Classical Education Program Director Matthew Post, Ph.D., Visits California's John
Adams Academies
Date published: March 8, 2018
In January, University of Dallas Braniff Graduate School Assistant Dean & Affiliate
Assistant Professor Matthew Post, Ph.D. ‘15, visited John Adams Academy in Roseville, California. Founded in 2010, John Adams Academy is a K-12 charter school
dedicated to creating servant leaders through a classical education.
“John Adams academy is an interesting case because it is outside Sacramento,” Post
said. “For a variety of reasons, California would not seem to be friendly to classical
education. Yet, there is a classical institution not merely running, but flourishing.
Students receive the whole classical experience at that school, both elementary and
secondary.”
The leadership of John Adams Academy has a particular interest in creating leaders
who imitate the founders of the United States intellectually and ethically. To accomplish
this task, students receive the same formation the founders received: a principle-based,
liberal arts education.
“John Adams Academy’s leadership is looking back to the principles of the founding
and looking back to the educational content that informed the founders so they had
the prudence and judgement to frame the extraordinary country that we have today.”
“John Adams Academy’s leadership is looking back to the principles of the founding
and looking back to the educational content that informed the founders so they had
the prudence and judgement to frame the extraordinary country that we have today,”
he said. “Since John Adams Academy is committed to respecting the principles of the
founding, they thought deeply about how the founders were educated, and it occurred
to them that they had a form of classical education to offer.”
Although some of the founders complained about their classroom environment, which
included corporal punishment, many founding fathers celebrated the process of studying
ancient texts, especially in their original language. Their classical education promoted
intellectual diversity by engaging in a dialogue with the authors, even if they disagreed.
“The founders don’t have a lot of objections to learning Greek and Latin, having studied
history or read original texts, and thinking critically about them,” Post said. “There
is diversity in that there are founders who thought Montesquieu [a modern] is essential,
but also those who thought Cicero [an ancient] was no less important. Others thought
there was more to be drawn from Aristotle or Plato. But the founders disagreed on
almost everything about the ancients. John Adams seemed to think Plato was great,
but Jefferson thought 'The Republic' was a giant waste of time. There are differences
there, but the point is that they were able to have that discussion.”
Post also points out that Classical education, like that demonstrated at John Adams
Academy, is inclined to produce great leaders like George Washington because it cultivates
habits of virtue. He uses the example of mathematics to illustrate this.
"Classical education is more inclined to produce leaders like George Washington because
they create these habits of moderation, prudence, and reflection.”
“A very common approach to mathematics is to teach it so that students may pass a
standardized test,” Post said. “This method is basically saying “memorize these formulas
and you’ll know math.” The classical education approach is that math is about problem
solving. In that sense, it is about developing one’s critical capacity. For most kids,
math is tedious. From a classical education perspective, you learn a moral lesson
from that: some things that are tedious are worth knowing and you have to develop
the discipline, patience, and focus to do things that are drudgery. Of course, math
is worth knowing for its own sake as well as to foster skill in calculation. But,
more than that, in later life, the discipline students gain from difficult studies
can be useful for other things. Classical education is more inclined to produce leaders
like George Washington because they create the habits conducive to moderation, prudence,
and reflection.”
To assist teachers in forming ethical citizens and moral leaders like George Washington,
the Braniff Graduate School offers a Classical Education program which consolidates
years of experience in liberal learning with a renewed emphasis on pedagogy.
“UD has decades of experience dedicated to classical education” he said. “For that
reason, people have come from classical schools to UD and classical schools have recruited
from UD. The relationship is there because UD is doing something that resonates with
their community. The Classical Education Program is taking that wonderful foundation and refines and tailors it to the specific needs
of classical educators.”
Post said the program is more structured than others—there are important principles
and continuities within classical education—but it nevertheless explores different
approaches within classical education. Although classical education seeks enduring
truth and looks to the wisdom of the past, it is, like the great minds from which
is draws inspiration, innovative. A core component is dialogue: The content of class
discussions is more meaningful because classes are attended by educators who are at
various experience levels. All contribute unique perspectives.
"The community of educators can really engage in these texts and extract lessons from
discussions with each other. You just aren’t going to see that anywhere else.”
“The program we have developed focuses on the big questions in classical education,”
Post said. “Generally, courses are attended by classical educators and future classical
educators at different places in their life. I have been teaching Plato’s Republic for almost twenty years and I taught it to classical educators for the first time
this summer. I have never seen a discussion like I saw among these teachers. They
are talking about real issues with seven and eight year olds and how to deal with
them, allowing Plato’s thinking to positively inform their teaching methods. The community
of educators can really engage in these texts and extract concrete, informed pedagogical
lessons from discussions with each other. You just aren’t going to see that anywhere
else.”
