The Scholé Way

by Christopher A. Perrin

The ancient Greek word scholé means leisurely learning or set-apart, undistracted time to study the things most worthwhile, often with one’s friends. Ironically, scholé is also the root word for our English word “school.” While much of modern education has become increasingly frenetic and stressful, the tradition of scholé offers another way—the scholé way, which is a harmony of active and restful learning, of academic work and academic leisure. The classical tradition of education is oriented toward the full formation of a human soul rather than merely practical training for a job. This time-honored understanding of education provides space and occasion for wonder, contemplation, and conversation. Instead of merely covering material, it privileges pondering, savoring, lingering, and relishing as genuine student activity. In this book, Dr. Perrin describes the tradition of restful learning, or scholé, and offers practical suggestions for how to restore it in our schools and homeschools.

Genres: Education

176 pages, Hardcover

Reviews

[sincerely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you love Teaching From Rest and wish you could find another book like it? Here you go! The Scholè Way absolutely needs to be on your radar. This is a book that can change your school or homeschool in amazing ways.

Scholè is an ancient idea that basically boils down to "undistracted time to study the most worthwhile things with good friends, usually in a beautiful place, and usually with good food and drink." Ironically, scholè is at the root of our English word, "school," yet I think we all know these two concepts are typically worlds apart. The Scholè Way seeks to educate and enable the teacher, whether at home or in a school setting, to bring scholè back to the center of our communities. Perrin does a fantastic job of arming the reader with knowledge, joy (yes, joy!), and ideas for how to go about doing this. This is not about a quick revamp. This is about a total mind and soul shift. Perrin leads us to the cross, to Mary and Martha, to the Psalms and the gospels. I am always cautiously optimistic about how the Christian faith will be represented by authors with whom I am unfamiliar, but in every instance I am impressed with and encouraged by Perrin's love for God and truth. He has a heart for eternity, and to me, that is a defining factor that I always look for with new-to-me authors.

I have enjoyed reading from and listening to Perrin's content on his substack and hus podcast show. He has a wonderful way of distilling vital concepts from a vast array of sources; bringing together ideas and principles that are edifying for the educator. Perrin is someone who inspires me to be better, to aim higher, to calm my spirit, and to keep learning. This is the first book I finished by him and it will certainly not be the last!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+❤️

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written for home school parents and also teachers. Even though I am neither of those things I loved this book. It helped me think through ordering my day simply and beautifully, and why that is important.

[Kevin Godinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. Really good follow-up read to An Introduction to Classical Education by the same author.

The author goes into detail about what restful learning (schole, leisure) is. He teaches on the heart of it, the purpose of education, and gives some practical advice on how to pursue it. The book is filled with quotes from more great books to read if the reader feels so inclined.

Leisure is restful learning. It is iron sharpening iron around a big table, with good food, and a beautiful atmosphere. It includes good company and conversation. It is the building up of the human. Leisure is not time to do whatever we want; veg out on Netflix. It's quite the opposite. Rather than amusing ourselves, leisure calls us to muse over the good, true, and beautiful; to train our mind and our whole being, further up and further in.

The purpose of education is the development of the person; taking them from immaturity to maturity. The heartbeat of education is the acquisition of wisdom and virtue. For the Christian, this means Christian discipleship; Christ-likeness. Jesus became to us wisdom from God and is the perfect embodiment of virtue. He is the mature Human. This is the ultimate goal of education; leading our children into oneness with Him.

Prudence is seen as a chief, governing, virtue because prudence is described as the ability to discern, or see, reality for what it is. When presented with much information, prudence sees through the falsity into the truth, which gives the person the ability to act on what is true. The author defines wisdom and many virtues, such as the cardinal virtues and theological virtues in this book. I found all of it to be very helpful.

Highly recommend this little book.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could put this book into the hands of every educator. It is both philosophical and pragmatic. I felt equally convicted and encouraged in my homeschool endeavors.

[Katie Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both inspiring and practical.

[Falon Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how he talked through learning from rest but also talking about how we have to have active learning too. It was a great balance and well done. I had already started cultivating leisurely learning with my kids in different areas but I loved going a little deeper and more practical in this book and I of course, loved the message that we need to be doing this for ourselves too!