Disability and Classical Education: Student Formation in Keeping with Our Common Humanity

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. Rooted in the ideals of classical education, the course 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. Dr. Richards argues that understanding humanity requires careful reflection on the experiences of persons with disabilities, who illuminate the deeply relational nature of our humanity—a nature often overshadowed by modern emphases on autonomy and self-sufficiency.

By embracing the vulnerability and interconnectedness that define human life, classical education can better fulfill its telos: cultivating human flourishing and virtue. The course emphasizes that creating hospitable classrooms for students with disabilities is not merely an act of inclusion but a critical step toward realizing the truth and justice at the heart of classical Christian education. Dr. Richards also introduces practical techniques drawn from both classical pedagogy and special education, equipping educators to guide all students, including those with special needs, toward a life oriented by the true, the good, and the beautiful.

Dr. Amy Gilbert Richards is Affiliate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Eastern University. She also teaches in Eastern’s Templeton Honors College (THC), dedicated to great books and great questions. She is also a Faculty Fellow of the THC’s Master of Arts in Classical Teaching program. Building on her previous work in philosophical and theological anthropology, she teaches a course in this program called “Difference and Human Dignity in the Great Tradition” that is dedicated both to developing an understanding of what it is to be human through the lens of disability and difference, and to offering practical techniques for classical classroom approaches for students with special needs. She lives in Havertown, PA with her husband and their three small girls.

You may also enjoy viewing Dr. Richards’s appearance on a panel discussion with practitioners from Scholé Academy’s Center for Students with Learning Differences on the topic of serving students with learning differences. Her accompanying book Disability and Classical Education: Student Formation in Keeping with Our Common Humanity is available to order in paperback and in Kindle. This book follows the content of the video course closely, but with additional material. Both the book and course stand on their own.

Praise for Disability and Classical Education

“It should go without saying that anyone who operates a classical school must read Dr. Richards’s book, but I would argue that everyone engaged in educating children with disabilities would benefit from the expanded horizon that her ideas offer. In a way that is philosophical yet grounded, elevated yet accessible, we are shown that our commitment to educating any student is dependent on how we welcome students to our classrooms.” —Thomas Doebler, Senior National Director of Exceptional Student Services, Great Hearts Academies

“Typically, those who write on disability have a personal reason to do so. Dr. Richards is an outlier in that regard, but that is her advantage. She is able to write without prejudice how our ‘models’ of disability and legally mandated “inclusion” programs essentially violate the ends they are intended to fulfil. As a philosophical anthropologist, she has focused her work on the individual person and how they best thrive in classrooms where students aren’t seen as problems to solve, but where differences are anticipated and classrooms structured to receive their ‘strange vocation’ as a gift that illuminates ‘the very crux of our common humanity.’” —Mark Bradford, Fellow for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Word on Fire Institute

To learn more about earning a certificate for this course, please visit “How do I Obtain a Course Certificate?” on our FAQ page. Our course certificates are valued by classical schools and co-ops worldwide. Teachers certified with either ACSI or ACCS will see continuing education unit (CEU) credits listed on our course certificate for you to submit to either organization (with more information on certification credit here).