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Wednesday May 22nd, 2024
Welcome to your May issue. I hope those pupils (and parents) in full exam mode are coping OK. It can be a stressful time for everyone, so do practise some all-important self-care. In this edition, we’re encouraging everyone to take a step back and see the bigger picture. Last month, we took a detailed look at revision techniques; this time we’ll consider what a classical education means and how it’s been preparing young people for success for centuries.
I’ve been enjoying the BBC’s Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour, a funny but enlightening three-parter following two celebrities (Rob Rinder of Judge Rinder fame) and Rylan Clark (TV presenter who co-hosted this year’s Eurovision for the BBC) as they follow in the footsteps of Lord Byron and countless other European aristocrats. The tour was effectively a finishing school for 17th to 19th century young men of means, who would learn about Greek, Roman and Renaissance art, history, literature and architecture as they travelled. For Rob (who loves art) and Rylan (who is learning to love it too) – you can see it’s been a real journey of self-discovery. It’s a heartwarming example of how the most traditional form of a so-called ‘classical education’ can still be so relevant today, 200 years after Byron’s death.
It is an approach to education that takes inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman methods. With a strong foundation in language, arts, history and logic, it takes the form of three phases. The grammar stage, where students memorise the building blocks of learning, like phonics, historical facts, rules of grammar, etc. Next comes the logic stage, which introduces analytical thinking and concepts such as cause and effect. This stage also involves making all-important links between different fields of knowledge. The third stage is rhetoric, where learning becomes more specialised, and students learn to express themselves eloquently and assertively. The classical approach tends to prioritise language-based learning, which doesn’t suit everyone’s learning preference. But I think the independent schools that do it best excel at making it a more accessible approach, irrespective of learning styles. And that’s how they keep this centuries-old method relevant to living, working and thriving in our fast-paced, interconnected 21st century world.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is essentially backing a classical approach when he asserts that oracy should be taught more widely. Oracy and rhetoric are similar skills or disciplines – both relate to using a framework or structure to express ourselves effectively. Some say oracy is more about talking and interacting effectively on a day-to-day basis; whereas rhetoric is a more grandiose version of effective speaking that enables us to present our views in a compelling way. So, it’s probably more relevant for speech-making than meetings or conversational interaction. You could say oracy is about effective dialogue, because crucially it encompasses the skill to listen well and not just speak persuasively. Independent schools like the North London Collegiate School in Edgware have started teaching oracy skills, to help pupils prepare for “awkward dinners with their boss”, explains headteacher Vicky Bingham. Of course, the skill and confidence to speak and listen well extends much further. It can impact on our children’s ability to make friends and connections, help them in relationships and future proof their careers.
Latin has long been a cornerstone of a traditionally classical education and features in the curriculum at almost all the UK’s independent schools. Now it is making a comeback in some state schools, for the same reasons it is so popular with independent educators. Almost 400 state primary schools in the UK are introducing their pupils to Latin in weekly lessons now. They say it helps children make connections in science, geography and history – and of course it helps us understand the etymology of modern-day words too (not to mention some of the spells that Harry Potter and pals cast). Latin is proving so popular that it has superseded other languages such as French, Spanish or Chinese (the UK’s state syllabus dictates that KS2 children must learn another language). Research has suggested that Latin was more likely to improve pupils’ spelling, grammar and literacy levels than its modern counterparts. Looking back to stages one and two of our typical classical approach, you can see how Latin could not just help you learn the building blocks of grammatical rules (stage 1) in many languages, but also start to make connections across disciplines too (stage 2).
I’m sure this refrain rings out in state and independent schools across the UK every exam season, ‘oft repeated in frustration at the fusty, fulsome phrases’ (that’s my little attempt at / homage to Shakespeare – you can see why he can be a bit like Marmite for many – loved or loathed)! And Y11 and Y13 students will currently be grappling with the complexities of explaining his plays on paper as they sit exams in English Literature. But it can be easy for us to lose the magic of Shakespeare’s plays when we’re dealing with the written word alone. He wrote them to be performed after all (like any playwright or modern-day scriptwriter), and it’s the dramatisation that brings his wonderful words to life. This has been borne out in the findings of a study, recently commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
Their Time to Act research found that a ‘rehearsal room’ approach to teaching Shakespeare is the best way to reap the full benefits of the bard. This approach not only helped pupils engage with his plays, but also saw an increased range of vocabulary and complexity in children’s written work and their emotional literacy.
Hundreds of pupils aged 9 and 10 (Y5) were split into ‘control’ and ‘target’ groups. Both groups were given a creative writing task based on an extract from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but the target group also took part in a 30-minute drama activity around the passage.
The results were striking: children in the target groups not only wrote more, with more depth, imagination and complexity of structure, description and emotion, but they also found it easier to empathise with a character and imagine how they might have been feeling. The RSC’s director of creative learning, Jacqui O’Hanlon, described this group as “really thinking positively and constructively about the opinions the character has” – whereas the control group, in contrast – without the benefit of the workshop / rehearsal approach – “did not see a way out [for the character]” when considering a specific dilemma. This suggests that children’s problem-solving skills are enhanced too when they’re encouraged to work something through imaginatively, rather than simply reading it.
O’Hanlon says its Shakespeare’s ten-fold typical vocabulary (i.e. he uses circa 20,000 words compared with our average everyday 2,000 words), combined with children “using their whole bodies to bring [those] words to life”, that generates these results.
I think it’s a great example of how schools can and do adapt the tenets of a traditional classical education to our modern lives. A classical education, often seen as synonymous with an independent education at the UK’s most prestigious schools, is really all about striking the perfect balance between the old and the new. And that’s what the best independent schools do so well: taking centuries of heritage and adapting what we’ve learnt to prepare our young people for the world that waits outside the school gates. Not unlike the Grand Tour of Lord Byron’s day, but with all the inclusivity, equality and relevance that modern-day society rightly demands.
Want to learn more about the benefits of a classical education with a pioneering twist? Get in touch to learn more about the UK’s top independent schools and which would suit your child best.
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“ REGENCY EDUCATION WAS ABLE TO HELP US WITH EVERY STEP OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS ENSURING THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS OF OUR CHILDREN - AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. ”
