On the Integration of the Liberal, Fine, and Common Arts – Chris Hall

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2020 Workshop Talk | 59:05 | All Grade Levels, General Classroom, Virtue, Character, Discipline

Summary

What if our education had the potential not simply to liberate us, but to restore us as well? Hugh of St. Victor had this as a premise circa 1150 AD when he wrote the Didascalicon, a work based upon his experience at the Abbey of St. Victor on the outskirts of Paris. Hugh’s premise: an education should be designed to restore in us, through the action of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of our humanity, and the only way to do so was to bring together the liberal, fine, and common arts. Imagine a community where scholars conversed with blacksmiths and tradesmen, farmers and apothecaries shared knowledge with theologians, and all benefited from the wisdom of the others’ experiences. Not only did the Abbey thrive, but the vision that Hugh has cast through the years is one that we can find inspiration and wisdom nearly 900 years later, when we seem to have divided up our disciplines, and our understandings, into smaller and smaller, isolated categories. Come see how the liberal, fine, and common arts can resonate in our classrooms to foster and facilitate a restoration in our time.

Speaker

Chris Hall earned a BA in philosophy from Gettysburg College and an MAT in elementary education from Towson University. He has served as a lower-school academic dean and a PS-8 science department dhair, in addition to teaching math, science, physical education, and guitar, primarily in the middle grades, for 24 years. In 2017, he founded Always Learning Education, a consulting firm specializing in teacher training and curriculum design. Complementary to his academic pursuits, he is an avid outdoorsman, musician, craftsman, and farmer. He and his wife homeschool their three sons on a wooded homestead in central Virginia.

Additional Materials

The Association of Classical & Christian Schools presents Repairing the Ruins, the ACCS annual conference, copyright ACCS. You may make additional copies of this recording for use by your school but please do not sell any copies of the recording, or post it on the internet.