Instruction will take place at the University of Alexandria through the Classical Liberal Arts Educational Philosophy. For thousands of years, the primary philosophy of education consisted of the study of the Liberal Arts. During the middle-ages, terms like the Trivium and Quadrivium were used to describe the classical philosophy as it spread across Europe.

A century after the founding of America, the classical model started to decline and the model known as “Progressive Education” began to take root. Philosophers such as: Jean Jocques Rousseau, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Friedrich Frobel, Charles Darwin, Colonel Francis Parker, and finally John Dewey helped to develop the Progressive Model of Education.

The major issue that we, at the University of Alexandria take with the Progressive Model is that it cycles through ever-changing practices and methods that have never proven to improve education. On the contrary, we have only observed the Progressive Model to correlate with a decrease in achievement and performance.

The Classical Liberal Arts Educational Philosophy however, with its consistent, centuries-old practices and methods, rooted in the Trivium produce high levels of achievement and performance without perpetual reform (if it is not broken, there is no need to fix it!).

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Classical Liberal Arts philosophy is mastery of the basics. Mastery is virtually unheard of in mainstream public schools, but is one of the foundational concepts of the University of Alexandria. We understand that the only way to apply any skill to a higher degree of thinking is to first master the skill. Mastery, or knowledge is the first level of the Trivium and furnishes a solid academic foundation. The Trivium provides a roadmap to learning, beginning with knowledge, moving to understanding, and then on to developing wisdom.