Squeers,
What do you know about Mortimer Adler? A 1987 Time magazine article said he was the ‘last great Aristotelian’. He wrote a book on educational reform called The Paideia Proposal.

Dan S de Merengue,

I hadn't heard of Adler or his proposal but it certainly seems an improvement on what we have now.

But I prefer the ideas of Takis Fotopoulis, whose paideia includes a strong sense of ethical and civil responsibility; this coupled with what he calls "inclusive democracy" would quickly make our institutional masters accountable. I agree with what Adler says about modern education being little more than preparation for service.
Of course it suits our so-called democracies to keep their denizens "partially" educated and "self-centred". The church is a big help in this department with its doctrine of the soul, whereas all the evidence attests that our sensibilities are socially or exogenously derived. I'd argue that we do attain a level of independence, but that in our culture this rarely amounts to more than eccentricity.
Alasdaire MacIntyre http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alasdair_MacIntyre is another modern Aristotelian well worth reading.
Indeed, modern science would do well to reacquaint itself with Aristotle's metaphysics, which held sway until Hume, though much later for some notable others. The metaphysics of empiricism reigns supreme today, but as I've suggested above, it's both myopic and irresponsible.

To Whom: RI is yet alive and well.
On Paideia:
As Fred Smollett , amateur philosopher and part-time seer, part-time gardener of Kenosha, Wisconsin once mused:
“Truth is a perfect crystal, clear in every detail, beautiful of form, and revealing of all it has to offer;
Untruth is a fog, masking both truth and the path to its revelation; and,
Partial-truth is a chisel, chipping at and denying clarity, distorting the whole, and creating false paths and barriers to discovery.”

“And, you know”, he continued, ”truth is a bit like an onion, the more you peel away to get at the centre of the thing, the more you get to realise that the whole is a far greater thing than the sum of its parts. Life’s a bit like that too, don’t you think?”

On the pursuance of contemporary Paideian principles in the U.S. education system, Fred observed, “Paideian educational principles may broadly be expressed as a combination of three interacting elements - a small element of didactic “conventional” instruction, a far larger element of interactive, pro-active, and individual in-depth study, and another small element of reflection, in open forum style, reviewing and clarifying material covered, and with an added purpose of evaluating the principles and techniques demonstrated, and expanding understanding of ideas, concepts and values. The latter element incorporates some Socratic philosophical analysis, and nurtures both intellectual and social skills.”

“The overall program is intended to promote critical evaluation, development of logic and reasoning skills, and internalisation of personal development motivation. In Wisconsin all elements of the standard state school curriculum have to be covered, including maths, science, literature, music, art and so forth, and student progress is assessed through participation in the state’s standard testing processes. Paideian principles are broad, and application varies from one school to another, with varying degrees of student accomplishment, and of course the realization of motivational objectives is only subject to in-house evaluation.”
TBC>

On Paideia (continued):

“In most schools three overriding objectives are stressed, namely, preparation for earning a living, preparation for good citizenship, and preparation for self-development. However, methodology remains a combination of didactic teaching, coaching, and Socratic questioning. Of course, science, maths and literacy are always key components, but emphasis varies from one school to another.”

“Most of our Paideian schools rely on sources from outside of the state school system for up to two-thirds or more of their funding, which of course also makes successful outcomes and effective marketing essential components of every school’s program and administration. Some also have some fairly restrictive entry standards, with some insisting on grade 6 or earlier commencement to enable smooth passage through the program.”

The three elements may also be described as:
1. didactic instruction of factual information;
2. intellectual coaching of skills; and
3. seminar discussion of ideas, concepts, and values.

Extract from The Principles of the Paideia Program (as set out by the National Paideia Center, U.S.A.):
The results of these three types of teaching should be (a) the acquisition of organized knowledge, (b) the formation of habits of skill in the use of language and mathematics, and (c) the growth of the mind’s understanding of basic ideas and issues.

Britannica Online Encyclopaedia:
paideia, (Greek: “education,” or “learning”), system of education and training in classical Greek and Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) cultures that included such subjects as gymnastics, grammar, rhetoric, music, mathematics, geography, natural history, and philosophy. In the early Christian era the Greek paideia, called humanitas in Latin, served as a model for Christian institutions of higher learning, such as the Christian school of Alexandria in Egypt, which offered theology as the culminating science of their curricula.

Research Comment: It was interesting to note that the teaching of science, natural science, biology etc is standard across the board, though in some schools small provision is made for music, and in others art is emphasised. Though no theological study was evident, there did appear to be almost a religious element to the clear dedication to the Paideian educational philosophy.

So, a dejected Smollett will go to his grave with no confirmation or rebuttal of his potential bona fides as a luminary? Even Socrates must have had his detractors.

The children of the world certainly deserve more than closed minds and a one-size-fits-all philosophy, or a view that if they fail to achieve the highest possible level of enlightenment and sophistication that they are somehow less. It takes all kinds to make a functioning successful society, and there is an essential and valued role through which all may succeed and prosper, given the guidance and confidence to explore the possibilities.

Though western religion has been getting a lot of bad press, there is yet a place for it, if one is able to focus on the positive lessons. However, it is possible that the Analects of Confucius should be given greater attention for lessons in reciprocity and the pursuit of social harmony through the development of rites of conduct and a code of ethics for interpersonal interaction. Much is to be learned from the purpose behind the prescription.

Self improvement is only limited by the unnecessary constraints we place upon ourselves, or allow others to impose upon us, and educators would do well to school their students in avoiding both of these potential hazards to the realisation of their full potential.

I have a problem with this.

Saltpetre reports Fred Smollett's words (I haven't checked them for accuracy, by the way) as follows:

"Truth is a perfect crystal, clear in every detail, beautiful of form, and revealing of all it has to offer"

and then...

”...truth is a bit like an onion, the more you peel away to get at the centre of the thing, the more you get to realise that the whole is a far greater thing than the sum of its parts"

These are bone-crunchingly inconsistent.

If the truth were indeed a perfect crystal, there would be no need to peel away the layers. Or if it were an onion requiring the removal of layers to reveal more layers, it could not possibly be crystalline.

Words, words, words. Simply strung together to form a kind of twee fashion statement.

People who abuse the English language in this fashion are a festering sore on the living flesh of human-to-human communication.

Ugh.