A Rational Curriculum
by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
Total Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
In “A Rational Curriculum,” Dr. Peikoff discusses one of the essential questions of the philosophy of education—what content and subject matter should be taught. Taking reading, writing, and basic arithmetic as the basis of all childhood education, Peikoff focuses on the essential role of history, mathematics, science, and literature in guiding children in the development of their rational faculty and preparing them for successful use of their reason as adults. Delivered at the Jefferson School One-Day Regional Seminar in NYC, on October 11, 1986.
Study Guide
This material is designed to help you digest the lecture content. You can also download a printable PDF version below.
| What are the three essential questions in the philosophy of education? |
| Explain the answers to the first two questions of the philosophy of education in terms of broader Objectivist philosophy. |
| Why must a curriculum be delimited? |
| What is the purpose of a rational curriculum? |
| How is mathematics like a blueprint for the cognitive faculty? |
| What other major value does the study of mathematics provide beyond its role in conceptualization? |
| How is history the workshop for all the other humanities and social sciences? |
| How does history provide the basis for further study in political theory or economics? |
| What is the value of science beyond understanding the scientific method? |
| What method is best for teaching science? |
| What are the four values in teaching literature? |
| What criteria does Dr. Peikoff provide in judging the inclusion of supplementary curriculum beyond what he lays out? |
| Why should writing be included across the subjects? |
| How does writing advance thought in a way beyond the literal understanding of a topic? |
Q&A Guide
Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.
| 1:10:00 | If the director of curriculum was amenable to revising the curriculum, in what ways should they initiate that? What about students in a school that are advanced, what kinds of curriculum would they have? |
| 1:13:32 | Do you have any recommendations for parents about schools, perhaps Montessori, that do go by the curriculum you have outlined today? |
| 1:18:02 | In the early years, how does a child recognize history as reality and not just fiction? |
| 1:19:03 | A representative from Virginia Department of Education started a speech with the phrase “the children belong to the state.” |
| 1:20:18 | In the ideal school, how would one avoid inculcating rationalism in the child when teaching him mathematics in the deductive method? |
| 1:23:30 | When I was reading Louis Sullivan’s autobiography, one thing I was impressed with was the education he was getting in Paris, it was so dramatically different from the American education, particularly the oral examinations, they seemed to me to be very profound, to deal with very broad abstractions. Do you think oral examinations are a valid approach? |