Masterly Inactivity for School Communities

There is a corollary between Charlotte Mason’s prescription for the posture of the teacher towards students and the posture of a school community towards the family.

I have met teachers who don’t trust parents alone with any meaningful material, let alone the student(!) as Charlotte Mason says is possible. In traditional hybrid models, At-home work often consists of specific and incoherent (because the parents aren’t in on the context) tidbits that feel tedious precisely because they are unmoored. In Charlotte Mason hybrids, it is a bit better, but there is often still a requirement for specific book titles and page ranges that someone who “knows” has already made decisions on. While better, due to the living content the PNEU philosophy offers the myriad of modern education models that are popping up, a truly unique tool that not only honors students, but also families as well.

In thinking about the broad range of subjects in a Charlotte Mason Education as sections in an ice tray, a framework in which various living books may be popped in or out, and further, thinking about each of those categories in terms of streams, Charlotte Mason’s method almost feels tailored to modern needs and dynamics.

When looking at a student’s year as a whole, it is possible for some streams to be exclusively handled at school, and some streams to be handled exclusively at home. Neither is more important, or needful – but each a course in the feast. This approach gives the big and small persons involved at each location (home and school) a whole and vitalizing experience, it gives them something to care about. It is also possible for families to be given streams to fill as they feel led!

Which loops me back to my opening statement. A school’s posture towards the family must be one of respect and service well given, much like the posture of the teacher towards the student (Masterly Inactivity). In helping families, we must not usurp. In providing we must not displace (even if they want us to!)

There is a modern tendency to want to outsource everything. To shove it off of my plate and let someone else worry about it, and often school communities are too willing to comply. This is not healthy for family dynamics especially within the Charlotte Mason philosophy where “education is the science of relations”. The parents must be a part of that.

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In the past I have found myself being frustrated by feeling so needed. I think when all of this started, the goal I had for my role was as a bit of a launch pad! "I'm going to help you with all of the things and then you will be free to soar on your own." I have seen that this is not always a correct expectation for this unique space of time and culture we find ourselves in. Not every homeschool family in the 21^st century will be of the type and tenor of the OG 90’s homeschool parents, those scrappy and independent pioneers! And we shouldn’t shame them. We are in a new time. People want community. People often need community for structure, mentoring, stability, and relationship. This is not a moral failure! Needing these things isn't necessarily a phase to "grow out of".

The moral failure is when homeschool communities become condescending and violate the sacredness and autonomy of the family unit. We may not marginalize parents and cut them out under the guise of "help". The community should exist as much for the growth and health of the parent as the student. A Charlotte Mason school community should not allow itself to be a utilitarian product to purchase, even if that is what our consumeristic culture tells us we need. It is often up to the communities themselves to recalibrate the postures.

These are the types of thoughts that shape my work with Red-Brick Academy. If you are a school leader as well, let's continue fleshing out these types of goals together. Happy to chat.

Sara Timothy 2025