Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Dr. Florian Hild, Principal of Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins, entered into a discussion on the Core Knowledge blog about the importance of teaching content. This was in response to a post about Mr. Ken Kay's (Partnership for 21st Century Skills) statement that both skills and content should be taught, but the predominance of the importance of teaching skills in documents supporting this statement.

Dr. Hild's comment to the blog posting (scroll down, it's at the bottom) emphasizes the notion that there is a foundation of knowledge in our society, a Core Knowledge principle. He contends that although we may live in a different time and culture, there are still lessons to be learned from historical figures who have already lived and learned lessons pertinent to today.

The goal to prepare students with academic and character excellence is timeless, according to Hild.

The ability to outmaneuver others on one’s Blackberry, though, will ultimately not provide a lasting competitive advantage, not to speak of a happy and good life. If we are afraid of the challenges of a new century, I’d say that the best way to prepare us for them is to face them standing on the shoulders of giants. Then even gigantic problems can be confronted and dealt with.

Ridgeview Classical Schools, a top-performing high school by many accounts, uses a classical approach to education. Dr. Florian Hild was a teacher at Ridgeview until last fall when he became the Principal. Clearly the success of Ridgeview can at least predominantly, be contributed to Dr. Terrence Moore (the school's first Principal) and Dr. Florian Hild's understanding of the school's vision and mission. Dr. Moore was a prolific writer about the tenets of a classical education. Dr. Hild, it seems, is equally well-versed in what the school intends to accomplish with its students and why school founders selected this approach.