From Numbness to Conversion: A Teacher's Confession w/ Betsy McClelland | The Furrows

Send us Fan MailBetsy Brown McClelland spent over a decade teaching medieval history and humane letters in the Great Hearts network—watching students encounter saints, suffer through Socratic seminars, and walk out of her classroom different people. In this episode, she traces her own story: from a rich homeschooled childhood into a season of spiritual and intellectual numbness, through a college awakening, and into a classroom conversion she never anticipated. What's in This Episode:How Betsy's transition from homeschool to public school left her desensitized—intellectually and spirituallyThe role of college, Dr. Peter Kreeft, and learning that pursuit itself is the pointHow teaching eighth grade medieval history accidentally led to Betsy's own Catholic conversionWhat a generation of students dealing with social media, COVID, and loneliness taught her about the healing power of great booksWhy Socratic discussion, not social-emotional programming, is the activity that actually unifies intellectual and moral formation                                                                                                                                                  .Chapters:00:00: Welcome and introduction to Betsy McClellan09:47: Homeschooling, early reading, and the first signs of numbness19:14: What was at the center of your education growing up?25:24: College, Dr. Peter Kreeft, and learning to pursue truth35:15: Writing, poetry, and becoming a liberal arts student44:18: How Betsy became a teacher51:30: Teaching eighth grade and medieval history01:00:42: Students, the supernatural, and a generation in crisis01:12:38: Socratic discussion and the healing power of the classroom01:19:55: The community of teachers and a closing poem                                                                                                                                                  .Resources Mentioned:City Nave by Betsy K. BrownThe Anxious Generation by Jonathan HaidtThe Dignity of Dependence by Leah Libresco SargeantArcadia EducationClassical Learning TestHosted by Ryan Klopak (Arcadia Education) and Alex Julian (CLT). The Furrows podcast features leaders in classical education who have been transformed by classical education.Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios