How to Think, or What to Think?

This quip in classical education does not accurately express the educational goals.

According to many of its proponents, classical education teaches students “how to think, not what to think.” This axiom juxtaposes the tendency in modern education to indoctrinate students into an ideology without offering them time-tested tools to interact with ideas on their own.

The impulse to embrace this “how-to-think” paradigm is sensible in our era of indoctrination into the Left’s aggressive agenda that is prevalent in universities, particularly in the 100- and 200-level humanities and social sciences. By training in the Socratic method, classical education offers students a model for the types of questions to ask, fallacies to detect, and the rhetorical tools that persuade audiences.

These “how-to” approaches, or methodological tools, are missing in most contemporary educational settings.

While this sentiment is laudable, the phrase itself represents an either-or fallacy, also known as a false dichotomy. That is, either an instructor offers tools for engaging ideas (how to think) or provides content (what to think). The phrase suggests that there is a pedagogical dichotomy between methodology and substance.

In reality, the idea that a college could somehow avoid teaching “what to think” is nearly impossible. Educators are tasked with passing down relevant content. In fact, a covenantal approach to education requires teaching students “what to think,” catechizing them and establishing the boundaries of orthodoxy. I know that indoctrination sounds like a bad word, but it’s simply what we do when we catechize, recite creeds, and establish the groundwork for every discipline.

The question is not whether a student will be indoctrinated, but with what, and to what degree.

Such a claim seems controversial to broad evangelical notions of a proper education, when, in fact, we are instructed to do this in Scripture:

Deuteronomy 6:6-7a: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children”

Proverbs 17: “Train up a child in the way that he should go, so when he old, he will not depart from it.”

New Aberdeen has understood this concept since its inception. Each day, our faculty seeks to inculcate both content and learning tools.

From our website: “Classical learning includes both course content and how those courses are taught. The Socratic method, or guided questioning and student interaction, is key to our approach. This ancient teaching method can apply to any discipline. Merely listening to lectures, taking notes, reading books, and sitting for exams is not good pedagogy. We teach our students how to summarize, explain, evaluate, criticize, synthesize, improve, defend, and apply the ideas and skills they encounter.”

If you’re looking for a Christian that teaches both how and what to think, then you should consider New Aberdeen. Every day, our faculty are cultivating these skills in our incredible students.