Why a Classical Education in a Modern World?

By classical education, we mean an approach to learning that has been developed, refined, and handed down over centuries—from the ancient Greeks, through our Founding Fathers, and into the lived experience of earlier generations. It reflects time-tested curricula, materials, methods, and aims that have shaped Western civilization and helped build our nation.

Classical education is rooted in the liberal arts and sciences. It teaches objective standards of truth, goodness, and beauty; imparts real and lasting knowledge; and intentionally forms moral character and civic virtue. Its purpose is not merely to train students for employment, but to educate human beings for a meaningful and flourishing life.

In recent decades, education has drifted away from this traditional understanding. Many schools now emphasize narrowly utilitarian goals, often justified by rapid technological change and the pressures of a global economy. “College and career readiness” is frequently treated as the primary—if not sole—aim of schooling, as though success were measured only by income or occupation.

Instructional methods have shifted as well. Influenced by fashionable but unproven theories of learning, schools increasingly favor “student-centered” approaches that minimize direct instruction. Teachers are encouraged to act as “guides on the side” rather than authoritative instructors. Explicit phonics, sentence diagramming, and sustained engagement with great works of literature, philosophy, and history are often dismissed as outdated or impractical. In their place, students are offered fragmented content and transient skills.

The classical education movement takes a different view. It holds that students are best served by the enduring methods that have educated thoughtful, capable, and virtuous citizens across generations. While times change, the fundamental truths of the human condition do not. Periods of social unrest, rapid technological advancement, and expanding global commerce are not unique to our age. The printing press, the telegraph, the industrial revolution, and the computer all transformed society—yet they did not alter what it means to be human, nor did they eliminate the need for wisdom, virtue, and sound judgment.

Across history—from Plato and Aristotle to the American Founders and modern thinkers like C.S. Lewis—educators and statesmen have argued that liberal arts education is essential not merely for employment, but for wisdom, virtue, freedom, and the preservation of a self-governing society.

At NorthShore Classical Academy, we share this conviction. We believe education must nourish the soul as well as the intellect if human beings are to flourish. Such nourishment includes a sense of belonging—to society and to history; a sense of purpose—an understanding of what life is for; a sense of competence—earned through mastery of challenging work; a sense of inspiration—the motivation to act; and a sense of transcendence—the awe that comes from encountering something greater than oneself.

Education must also form the will to love what is good and right. As Plato observed, “Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.” Similarly, John Adams captured the civic aim of education when he wrote:

“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”

The classical model achieves these ends through a curriculum centered on the great works, histories, and achievements that have shaped our civilization and illuminated the human experience. Students are challenged to grapple with enduring questions, to master demanding subjects, and to grow in intellectual and moral maturity.

In the original and fullest sense of the liberal arts, classical education provides an education fitting for free men and women—one that prepares them for self-governance, personal responsibility, and meaningful participation in civic life. It equips students to pursue their own version of the good life and strengthens the foundations of our constitutional republic for generations to come.

These are our aims at NorthShore Classical Academy.