The
Benedict Option: Education as Christian Formation
Part II of the book
review: The Benedict Option, by Rod
Dreher
Dreher devotes chapter seven of his
book to the topic of Education as
Christian Formation. He begins by referencing Václav Benda and the failure
of the dissident movement to establish a schooling system that would provide an
alternative education to the state’s. He draws a parallel with Christianity in
America for the need to establish an alternative to the public education system
that will allow believers to preserve their religious beliefs, moral values,
and cultural memory.
Michael Hanby, professor of religion
and philosophy of science at Washington’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute,
declared:
The
point of monasticism was not simply to retreat from a corrupt world to survive,
though in various iterations that might have been a dimension to it. But at the
heart of it was a quest for God. It was that quest that mandated the preservation
of classical learning and the pagan tradition by the monks, because they loved
what was true and what was beautiful wherever they found it.
Dreher argues for a return in the
Christian community to classical Christian education. One of the hallmarks of
the Benedict Option movement is the spread of classical Christian schools.
Here, Dreher makes an impassioned plea for Christian parents to remove their children
from public schools and provide them with he calls “a rightly ordered education.”
For Dreher, the mainstream model of education
is geared towards equipping students to succeed in the workforce, to provide a pleasant,
secure life for themselves and their families, and reach their goals. The
standard Christian education model today takes this and simply adds religion
classes and prayer services.
In Dreher’s thought this traditional
Christian model is based on a flawed anthropology (what a person is). In
traditional Christianity, the goal of the soul is to love and serve God with
all one’s heart, soul, and mind. To prepare for eternal life, we must join
ourselves to Christ and strive to live in harmony with His divine will.
In the Benedictine tradition,
learning is wholly integrated into the life of prayer and work. Monasteries
became places in which monks undertook the painstaking work of copying by hand
Holy Scripture, prayer books, and patristic writings. To compartmentalize
education, separating from the life of the church, is to create a false
distinction. For Benedict, discipleship was a matter of pedagogy, of training
both the heart and mind to grow beyond spiritual infancy.
Classical Christian education, which
reigned from the Greco-Roman period until the modern era, was about passing on
a culture and one culture in particular: the culture of the West, and for most
of that time, the Christian West. The goal was to product another generation
with the same ideals and values based on a vision of what a human being was.
Dreher advocates a return to the
classical, Christian education of the Greco-Roman world. But what does this
look like?
·
It emphasizes study of the Scriptures
that integrate Bible knowledge and meditation into their lives.
The
Rule of St. Benedict prescribes set daily times for engaging in reading Scripture
and contemplating it. It also encourages other forms of reading. For example,
during Lent the Rule directs each monk to read a book from their monastic library.
The Rule also instructs monks to read the Church Fathers and the lives of the
saints. Dreher believes that this will help bind young Christians together to
stand against the onslaught of secularism.
·
Immersion into the History of Western
Civilization.
Classical
Christian education proceeds from the conviction that God works through art,
literature, and the philosophy of the past, both Greco-Roman and Christian. One
cannot understand the West apart from the Christian faith, and we cannot
understand the Christian faith as we live it today without understanding the history
and culture of the West.
Dreher
does offer a caveat that must be considered:
1.
Christian
schools are not necessarily a “safe space.”
In
many Christian schools, Christianity is merely a veneer over a secular way of
looking at the world. Many parents use Christian schools as a way to shield
their children from what they perceive to be harmful effects of public schools,
only to find the same problems exist in Christian schools.
In
The Benedict Option, Dreher offers
some practical help to those who wish to start classical, Christian schools. He
advocates using The CiRCE Institute, a North Carolina based Christian organization
that trains teachers in the classical model. This model:
·
Orders everything around the Logos,
Jesus Christ, and the quest to know Him with one’s heart, soul, and mind.
Classical education accepts the Great Tradition’s fundamental understanding
that all of reality is grounded in transcendental ideals.
·
The cultivation of personal devotion
to Christ. In this model, a searching love of
Christ undergirds and harmonizes all classroom learning. The end is to nurture
graduates whose hearts desire truth, goodness, and beauty and who use their minds
to discover these things.
·
A Great Books approach to the
curriculum. It presents the canonical Western texts
and works of art to students using a medieval structure called the Trivium,
which corresponds to the mental capacities of young people at certain ages of
development.
Typically,
a student’s classical school career begins with the Grammar school, in which
a student learns and commits to memory basic facts about the world. The second
part is the Logic school, which corresponds to the middle school years.
This is when students learn how to use reason to analyze facts and discern
meaning from them. The third and final stage is the Rhetoric school, which
focuses on abstract thinking, on poetry, and on clear self-expression.
Dreher
is very anti-public school. While I believe he presents some solid arguments for
his classical Christian approach, he is overly critical of the public-school
system. I have many teachers and administrators that serve within my
congregation. I know of no other people who are more selflessly committed to
the well-being of children than they are. While there is no doubt there are
things within the public-school curriculum that can be addressed, there are
issues with Dreher’s approach as well.
The
main issue with Dreher’s classical education model is finances.
It is very expensive to have a proper space, hire the qualified teachers, and have
supporting materials. Most families cannot afford the tuition associated with
classical schools. While homeschooling is an option, that requires a parent to
stay home with their child, unless they are part of a homeschooling group. I
know many families that homeschool and do a fine job. However, it does require aptitude
and the commitment of a parent.
A
second issue with Dreher’s model is the lack of practical training.
I believe an emphasis on the arts is beneficial and necessary. I also believe
that vocational training is a vital aspect of education to help our children
become productive citizens. There is a huge gap in Dreher’s model that does not
address this need for students.
A
third issue is Dreher does not address Christian families who have special needs
children. There is no element in Dreher’s model to
meet the needs of students who may have a learning disability, may be on the
autism spectrum, or have another need that may require accommodation. Where are
they to go? Is classical Christian education not an option for them?
A
final issue is Dreher’s model only addresses urban/suburban areas and neglects
rural ones. The examples Dreher cites as successes
are all urbanized or suburban areas where there are large, professional
populations. But what about rural areas that do not have this type of
demographic? Where do they go? What are their options?
While
I applaud Dreher for his stance and believe many of his theories have merit,
there are inherent weaknesses that must be addressed for this to be a viable,
realistic option for Christian families.
