For twentieth century educational philosopher Charlotte Mason, education was not confined to the classroom, but was an organic part of common life and something that should "give a full life" in turn. In 2026, common life in our country is breaking down—perhaps already fully fragmented.
What does it mean that "education is a life" if life around us is antithetical to learning? Everywhere a child may go there are screens to pacify him, even libraries and museums. If he does manage to strike up a conversation with another child, there is a good chance the child may not even be able to have a full conversation or engage in sustained imaginative play. Today's average child has fewer and fewer opportunities outside of school to have a life at all, much less one that is nourishing. What of life inside school? We find it to be increasingly utilitarian: focused largely on good testing skills for good college applications for good jobs.
Many parents have learned that extended screen time is bad for children and they know they don't want their kids using A.I., even if they use it themselves. Classical schools all around the country are fostering a more purposeful view of education. But what comes next? What is common life for our kids after screens? What do thinkers like Charlotte Mason, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and others have to teach us about building and sustaining a rich and beautiful common life? A life that is "all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time."
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Joining us to discuss this topic is Tessa Carman. Tessa is a writer and teacher who lives with her husband Charles and four children on their six acres in Virginia. She teaches literature and her essays and poetry have been published in Front Porch Republic, Fare Forward, Mere Orthodoxy, Plough, The Lamp, and elsewhere. Her family roots are in northern Minnesota, where her father’s crowded bookshelves, her grandfather’s 400-acre farm, and the long, cold winters were some of her first tutors.
The Parent Discussion Series at the St. Andre Bessette Schola hosts speakers twice per year to engage some culturally relevant topic regarding raising children in today’s world. We have previously hosted Brad Wilcox on marriage and family, Catherine Moon on A.I. in Education, Fr. Mark Perkins on raising boys, and Joe Davis on the mental health of children.