Opening Night at the National Symposium for Classical Education

Over 700 attendees ascended upon the Phoenix Convention Center for the opening night of the 2024 National Symposium for Classical Education, hosted by the Great Hearts Institute under the leadership of the Institute’s director, Carol McNamara. The symposiasts enjoyed an opening reception as they explored the booths from some of the event’s sponsors. The room was filled with anticipation for the next three days with over 60 talks, workshops, and panels from more than 75 speakers, each an expert in their respective fields.

The theme of this year’s Symposium is “Renewing the Great Conversation.” Over the course of the Symposium, attendees will explore the eternal questions that form the core of classical education through expanded offerings that include more classroom pedagogy, public policy, and school operations in keynote lectures, scholar talks, panels, and workshops.

Chief Academic Officer Jake Tawney opened the inaugural session by paying respect to the history of the Symposium itself, from its humble beginnings as an internal opportunity for Great Hearts faculty, to the national and global event we know today that was made possible by former Director, Dr. Robert Jackson, before passing the baton to Great Hearts Institute’s new Director, Dr. Carol McNamara.

Jonathan Pageau, a liturgical artist, icon carver, public speaker, and owner of Symbolic World Press and The Symbolic World podcasts, took the stage as the first speaker in the main ballroom with his keynote address, “Fairy Tales as the Music of the Spheres,” where he expressed his hope that the audience would fall in love with fairy tales even more than before his session.

He explained that our old stories, or fairy tales contain patterns of harmony and disharmony that Pythagoras called the Music of the Spheres. The fact that they have been remembered and retold for thousands of years shows us their importance to humanity. Through his talk, Pageau took the audience on a journey to explore these patterns of consciousness, and how these stories frame and underlie our experiences with rhythm, and how they shape us and our children by attention and care.

Pageau warned that if we try to modify fairy tales too much, we run the risk of twisting them and taking away their very meaning. These timeless stories that have been passed down for generations are in danger of being swallowed up in a cultural moment by external attempts to deconstruct and reinvent these ancient tales. He demonstrated this with the story, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and explored the original intention and themes of the famous fable.

After a robust Q&A session with Pageau, McNamara closed the session by welcoming the attendees to join in the conversation around classical education. She addressed the audience with a little bit of housekeeping for the following two days and reminded the symposiasts to take advantage of the great opportunity they have to learn, collaborate, and continue to participate in the great conversion. The evening concluded with a special reception.

Stay tuned as we continue to cover the remainder of the Symposium over the next two days.

Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts?  Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.