Seeking Truth through Wonder
Wonder in Classical Education
Jacques Maritain was a Catholic philosopher and one of the principal modern Thomists. In opposition to contemporary educational philosophers such as John Dewey, Maritain argued that it is impossible to properly educate a human being without religion. In Maritain’s penetrating words, “Education ought to teach us how to be in love always and what to be in love with” (1943, 23). Dewey, among many other Pragmatists, viewed Maritain’s proposal as a return to the proverbial Dark Ages where the realms of the spiritual and theology were supposedly of greater importance than scientific truths. Maritain boldly argued against the mainstream that truth is not relative, and does not change as a consequence of studies or polls. He viewed that “intellectual understanding, moral development, aesthetic cultivation, and religious formation” could only happen through the” inculcation of perennial truths and values” (1959, 166). The Pragmatists responded that human intelligence and understanding are social constructs, while Maritain maintained that there is an absolute truth that human beings have an inherent desire to seek, and as such deserve teachers who will ultimately guide them to that Truth. Maritain dismissed the Pragmatist’s view as one which reduced human existence to the empirically observable and verifiable. Children do not create Truth, they discover it, and teachers should develop their lessons in such as way as to help guide students in that discovery of Truth.
The question is: How is that Truth to be taught? Through rote and rigor? Through memorization, Latin and Greek? Frequent testing? Heavy homework loads?
Today, we can see around us the result of a world that has been “rigor” focused, in which children are taught to the test, in which hours upon hours of homework after a full day at school are somehow necessary for “success,” and in which truth is relative and debatable - except on standardized tests. Even in the classical world, there are educators who scoff at words such as Pieper’s “leisurely learning” and Quinn’s “wonder,” insisting that only through enforced hours of rigorous, narrow study, can a true education be gained. It is what Margarita Mooney Clayton so perfectly describes as an, “Obsessively achievement oriented, narrowly pragmatic, and ultimately soul-draining form of education.”
In a Charlotte Mason classical education, the type of education Maritain advocated for, and the Catholic Classical Liberal Arts Education that I promote, a key operative word for teaching Truth is, as I have long argued, wonder. If you get the chance, read "Iris Exiled: A Synoptic History of Wonder" by Dennis Quinn who demonstrates that even the greats such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, etc knew the power of wonder in education. It is not the glazed hallucinations of hippiedom, or the surface-depth momentary delight of a new fad... wonder is a profound gift given to us to realize what we do not know, and to seek that wisdom. It is inherent in children - and educators can either nourish that wonder or squash it.
When “wonder” is the catalyst for the search for Truth, students are provided the kind of environment in which they can actively learn and seek. This is neither new nor unique. John Henry Newman proposed that schools that follow the Benedictine call to a “poetic disposition” will ultimately lead to a more wholesome, wonder-filled, and beautiful way to engage reality with evangelistic love. He understood that if wonder is not nurtured, students will never seek or truly attain wisdom and Truth, and “education” turns into a clanging cymbal; sound and fury signifying nothing.
Practically speaking, how does a teacher help students wonder without creating variety for variety’s sake? It means exposing students to the great, beautiful truths, and then letting them wonder. Extensive labs, creative assignments, Socratic seminars, discussion-based learning, time to read and explore nature, quotes of the great thinkers, hearing the finest music, experiencing great art, and engaging in debates - these are just a few tools that we can use.
This is why outdoor time, play, and nature studies are so important for young children.
This is why listening to great music and learning to sing is so important throughout the school years.
This is why it is important not to overload students with mindless seatwork, and give them great books, time to explore ideas, and time to think in a harried, rushed world.
This is why hands-on mathematics, manipulatives, and creative mathematics are so necessary to develop math sense.
Debates in particular are an essential tool to a classical education, and they, too, lead to wonder.
In debates, students are presented with a concept to argue; they may have to take a side they agree on, or most vehemently disagree with. That engagement requires creativity, wonder, thinking deeper, and engaging in practical reality with the questions that matter. This may begin with simple arguments on the merit of uniforms, whether circles are better than squares, or if a hot dog counts as a sandwich. That can then become more complicated: Should science textbooks be secular? Should women be included in the draft? Is the primacy and supremacy of the bishop of Rome derived from the primacy and supremacy of Rome itself? What is marriage? Whose responsibility is it to raise children? In my Physics class we wrestled with: What is the difference between a fact and a truth? What are the opposing views apparent in the two images of Galileo’s trial? In A&P we use Camosy’s book on Ethics to explore what it means to redefine humanity, and debate modern questions on euthanasia, obesity, or brain death. This, too, is wonder.
Questions such as these may be asked and debated in science, history, or faith classes, in discussion guilds, humanities classes, against an opposing team from another class, or a different school, and even outside of classes during breaks. I have had students ask me for book recommendations that they are reading on their own simply because the wonder of their education has sparked a deeper need to learn and explore more. Students will willingly read Pieper, Frankl, Caldecott, and more when their desire to seek the Truth has been stimulated through wonder.
I have received messages such as this one: “Also Mrs. Smith guess what, Marc Brunel was friends with Humphrey David, Faraday, and Alexander Hamilton!!!!!! :0…I was thinking wow having connections really helps, because all the people he knew helped him in some way do the things he did. Even having connections to the Tsar of Russia at the time Alexander I.” (sic) THAT is an excited student who discovered fascinating points on his own because of a creative assignment given to his team in class. That is called wonder.
Debate stretches students’ minds, exposes and leads them to the Truth, and does so in a way that allows for wonder, curiosity, and creativity.
Veritatis Splendor states what every classical teacher should encourage their students to consider: “Although each individual has a right to be respected in his own journey in search of the truth, there exists a prior moral obligation, and a grave one at that, to seek the truth and to adhere to it once it is known.”
May our students always adhere to the Truths they learn in the classroom, in the pursuit of wonder, and in the joy of a true classical learning experience.
“Wonder is the beginning of Wisdom.” ~ Socrates
Sincerely in the wonder of education,
Peach Smith
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Maritain, Jacques, and Doris C. Anson. The rights of man and natural law. New York: Gordian Press, 1943.
Maritain, Jacques, and Joseph W. Evans. On the philosophy of history: Ed. by Joseph W. Evans. London, 1959.
Newman, John Henry, Christopher F. Fisher, Margarita A. Mooney, and Thomas Frerking. A Benedictine education: Two essays: The mission of Saint Benedict ; the Benedictine schools. Providence, RI: Cluny, 2020.