curricula, like STEM and STEAM, make technology their bread and butter. So, for parents touring a STEM school one day and a classical school the next, it’s natural to remark that things are different. They are different, but not for the love they have of math and science.
It’s on school tours that this becomes most apparent, thanks in part to the skill of our science and math teachers, and in part to the questions that parents ask me. Here are a few of the questions that I field most often. I think they bring out some of the best things about a school like mine:
How do classical schools treat math and science?
Classical schools take a different approach to math and science than you may be used to. They focus on being “content-oriented” rather than “process-oriented.”
In the most lighthearted sense, this means that, at a classical school, we study the stars because they are interesting, numbers because they are fun, and the human body because it is cool. In a higher sense, we love these things and we like to understand them, so we study them carefully.
A “process-oriented” approach is different; it uses science and math as tools for other ends. In a purley process-oriented approach, students study comets in order to mine them for precious metals, and math in order to understand the stock market. Neither of those things is bad, but they are lacking if they grow from something other than a love of the subject for its own sake.
We assume that a comet-miner will not feel fulfilled if she does not learn to love stars, and that every stockbroker should have a passion for numbers. We love that our graduates dream of becoming doctors or chemists, and we are proud to have taught them why atoms and the human body are worth studying.
How do classical schools teach math and science?
Science and math at a classical school depend upon students’ abilities to think algebraically and logically. We do this through the Socratic method, which takes its name from the Greek philosopher Socrates, who taught his students by asking them questions, withholding the answer until just the right moment, and prompting students to discover the solution for themselves.
“That’s because, in these lessons, students are asked to consider questions like: What knowledge from past problems can we use to solve this problem?
How can we use our reason to get to the next step? Why did you choose to do that?”
The Socratic method is most commonly associated with literature and history because those classes rely so heavily on discussion. But at a classical school, we believe that it applies just as well to science and math. As one of the excellent 4th grade teachers I work with told me just last week, science and math are perhaps the best subjects to teach Socratically.
That’s because, in these lessons, students are asked to consider questions like: What knowledge from past problems can we use to solve this problem? How can we use our reason to get to the next step? Why did you choose to do that?
These questions do more than show students how to get from Point A to Point B — they make students build the paths themselves. They require that students actually think about why they are solving a problem in a specific way. This is what we call “algebraic thinking,” though we could just as easily call it “a well-developed sense of logic.” It outlasts mathematical formulas (which students will forget) and coding languages (which will become obsolete), and reminds students that most of the world’s great problems can be solved with careful study, an active mind, a sharp pencil, and a blank page.
What will classical students go on to be?
At my school, we send students to liberal arts schools like Hillsdale College and Benedictine College, but we send just as many to the Colorado School of Mines and CU Boulder.
What will your classical students become? They may fall in love with poetry or history and choose to teach, research, or write in those subjects. Or, like my brother, they may attend West Point, go to medical school, and join the Army as a doctor. You can read more about him here. In time, we will send 10- and 15-Year Reunion letters to accountants, engineers, doctors, lawyers, professors, and entrepreneurs.
Make no mistake: classical students are not limited to careers in the fine arts and humanities. In fact, the abilities and habits that they learn in a classical curriculum put them at a great advantage in the workplace.
This is in part because what they learn with us has no expiration date. It’s also because classical education is an education in what it means to be human. Science and math have a part in that.
If you’re curious about the bigger picture besides just math and science, check out my post: What is Classical Education?
