Scriptorium

My Analysis of Dorothy Sayers' "Lost Tools of Learning"

Dorothy Leigh Sayers

Dorothy Leigh Sayers was an Oxford teacher, academic and member of a prestigious circle of friends that included C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien and Owen Barfield. As a scholar and expert on the Middles Ages she taught at Oxford for a short time and published a radio series and detective fiction. In 1947 she presented “The Lost Tools of Learning” at Oxford where she compared the education systems of the Middles Age against her “Modern” 1947 European educational system. Miss Sayers cites published writings of scientists and journalists that do not prove nor disprove their paper’s causes or conclusions. She proposes the Trivium as a solution to modern education woes. The Trivium is proposed because it does not segregate knowledge into narrow fields of subjects and specialization but rather focuses on learning to learn by using the lost skills of memorization, observation and formal syllogism logic.

Middles Ages vs Modern Education

In Tudor Times after young men completed their education at the University they were able to “conduct their own affairs” and were ready to assume responsibility but current modern education focuses the specialization of learning and tasks instead of learning to learn. It is often cited that a Modern education requires so many more years of training because there is so much more to know but Miss Sayers cites that additional years spent in specializations actually postpones the acceptance of responsibility and causes psychological complications for the individual and society. She observed the highest historical literacy level in European history but it’s population was much more susceptible to the influence of advertisement and mass propaganda. They were not able to discern fact from fiction or proven from plausible. The result of our Modern educated adults is a population who isn’t able to answer a question or refute an argument.

Watertight Bulkheads

Modern Education also teaches subjects in “watertight bulkheads” that are isolated from all other subjects and there are no connections made between different fields of study like philosophy, economics, chemistry and art. A person may be an accomplished master in one field but has no sense of judgment or skill in other areas because he remembers only what he was taught but does not remember how he learned this skill or knowledge. The students who are products of our Modern academies, colleges and universities are not able to transfer their learning skills to other subjects or areas of knowledge.

Subjects vs Thinking

The focus of Modern Educators is to teach subjects. This postpones thinking, arguing and conclusions skills to an unspecified time in the future. These Scholars are required to pick-up or acquire these skills as he or she journeys down his educational path. Western Modern societies continue to build bigger better schools, postpone educational completion ages and produce botched or piecemealed educational results.  We teach our children subjects but fail in teaching them to think. The modern educated student cannot disentangle or discern fact from option or the proven from the plausible.

Logic, Newspapers, Journalists and Scientists

Newspapers publish articles from leading journalists and scientists who are not able to prove or disprove the final causes or the main propositions because their arguments aren’t supported with instances or facts. If formal syllogism was used as a logic tool then clearly defined facts and correct syntax would be used and it would not lead to dangerous misunderstandings or unsubstantiated conclusions.

Intro to the Trivium

Miss Sayers proposes a medieval education that concentrates first on forging and learning to handle the tools of learning then use whatever subject comes along to fine tune the student’s skills. Her solution to the problems with Modern Education and the lack of Integration between Subjects is a modern Trivium with modifications. It supposes that a progressive retrogression is possible. She sorts and defines the Trivium into three main parts which she calls the Poll-Parrot, Pert and Poetic.

Poll-Parrot

The Poll-Parrot is defined by in the Trivium as the Grammar stage. Students memorize in a naturally easy way but reasoning is difficult. At this age students love to memorize and collect large amounts of rhymes, shapes, and appearances of things just for the sheer joy of accumulating. She states that Latin Grammar is the best for grounding or for the preparation for learning because Latin cuts down on at least 50% of the labor and pain required to learn any other subject because it is the vocabulary and structure of all sciences, Mediterranean literature and European historical documents.

The Grammar of History should consist of dates, events, anecdotes and personalities from the ages past. It doesn’t matter if the dates and events are of English kings, Egyptian pharaohs or American Presidents. The memorization of times, dates and events create pegs for all later historical knowledge and is needed to establish a perspective in history. Geography in the Grammar phase will consist of memorizing maps, natural features, people’s customs, rivers, capitals and mountain ranges.  Science will consist of naming and classification of collections of nature and Scientific laws. In Math the student’s study will focus on the memorizing of the math facts of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In Theology the student will memorize the outlines of the Old and New Testaments, parts of the single narration of Creation, Rebellion, and Redemption, the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments.

Pert

The student will move to the second part of the Trivium when he is seen as Pert or argumentative. This state is the Dialectic. The first stage of Grammar focuses on Observation and Memory and the second focuses on Discursive Reason. The key exercise in this stage will be formal logic and this is where Modern Education and the Trivium shows if first sharp divergence from each other. Logic is the art of arguing correctly: “If A, then B”. Its purpose is not only to establish positive conclusions but also to exposure invalid inferences or suppositions.

In the Dialectic phase of the Trivium the student’s Grammar will use vocabulary and will focus on syntax and the analysis of historical language. The Reading section will come from narratives, lyric, essays, arguments and criticism so the pupil will learn to imitate this writing. The lessons will take on subjects in the form of debates and dramatic recitation and presentation by individuals and groups. Their debate and argument will be stated in dramatic form. In Mathematics the student will learn algebra, geometry and advanced forms of math as a part of their Logic studies. History, ethics and the grammar of theology will prove ample material for discussion and debate. Theology will give the student the underpinnings for their discussion of morals and ethics. The materials that the students use will be not being the focus but will only be “the tools” to learn.  At the end of the Pert or Dialectic stage the student will determine they need more advance material to chew or think about. This means they are ready for the Poetic or Rhetoric stage.

Poetic

In the Rhetoric stage Miss Sayers states that now the storehouses of learning will be thrown open for them to browse and learn as they will. The things they once learned by rote memory will be seen in new context and can be brought together in new contexts to form new synthesis and insight. She states that it is difficult to define a general syllabus for study because the students demand freedom to learn and expression. At this point they can go forward with the tools that have been sharpened with clean proportional observation. The final synthesis of the Trivium should be the presentation and public defense of their personal thesis.

Educational Capital

We as Modern people cannot live on our past educational capital forever. We must water and nurture our past traditions of learning just as master builders need to master the use of ax, wedge, hammer and saws to build our homes and businesses of today and the future. The Scholastic tradition though broken still lingers as a faint memory of times past. We, as Parents and Teachers need to stand in the gap to prepare our children for the days ahead as Christians and Scholars.