I have recently, a little reluctantly, opted to use Angelicum Academy’s Study Guides for the Great Books as a crutch in teaching my high schoolers. I really want to write my own GBs curriculum, Orthodox not Catholic, including the Church Fathers and not just the secular/western Great Books, inclusive of both trivium art as method and the “method” of the saints for spiritual growth (saintly art). But alas, the days are only so long. Not to mention, I utterly lack competence.

In surfing around Angelicum, I found their articles page, which has a few good things on it. A perennial favorite is St. Basil’s Address to Young Men (or see here for a better formatted version). I’ve had occasion to discuss Basil’s educational philosophy before on this blog. Basically, Basil thinks the pagan classics perfectly appropriate for study as a sort of propaideia, i.e. preliminary education. The pagan classics, judiciously selected (as a bee selects nectar from the flowers it visits), are a prompt to virtue, which then leads the student naturally into the Christian gospel.

Another essay on the Angelicum site, by Dunn, has a different approach. Note the foundationalism of the epistemology - i.e. make sure your kid has his key assumptions (foundational truths) right, and then feed him anything, being careful to point out truth from error. On this recommendation, sacred texts come first.

So, early training in virtue or early training in foundational truths? What do you think, Basil or Dunn?