Teacher Candidate Training for Classical Commons
Classical Commons exists to connect classical teachers with schools that share their vision. Whether you’re a teacher seeking your next position or a school looking to hire mission-aligned faculty, this unique placement platform is designed to bring the best of classical education together. More than just open positions, Classical Commons is building a network to expand the reach and enhance the quality of classical liberal arts education across the country.
Prepare for placement with curated content from ClassicalU:
The Classical Commons Candidate Placement course prepares candidates for success with six engaging lessons from five expert presenters, totaling three hours of training. Completion is required to be listed as a candidate and is entirely free. To get started, 1) create your ClassicalU account, 2) navigate here from the “Courses” top menu and 3) enroll in the Candidate Placement course cohort.
The Classical Commons Continued Teacher Learning track deepens your expertise and demonstrate your commitment with their hand-picked optional collection of 18 advanced courses, available exclusively to Classical Commons candidates at a special rate of $9.95/month. To open this access, simply purchase here.
Classical Commons Candidate Placement Course
Classical Commons Candidate Placement
Prepare for success with six engaging lessons from five expert presenters, totaling three hours of training. Enjoy introductions to six distinct topics in classical education ranging from fairy tales to disability. Completion is required to be listed as a candidate and is entirely free.
1) Create a free ClassicalU account
2) Enroll in the Candidate Placement course cohort
3) Complete all lessons and mark them as complete
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Deepen your expertise with the Classical Commons hand-picked collection of 18 advanced courses below, available exclusively to candidates at a special rate of $9.95/month.
Want even more? Candidates are also eligible for full access to these and 100+ courses through monthly or annual ClassicalU subscriptions.
Classical Commons Continued Teacher Learning Track
Orientation in Educational Philosophy
Introduction to Classical Education
In this foundational course, Dr. Christopher Perrin provides a clear definition of classical education and then explores key questions.
Awakening the Moral Imagination through Fairy Tales and Stories
In this course, Dr. Vigen Guroian presents three lectures on the ways that classic literature awakens the moral imagination and cultivates virtue including several discussions with classical educators on six key classical stories.
Growing Classroom Culture through Parent Partnerships
In this course, Robyn Burlew shares her accumulated wisdom and practical insights for forging meaningful partnerships with parents in order to develop a rich and healthy classroom culture.
The Ethics of Elfland
In this half-hour lecture, Dr. Junius Johnson provides an introduction to G.K. Chesterton’s Ethics of Elfland sharing key points to consider when teaching this chapter of Orthodoxy.
The Black Intellectual Tradition
Our two presenters, Dr. Anika T. Prather and Dr. Angel Parham, guide us into the powerful legacy of classical education among Black intellectuals and educators in America.
Orientation in Pedagogy
Principles of Classical Pedagogy
In this course, Dr. Christopher Perrin presents the essential principles of classical pedagogy that have been part of the classical tradition of education and explains how each of them can enable one to teach with great effectiveness and impact.
The Teacher’s Playbook: Practical Pedagogy for Classical Educators
In this 12-lesson course, Jerilyn Olson connects classical principles to practical techniques that teachers can employ in the classroom using classical rhetorical ideas and real-life anecdotes.
Essentials of Effective Teaching
In this course, Robyn Burlew shares her accumulated wisdom and practical insights into what it means to be an effective classical educator with hands-on guidance in teaching methods, classroom cultivation, testing and assessment, and effective planning.
Disability and Classical Education
This course, led by Dr. Amy Gilbert Richards, explores the philosophical foundations and practical guidance for serving students with special learning needs in classical schools and emphasizes how the pursuit of the true, the good, and the beautiful leads us to the profound question of what it means to be human.
Spreading the Feast: Classical Education for All
This course on urban classical education is presented by Russ Gregg, who has served as head of school at Hope Academy for 20 years. The movement to bring classical education to our cities seeks to give the best education available to those who need it most.
Orientation in Subject Content
Reading and Teaching The Odyssey
In this course you will read through Homer’s The Odyssey, guided and inspired by St. John’s College tutors Dr. Eva Brann and Dr. Hannah Hintze. In addition to hearing from both Eva and Hannah on The Odyssey, you will also encounter four seminars featuring several St. John’s students and their tutor.
Classical Teaching and Writing Symposium
In this symposium course, we have combined our full language arts content presented by Andrew Pudewa with a survey by Dr. Christopher Perrin on the key elements of pedagogy in classical education and embodied learning.
How to Teach History
In this course, veteran history educator Wes Callihan traces the history of history, explores its purpose and value in the classical tradition, and discusses the best means for growing as a student of history—and so becoming an effective teacher of history.
Teaching Math Classically
In this course, veteran math educators and classical school academic leaders Andrew Elizalde and Bill Carey describe the way mathematics should be recovered and renewed as a liberal art and therefore as a humanities subject.
Teaching Science Classically: 10 Essential Principles
In this course, John Mays recovers the ways in which Christian science educators can teach science not as a discrete, isolated subject, but as part of tapestry of the true, good, and beautiful that evokes wonder and curiosity. With 10 principles, John Mays discusses the key ideas that inform and transform science pedagogy.
Essentials of Drawing
In this course, Brighton Demerest-Smith moves from how to teach the elements of drawing up through still life and master study. Grounded in fundamentals and close observation of subjects, his methods of teaching drawing are traditional and time-tested.
Essential Music
Dr. Carol Reynolds provides critical context in this course for teaching music classically. She covers a history, perspective and understanding of music that will integrate it with your other studies and unpack its significance for human wellbeing. Learn how to approach music instruction in ways that will shape and bless your students in this essential course.
The Art of Poetry
This course features poet and professor Christine Perrin as she describes the major elements of poetry and also discusses them with four upper school students in a seminar format, therefore modeling how to teach poetry to students. In addition to familiarizing us with the forms and elements of poetry, Christine also shows us how to read a poem closely and absorb its beauty.
For Schools: Find Your Ideal Faculty
Recruit passionate, trained, and mission-aligned classical educators through a curated network. Every candidate listed with Classical Commons has completed the foundational placement course, ensuring they are well-acquainted with the classical tradition. As a complementary support for all your hires, ClassicalU offers team subscriptions in support of your professional development plans.
What is Classical Education?
As a welcome from ClassicalU and Classical Commons, here is Dr. Christopher Perrin sharing what a classical education is in a brief eleven-minute lesson.
Who We Are
