Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition

by Karen Glass

Over time, Latin ceased to be a stepping stone to great literature and wisdom, and became a mental exercise in grammatical rules and translation. Rather than being a hurdle to be overcome on the way to a larger purpose, so that the learner could enjoy reading great literature, the classical languages became the goal in themselves. In other words, the purpose or “why” for learning classical languages altered. It was not merely a stepping-stone to literature, but was seen as a way of developing or disciplining the mind. This change coincided with the shift in the world from a preference for synthetic thinking to a more scientific, analytic approach to knowledge. We have already mentioned the Victorian controversy between classical and scientific education. One way in which the classical studies were justified was that learning Latin developed thinking skills. Contemporary educators have taken a leaf from that book. Latin is still considered a key component of classical education, but if we ask an educator today why he is teaching Latin, the answers are almost tragic. A quick internet search brings up these reasons and others like them: Latin makes learning other languages easier. Latin helps with the vocabulary of scientific subjects. Learning an inflected language increases logic and reasoning skills. And worst of all, Latin boosts vocabulary scores on standardized tests. These reasons are utilitarian and pragmatic, but not classical when we consider the classical ideal. Th...