Featured

Young man wearing safety glasses using hammer to work on a wooden project in a workshop.
Schools for Philosopher-Carpenters
A new crop of innovative schools encourages all students to use their minds and their hands.
Alex Sosler
Report
Four firefighters in gear standing and smiling in front of a red Sister Bay Liberty Grove fire truck.
Why I Became a Firefighter
A priest joins her local volunteer fire department.
Brit Frazier
Personal History
Group of people holding hands in a circle on a mountain hill with snow-capped peaks in the background.
The School that Escaped to the Alps
Faced with a Nazi takeover, the first Bruderhof school took refuge in Liechtenstein.
Marianne Wright
Essay
Abstract painting with overlapping rectangular shapes in muted colors and some red accents.
Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future?
Learning that one’s job might soon be eliminated by the emergence of an overhyped new technology puts one in good company.
Phil Christman
Essay
Two young men in blue hoodies examining an antler while sitting at a table with animal skulls.
Deerassic Park
A high-school science teacher and his students practice conservation in the woods and ponds of upstate New York.
Tim Maendel
The Doers
Yellow house with snow-covered roof and leafless trees in winter landscape painting.
Why We’re Failing to Pass on Christianity
How do you teach Christian basics to those who think they know all about it?
Benjamin Crosby
Essay

Insights

Teacher assisting young students at desks in classroom with Mexican flag on a desk.
For the Love of Public School Teaching
An immigrant educator tells why he chose to teach underprivileged children.
Anthony Garces Foley
Interview
Colorful painting of a person bending down with abstract blue and yellow patterns and handwritten text.
Let Children Play
In an age of high-pressure childhoods, free play is more necessary than ever.
Peter Gray
Interview
Four young men working on large wooden logs in a workshop with sawdust and wood shaping tools.
Timber Framing with Teenagers
Why a history teacher believes in training students to use hand tools.
Clem Robertshaw
The Doers
Two teenage boys in a classroom working together on a mechanical engine part, with others studying nearby.
The Most Valuable Joads
Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath inspires a small-engines project in the English classroom.
Tom Huleatt
The Doers
Man in suit and yarmulke speaking at a wooden podium holding up a shofar.
The Music on Mount Sinai
As students enter adulthood, how can they learn to hear the voice of God beneath the noise of life?
Meir Soloveichik
Address
Child with hands covered in green, purple, and blue paint held up toward the camera.
The Green Paint Incident
There’s no room for irony in a second-grade classroom.
Toby Payne
Personal History
Painting of a child sitting and a person on a horse facing each other against a yellow-blue background.
Reverence for the Child
Four thinkers prepare us to come into the presence of children.
Eberhard Arnold
Maria Montessori
James Baldwin
Saint John Chrysostom
Reading
Technical drawing of a spiral shape with geometric lines and numbered measurements in brown and teal.
How Math Makes You a Better Person
Across cultures, I found that math can be more than mere problem-solving.
Frederick K S Leung
Interview
Young woman in glittery top with arms raised, illuminated against a dark background.
Tell an Old Story for Modern Times
A Bruderhof teacher applies lessons from her mentors and Homer in her classroom and beyond.
Lisabeth Button
Essay
Abstract painting of a person with blue hair and a white-red creature with sharp teeth behind them.
Should I Read Scary Fairy Tales to My Child?
My kids already know the world is not safe. Will dragons and goblins make it worse?
Stephanie Ebert
Essay
Man in teal sweater assembling wooden frame while seated students watch in a classroom with wooden floor.
Lernvergnügenstag: A Day for the Joy of Learning
Once a year, I get to teach my students whatever inspires me.
Patrick Tomassi
The Doers
Woman in black dress holding a book speaking to a group of journalists with cameras and microphones.
Freedom of Speech Under Threat
From Nicaragua to Finland, bold speech is a Christian’s right and duty.
Paul Coleman
Elyssa Koren
Report

Web Exclusives

Five hikers with backpacks standing on rocky terrain beside a river in a deep canyon.
Grand Canyon Classroom
A hiking club is a natural extension of a classical education.
Betsy K. Brown
Essay
Renaissance-style painting of a knight in armor leaning towards a woman in a crown and colorful robes.
Teaching the One Percent
A Columbia professor defends the spiritual worth of liberal education.
Dhananjay Jagannathan
Essay
Painting of two children outdoors, one writing on paper while the other watches.
The Homeschooling Option
Homeschooling in America has never been more widespread – or more diverse. We checked in on several parents in Detroit.
Casey Kleczek
Report
Groups of people sitting on green lawn in front of historic buildings with towers and leafless trees.
Gentleness in Academia
In a cutthroat environment, is it naive to approach one’s critics, or even one’s students, with virtues such as gentleness, patience, and humility?
Elizabeth Hoare
Wooden seats and desks in an empty lecture hall with tall windows and brick walls.
What Is a University For?
Three academics reflect on the purpose of university education.

Arts & Letters

Painting of four people seated around a round table with drinks and empty plates in a muted room.
Iron Sharpens Iron
Real friendship is the most powerful education.
Johann H. Huleatt
Essay
Fractal pattern with glowing spirals in gold, blue, and black resembling abstract cosmic shapes.
Hearing a Lecture on the Mandelbrot Set
To whom is the cheetah being obedient as she strangles a young impala?
Claude Wilkinson
Poetry
Painting of fruits including figs, seeds, and leaves on a dark background.
A Meditation on Figs
Rooted in rich, dark soil beside my grandmother’s smokehouse where hams hung and cured…
Claude Wilkinson
Poetry
Group of religious figures in detailed robes, some holding books, one in white mitre seated center.
On Raphael’s La Disputa del Sacramento
The first of my umbrages is how utterly humdrum eternity seems.
Claude Wilkinson
Poetry
Book cover of We're Alone by Edwidge Danticat featuring a person standing in water facing hanging fabric panels.
We’re Alone Together
A review of Edwidge Danticat’s new essay collection, We’re Alone.
Caitrin Keiper
Editors’ Pick
Book cover of Learning to Disagree by John Inazu with colorful arrows and subtitle about empathy and respect.
Disagreeing Respectfully
John Inazu’s Learning to Disagree aims to improve civil discourse by showing readers how to navigate differences more gracefully.
Joseph Holmes
Editors’ Pick
Book cover of The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry with a silhouette, crow, rabbit, and floral design.
Life without Magic
In H. G. Parry’s novel The Magician’s Daughter, a sixteen-year-old chooses to leave a magical island for the the wider world.
James Smoker
Editors’ Pick
Illustration of a serious man and woman with backpacks, woman holding a baby, fire and refugees behind them.
The Jakob Hutter Story
In this excerpt from By Fire, a radical reformer risks everything for a cause.
Jason Landsel
Sankha Banerjee
Richard Mommsen
Comic