What is the ancient classical three-stage education system?
The Trivium is defined as the ancient Greek / Roman classical model of learning called the Trivium. Today, we define this as "the Trilogy," which is the philosophy that learning is best achieved recognizing and working within the characteristics of three distinct stages:
The Trivium is defined as the ancient Greek / Roman classical model of learning called the Trivium. Today, we define this as "the Trilogy," which is the philosophy that learning is best achieved recognizing and working within the characteristics of three distinct stages:
► The Data stage (What-based learning. The memory of facts as building blocks),
► ...the Discussion stage (Why-based learning. This is answering why things work or happen or matter.),
►…and the Demonstration stage (How-based learning. Researching a subject and presenting what has been learned through papers, mini-lessons, debates, and presentations).
The Trilogy can be used to master a subject - thus, a student learns to first identify and memorize facts of a subject as building blocks, then learns how these building blocks link and finally demonstrates to others what has been learned since teaching is the best way to learn. The trilogy can also correspond to general areas of human development, thus in general, K - 5 students function best pursuing data-based learning, 6 - 8 students function best pursuing Discussion based learning and 9 - 12 students do best with demonstration-based learning. The Academy focuses on using the trilogy within subjects and in the general sense.