The academic imperative : a reassessment of Christian education's priorities / Richard A. Riesen. [print]

THE POINT AND PURPOSE OF EDUCATION: THE WESTERN TRADITION -- Where it all came from -- The transcendent aims of education -- Purpose vs. curriculum -- School vs. education -- "Christian education" -- The first Christian schools -- After Julian -- The parish school: a new kind of education -- But why schools at all? -- Conclusion --

PAIDEIA AND FAITH: THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE -- The classical model vs. the Christian model -- The Christian adoption of the classical model -- Making the classical model our own -- Accepting it for what it is -- Christian worldview -- Nature and grace -- The limitations of education -- Conclusion --

WE'VE GOT TOO MUCH GOING ON -- We are distracted -- Expert opinion -- A different sort of schedule -- Less is more -- Distraction of another sort -- "Technolust" -- A little backpedaling -- The benefits of the digital revolution -- Is it so? -- Conclusion --

EDUCATION AND LIBERTY -- The Jeffersonian vision -- What sort of education and for whom? A useful education -- A special role for Christian schools -- Christianity and democracy -- American democracy -- Qualifications -- Democracy's influence on Christianity -- Persuasion and prodding for the future -- Three disclaimers -- Conclusion --

"LEISURE, THE BASIS OF CULTURE" -- "The first principle of all action is leisure" -- Leisure: The necessary condition for education -- The American obsession with work -- A bit of background -- Modern America and ancient Greece -- Leisure defined -- "Be still and know that I am God" -- Two final things -- Conclusion --

THE SOCRATIC METHOD -- A definition -- Variations on the theme -- This is nothing new -- How does the Socratic method help us? -- Three more virtues -- What the Socratic method is not -- Writing for students and lecturing for teachers -- Several footnotes -- Conclusion --

THE TEACHING STYLE OF JESUS -- Did Jesus teach socratically? -- Comparing the Gospels and the dialogues -- Jesus and "eliciting the truth" -- Jesus and the rhetorical question -- The variety of Jesus' questions -- Jesus in contrast to Socrates -- Other differences between Socrates and Jesus -- Was Jesus a philosopher? -- So what was Jesus' teaching method? The Rabbinical context -- The forms of Jesus' teaching -- Jesus' interpersonal style -- Was Jesus the model modern teacher? -- Who Jesus was - the crux of the issue -- Conclusion --

"FOR THEIR OWN SAKE" -- What the phrase means -- Education and usefulness -- Two great American heresies -- On not "using" the curriculum -- Learning and worship -- The problem of liberal education and self-government -- Education and virtue -- Conclusion --

THE LIBERAL ARTS: WHAT ARE THEY, AND WHAT DO THEY DO? -- More than one approach -- "A more ominous threat" -- "The things most students don't want to know" -- Ancient distinctions -- Renaissance humanism -- Reformation giants -- The enlightenment -- In America -- Modern approaches: The new liberal arts ideal -- Reactions to modernism -- The best for last: John Henry Newman -- "The cultivation of intellect, as such" -- Liberal knowledge is "its own end" -- "Knowledge viewed in relation to religion" -- Ending on a positive note -- The characteristics of a liberal arts education -- Conclusion --

BUT IS ACADEMIC EDUCATION FOR EVERYONE? -- Is academic education possible for everyone? -- Is it elite/elitist? -- What about the need to train skilled workers? -- The problems of "equality" -- What then of the "dull boy"? -- Conclusion.

The Academic Imperative is a brilliant and clear exposition of what academic life could and should look like in the Christian school that has as its goal the full pursuit of learning.

https://www.amazon.com/Academic-Imperative-Richard-Riesen-ebook/dp/B00E3FOHTI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=9781583310991&qid=1572998417&sr=8-1

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Richard Riesen, PhD, has spent much of his professional life in Christian schooling, including serving as the principal of Pacific Christian on the Hill in Los Angeles. Other books on Christian education he has authored are "Piety and Philosopy: A Primer for Christian Schools" and "School and Sports: A Christian Critique"