The Torch
A deep dive into classical education
What Is Spiraling?
In this month's Torch, I will explore Spiraling, a concept which is integral to our classical curriculum. When discussing curriculum with our community, I share that in Kindergarten through 12th Grade, Nova Classical Academy holds Spiraling as one of the Three Curricular Tenets (Classical, Spiraling, and Connected) from our website:
- Spiraling
- From grade to grade (like the concept of nouns or basic addition)
- From stage to stage (like medieval history in the grammar, logic, and rhetoric stage)
- This “spiraling” allows for students to build from a broader to a deeper understanding of subject matter, work with more sophisticated primary texts, and develop a clearer conception of how ideas have unfolded over time.
In December, our Curriculum Committee annually reviews proposals for new texts. We engage in this work so that we are consistently reflecting on what our students learn and when they learn it, as well as how we deepen that learning through the spiral. Spiraling is not to come back to a concept to do the same thing over and over, but to understand that concept in a more meaningful way than we did the first, second, or third time.
We see spirals in nature, such as galaxies, shells, plants, and DNA. We see spirals in architecture and math. We see spirals representing spiritual growth, the sun, the moon, and the cycle of life. As I was reading about spiral imagery this month in preparation for this edition of The Torch, I found the following from the BBC that I wanted to share with our community:
The Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung, renowned for his work on symbols, archetypes and the collective unconscious, wrote: "The spiral in psychology means that when you make a spiral you always come over the same point where you have been before, but never really the same, it is above or below, inside, outside, so it means growth." Jung visualised the unconscious process as moving "spiral-wise round a centre, gradually getting closer, while the characteristics of the centre grow more and more distinct."
I hope this brief exploration has brought a deeper understanding of Spiraling to our community, and am thankful that I have the opportunity to sort my own thinking of classical education while writing about it for our Nova Classical community. Thank you for your continued support of our school and classical education!
May we continue to keep the light of classical education burning bright,
Dr. Missy Johnson
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As a teacher and student of Latin and Greek, the classical model was a natural choice for me as an educator. I hold the teaching of grammar, logic, rhetoric, and virtues in high regard for learners of all ages and backgrounds. Nova Classical’s community model is inspiring, and I hope to bring thoughtfulness and openness to the Great Conversation.