Dare Students Go Amish on the Topic of AI?

Dare Students Go Amish on the Topic of AI? by Dr. Chad Engelland at Word on Fire. We are at an Amish moment regarding AI, for this new technology is not just one more incremental change. Like the advent of machine technology, it is a game changer, promising to affect us deep down. And as companies rush to integrate AI into all aspects of life, including the techniques of education, we might pause to consider the example of the Amish. Read

Let the Lilies Flower, not Fester in the Latin Classroom by Laura Eidt at ClassicalEd Review. If we believe that classical language study is central to classical education, as indeed it is, then schools need to be willing to make sufficient time for it. True language acquisition, such as was expected for over a millennium after the fall of Rome, requires ample time, that is, regular, ideally daily, practice. No one would sign up their kids for piano lessons and expect them to make significant progress by practicing only twice a week. Read

Iliad Athletics Educating The Whole Student Using Ancient Technology by Ray Ravaglia at Forbes. Iliad Athletics is the latest manifestation of a tradition of physical education that can be traced back from the German gymnasiums through the Middle Ages to classical antiquity. The central tenet is that physical education should not be about maximizing athletic performance so much as about maximizing the body per se, seeing the pursuit of physical excellence as part of a broader desire for excellence in all spheres of activity. This, in turn, sets the stage for character development, the cultivation of resilience and self-confidence, and the type of whole-child education so often discussed in schools' mission statements. Read

In Reading, the Nation's Students Are Still Stuck in a Pandemic Slump by Cory Turner at NPR. When it comes to reading, the nation's third- through eighth-graders are still mired in a pandemic-era slump, according to new testing data. In math, the news is only a little more heartening: Student achievement in those grades either held steady or improved slightly, though all grades remain behind performance levels of same-grade students in 2019. Read

Educating the Human Person: A Theological Presupposition by Antonio López at Communio. In his message for the forty-fifth celebration of the World Day of Peace in 2012, Benedict XVI wrote: “Education is the most interesting and difficult adventure in life. Educating—from the Latin educere—means leading young people to move beyond themselves and introducing them to reality, toward a fullness that leads to growth.” Read

Shaping Young Minds for Joy by Haley Stewart at Word on Fire. Haley interviews Shemaiah Gonzalez, a Catholic writer, wife, and mom to two teenage boys living in Seattle. In this episode they discuss the delight of sharing good literature with our children and practical ways to cultivate a reading life in the home. They also explore Shemaiah’s latest book Undaunted Joy, the strange coexistence of joy and suffering, and the revolutionary defiance it takes to intentionally live joyfully in a culture of despair. Listen

Education Is Not a Commodity by Jonathan J. Sanford at First Things. For more than a century, American higher education has been shaped by a Zeitgeist that disintegrates the liberal arts university. It denies that mathematics, the sciences, and the humanities form a unified whole ordered to human flourishing. Instead, it replaces integration with specialization, reducing education to a utilitarian enterprise. The result is that universities have increasingly forgotten what it means to be well-educated. Read

Diocesan Leaders Academy Continues Impact with Second Cohort by Megan Sheehan at The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) is pleased to announce the launch of its 2025-2026 cohort for the Diocesan Leaders Academy (DLA). The DLA launched its first cohort in 2024 as a formation program that aims to cultivate superintendents spiritually, intellectually, and practically in the Catholic renewal of schools at the diocesan level. Across both the 2024 cohort and the new cohort, a total of 24 leaders from 20 dioceses have enrolled in the DLA, representing 12 percent of all dioceses in the country. Read

Featured: Leading a Discussion on the Federalist Papers by Mary Frances Loughran at Cana Academy. Leading a Discussion on the Federalist Papers provides a thorough guide to understanding a text that itself is crucial to understanding the principles articulated in the United States’ other founding documents, particularly the U.S. Constitution. A perfect companion to our guides Leading a Discussion on the U.S. Constitution and Leading a Discussion on the Declaration of Independence, this guide includes an explanation of important principles of political theory foundational to the Constitution; a list of Anti-Federalist objections to the Constitution; and vocabulary lists and discussion questions for each of the Federalist Papers covered in this guide. Learn More

Throwback Thursday

Teaching Like Socrates by Dr. John Cuddeback at Life Craft on November 22, 2022. I recall once a professor was unimpressed with a seminar session he observed that consisted exclusively in a teacher asking questions and eliciting discussion. The professor mused that the same result might have been accomplished in a much shorter time frame. That is, the teacher could have simply explained the ‘answers’ and thus saved time, and presumably ‘covered’ more material. This raises important pedagogical questions, especially: just what is a teacher trying to accomplish at any given time? How we answer this question will make a significant difference in how we think about the art of teaching, and its various applications. For an art it is, and as such its end or ends will determine its practice. Read