Live Learning
Courses
Become Master Teachers
Our popular live cohorts
now offered in flexible packages.
*Your purchase includes full access to all of ClassicalU.com for the duration of the cohort, guidance in weekly practicums, instructor evaluation, and class discussion. Learners are responsible for the purchase of course texts in addition to their enrollment fee.
Simple Course Enrollment
Choose from these Flexible Purchase Options
Professor Jon Balsbaugh
$272.50 plus the cost of book.
$272.50 plus the cost of book.
$545 plus the cost of book.
$545 plus the cost of book.
Wesley Callihan - Coming Soon
Course Details
Using Adler's Three Pillars of Instruction
In the early 1980s, educational philosopher Mortimer Adler published a trilogy of books proposing a reform of educational practice in the United States: The Paideia Proposal (1982), Paideia Problems and Possibilities (1983), and The Paideia Program (1984). One of the most important outcomes of Adler’s efforts was a method of teaching that relied upon three pillars: didactic instruction, coaching, and seminar. Professor Jon Balsbaugh will lead this course on how to use the pillars of instruction in the classroom. The course will include reading and presentations on the practical application of the material to the contemporary classroom setting and a wide range of subjects.
- Session Schedule, EST
3 weeks
Dates: 10/15, 10/29, 11/12; 7:00-9:00 PM
The Socratic Paradigm
As the historical figure who was imprisoned and executed for his ideas or as the character we know as in Plato’s many dialogues, Socrates is a pillar of the classical tradition. Join Professor Jon Balsbaugh for a discussion of Socrates as a learner, teacher, and guide “out of the cave.” The course will include the reading and discussion of original texts as well as presentations on the application of Socrates’ life and teachings to the classroom—what has come to be known as “the Socratic method.”
- Session Schedule, EST
3 weeks
Dates: 10/22, 11/5, 11/19; 7:00-9:00 PM
Socrates and Adler: A Philosophy and Method of Inquiry
Separated by almost twenty-five hundred years, Socrates and Mortimer Adler are nonetheless participants in the same great conversation of what it means to know, to learn, and to become a truly “educated” person. This course will begin with a study of Socrates as teacher, learner and guide (with attention to developing a true “Socratic Method”); and it will continue with a practical application of Mortimer Adler’s three pillars of instruction to the classroom environment.
- Session Schedule, EST
6 weeks
2024 Dates: Concurrent weekly enrollment in both mini-course dates (10/15, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19; 7:00 – 9:00 PM)
2025 Dates: 1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/4, 3/18, 4/1; 7:00-9:00 PM
Meet Your Instructor
Jon Balsbaugh received his BA in English from The Master’s University (CA) and his MA in English from the University of St. Thomas (MN), where his academic work focused on C.S. Lewis and the theology of beauty. He has worked in classical education for over twenty-five years as a homeschool parent, teacher, administrator, conference speaker, consultant, and author. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Veritas Journal and the owner and operator of Kairos Educational Consulting. He and his wife, Jennifer, have five children and live in South Bend, Indiana. In addition to his academic and intellectual pursuits, he enjoys fly fishing, foraging, food, and photography.
Jon is also partnered with ClassicalU in providing professional development and teacher coaching with the recording uploads of your classroom teaching sample (with appropriate permissions).
