As the educational movement is embraced by the religious right and seen by others as a Trojan horse for Christian nationalism, its leaders seek to transcend political associations
Classical education has been growing in popularity since the 1980s, and more recently, has become something of a buzzword in school choice circles: Home-school curricula and private schools calling themselves “classical” have been cropping up all over the country, often among religious conservatives.
The question of what precisely classical education is forms the basis of a debate within the American post-COVID discourse surrounding education. Is it simply an exercise in virtue signaling for the religious right—a retreat from the perceived threats posed by critical race theory and gender ideology in schools? Is its Western orientation a chauvinistic dog whistle? Or is there something deeper going on? Christians within the classical education world contend that there is, and that their movement—some call it a “renewal”—is for everyone.
So, what is meant by “classical education” exactly? And why has the movement become so closely aligned with the Christian right?
For his part, Perrin, although he has attended, and his company sponsors, conferences for the Association of Classical Christian Schools, founded by Christian nationalist Douglas Wilson, he disagrees with the prominent Christian nationalists arguing for the “recovery of a Christian nation.” Some leaders in the classical Christian world, he said, are “moving kind of to the right in the cultural wars,” and perceiving a need for engagement with them.
An Orthodox Christian himself, he admits he would “love for our nation to be a Christian nation, but the way that happens is by lots of people coming to the faith.” Such a dramatic shift would be the organic result of “a lot of changed lives,” he said, “not by political fiat.”