What if the most important task of education is not simply to inform, but to shape the human soul? Drawing on ancient wisdom and timeless civic concerns, this piece explores what is at stake when schools neglect the formation of virtue and moral responsibility. It is a thoughtful invitation into a larger conversation about human nature, character, and the future of public life.
March 18, 2026
Civics, Education, and Virtue Formation: Why Johnny Doesn’t Know Himself
What if the key to healthier marriages, wiser parenting, and more meaningful conversations isn’t stronger emotion, but clearer reasoning? In this thoughtful and quietly humorous reflection, one wife shares how the study of logic transformed not only the way she argued, but the way she listened, communicated, and loved.
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What does it mean to build a culture of intellectual friendship, one shaped by books, music, meals, memory, and shared attention? In this episode of Composed, Christine Perrin speaks with historian and colleague, James LaGrand, about the habits that form students and teachers into a genuine community of learning. Their conversation moves from violin lessons and hymns to Augustine, Dante, Frederick Douglass, Lincoln, Tyehimba Jess, and the Sunday dinner table. Together they consider education not merely as competence or achievement, but as the patient formation of persons who can receive beauty, honor the past, and seek the good in company with others. LaGrand describes his work in Messiah University’s Honors Program as the building and protecting of a culture, rather than the management of a program. Through seminars, shared meals, walks, tea, concerts, trips to Gettysburg, and the reading of great texts aloud, he invites students into patterns of attention that join the life of the mind to friendship and delight. The episode closes with a tribute to Tyehimba Jess’s Olio, and with the quiet image of a grandmother’s Sabbath table as a pattern for a life of hospitality and care. Mentioned in the Episode Olio by Tyehimba Jess | https://www.wavepoetry.com/products/olio Tyehimba Jess | https://www.tyehimbajess.net/books.html
Dr. Andrew Selby reflects on the kind of “deep people” who bring wisdom, stability, and calm during times of crisis, arguing that true depth comes from the combination of knowledge, understanding, and practiced wisdom. He explains how classical Christian education, through great teachers, the study of Scripture and Great Books, and thoughtful discussion, helps cultivate students into thoughtful leaders who can guide others in an unstable world.
