This teaching method, backed by conservatives, is on the rise Classical schools focus on Western content and American ideals. “We are going to honor the creation of our flag. We are going to honor George Washington,” one principal said. Yesterday at 6:00 a.m. EDT
The model at the Florida school, known as classical education, emphasizes Western history and literature, and draws on teaching methods from ancient Greece and Rome. The approach has found new popularity among families who say the methods offer more rigor than schools that have relaxed their grading policies or use screens for much of their teaching. And, supporters argue, the Eurocentric content is more proven than evolving modern teachings. While the model is apolitical, it is also being pushed by conservatives, who say it celebrates American ideals and Western thought. Classical education’s newfound popularity comes as the Trump administration seeks to promote patriotism and frames criticism of the darker chapters of U.S. history as un-American. The president is also attempting to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from schools, governments and workplaces.
Critics of the classical approach, including some education experts, say the schools can be a Trojan horse for conservative ideology and promote a myopic worldview — undermining efforts to expand curriculums to better reflect the experiences of all students in public K-12 schools, the majority of whom are not White. Of the 895 classical schools in the United States, one-third opened or adopted the model between 2020 and 2024, according to a database published by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The vast majority of the schools are private and Christian, but a growing number are public charter schools, which are independently operated and taxpayer-funded. Defending the model, Wheeler said students receive “a very wide view of the world and our country.” The classic European teaching methods that the school uses — seminars, memorization and recitation, character development — mold children into critical thinkers who can reason and communicate effectively, according to Wheeler. They study texts known
More than 2,700 children attend Pineapple Cove’s three campuses in Brevard County in central Florida. Like many classical schools in the U.S., it has ties to Hillsdale College, a small, conservative Christian school in Michigan that has partnered with the Trump administration. It’s known for promoting “patriotic education,” and in 2021 published a K-12 history curriculum that teaches that “America is an exceptionally good country,” echoing rhetoric from President Donald Trump. Wheeler, however, said Hillsdale’s work at Pineapple Cove has been nonpartisan. The college provides curriculum and other supports to classical K-12 schools. Every classical school is different, but they are bound by a focus on cultivating virtues and teaching the liberal arts of grammar, logic and rhetoric — or effective communication. Children study American and Western European literature written between the 8th and mid-20th centuries, mostly by White men, including Homer, William Shakespeare and John Steinbeck. Pineapple Cove students also read the memoir of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and school staff say they think there is sufficient exposure to different perspectives.
I have SO MANY thoughts about these schools and the broader movement and gave a paper about them at a conference last month. Overall, this isn't an awful article but I do have an issue with the credulous parroting of this "apolitical" line www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
