Reply To: Learning and Leisure–in your school?
Chris,
This seems to me to be one of the most important questions we can ask, in so far as it raises one of the most basic questions about school culture and the vision of human flourishing that is embedded in our practices. With respect to your specific question, the only concrete example that comes to mind is the attempt in one school to designate a specific segment of the day as “schole”; however, this seemed in practice to be little more than calling “recess” by a different name. The deeper issue, in my experience, is in helping students learn that their lives need not consist of alternating pendulum swings between externally constrained “order” and mere anarchy. Do many classical schools invite teachers to read Josef Pieper’s book on leisure? I know that some have, but is it a common practice? That would be a good place to begin. Another important step might be to introduce teachers to the important distinction between leisure and entertainment.
Thanks,
Phil