The Trivium of Classical Education

The Trivium of

Classical Education

Grammar

Lifelong-Learner Dialectic

Rhetoric

Historical Development Decline in the 20th Century

and Resurgence in Recent Decades

A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty of Greenleaf University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

of Doctor of Philosophy

Randall D. Hart

July 2004

THE TRIVIUM OF CLASSICAL EDUCATION: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

DECLINE IN THE 20TH CENTURY AND

RESURGGENCE IN RECENT DECADES

A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty of Greenleaf University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

of Doctor of Philosophy

Randall D. Hart July 2004

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THE TRIVIUM OF CLASSICAL EDUCATION: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

DECLINE IN THE 20TH CENTURY AND

RESURGGENCE IN RECENT DECADES

DISSERATION By

Randall D. Hart

APPROVED BY: _______________________________ Shamir Andrew Ally, Ph.D., Advisor Chairman and Senior Faculty Member ______________________________ Norman Pearson, Ph.D., DBA, Ph.D. (Mgmt.) President and Chief Academic Officer _______________________________

Dorothy Lupascu, Ph.D. Committee Member

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Copyright by Randall D. Hart, 2004 All Rights Reserved

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Abstract In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence published a document entitled A Nation at Risk, which called for drastic reforms in our nation's schools. If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. (p. 5) In the two decades since this report, hundreds of national, state, and local-level commissions, task forces and study groups were formed. The initial answers seemed to be found in the centralization of power. The "first wave" reform concentrated on raising academic standards through new academic requirements for students and increased regulations for teachers. Along with the additional requirements, taxes rose, school spending soared and a great deal of academic related legislation was passed. The reform movements of the last decade are sometimes referred to as "second wave" reforms. States continue to exert more control over the education system, with accountability, as measured by achievement testing, remaining a major component. School choice, including voucher systems and charter schools, remains a hotbed for political debate. Today's "third wave" reforms contain a workable amalgamation of aspects of both previous reform movements. However, today there is an emphasis on "whole-school" reform models as advocated by the federal government in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. This study provides an overview of a "whole-school" reform model known as the "Trivium of Classical Education." The Trivium--consisting of the educational skills of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric--was developed by the ancient

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