Video Transcript

Charlotte Mason identified three areas of knowledge: knowledge of God, knowledge of man, and knowledge of the universe. She listed the knowledge of God as first in importance, saying that it is “the most sublime of human relationships.” As persons, children are created to be in relationship with God. This relationship can be cultivated by reading Scripture and stories from church history, through spiritual disciplines and practices from a child’s faith tradition, and through spending time studying His handiwork out in Creation.

Second is the knowledge of man. Mason wanted children to develop appreciation for all the ways in which man expresses ideas: art, music, dance, languages, and literature, to name a few. She was not interested in shallow surveys of history full of dates and names; rather, she wanted children to “linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period.” She wrote in her first volume that, although “he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age.” This feat was accomplished by reading engaging, narrative history texts, as well as biographies, primary source documents, and historical fiction. Mason understood that the ideas of yesterday have led us directly to the ideas of today, and that our thoughts today will shape tomorrow. Therefore, great care must be taken to make sure that the ideas we accept are worthy ones. To support students in discerning the worthiness of ideas, Mason provided studies in citizenship, during which students learned about the actions and consequences of past leaders. She also taught them self-knowledge and self-direction through her fourth volume, Ourselves, which describes human nature and the common pitfalls of thought and deed that we are all capable of falling into if we do not take care to instruct our consciences well.

The third area of knowledge deals with the universe, which includes natural history, the sciences, geography, and mathematics. These subjects point to truth as it is revealed to man by God and as we are capable of understanding it. They cultivate awe, wonder, and an appreciation of mystery as we grapple with the vastness, the intricacies, and the interdependencies that exist in Creation. Far from viewing scientific discoveries as being antagonistic to God, Mason viewed them as a specific kind of ongoing revelation, and she did not shy away from even the most controversial scientific ideas of her day. She grounded children in both scripture and current scientific thought, and she taught them that science is constantly progressing. Therefore, what we think we know today may be disproved tomorrow. It is best to know the current thought and to learn to hold it with an open hand.

This approach is radically different from any other model because it is primarily about personal relationship. In fact, Mason called education “the science of relations.” This means that our job is to put a child in direct contact with as many people, places, things, and ideas as we can, so that she might form her own relationship with them, and to remember that her relationship may look quite different from our own. In the end, the information stored in a child’s memory matters less than how many things she cares about and the degree to which she cares. Knowledge is not cold, impersonal, and rational; it is warm and personal, and it results in love.

Some current authors are echoing Mason’s thoughts on knowledge. For example, Esther Meeks, in her book A Little Manual for Knowing, suggests that viewing reality as a gift from God causes us to see all subjects as “multi-faceted, deeply dynamic, ever new and surprising, never to be sapped of mystery.” Knowledge is not simply mastering a topic and moving on, but opening yourself up to new ideas and thoughts that can continue to feed your curiosity and inform your opinions and actions for a lifetime. As Mason stated in her third volume, “Not what we have learned, but what we are waiting to know is the delectable part of knowledge.”

Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) How does Mason's understanding of history differ from the way you were taught history?  What difference does that make for a student learning history?

2) Why is it important to let our students form their own opinions and not just give them ready-made opinions? How do we do that as teachers and parents?

3) What are you wondering?

In Mason's Own Words

Learn what Mason said about the types of knowledge all children should have.

Finish A Philosophy of Education ch. 10 in the original text and/or in modern English.

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) What was new for you (or what things did you notice for the first time) in this chapter?

2) What implications do these ideas have for your teaching practice?

3) What are you wondering?

Further Reading

Loving to Know by Esther Meek