Page 29 - The Gonzaga Record 1985
P. 29
school to University was confusing, and often painful.
It was hoped to use the Sixth Year to make this transition. There was more to it.
It was hoped that the aim of the ancient Ratio Studiorum of the Jesuits might be
better realised in this rather free atmosphere of the Sixth Year.
The effort to adapt the spirit of the old Ratio Studiorum to the Sixth Year was
largely the work ofFr Joseph Veale, SJ. Not everything worked out as desired, but
the ideal and the vision were there. Father Veale has written an account of his main
ideas in an excellent article, published in Studies for Autumn 1957. The article is
entitled: 'Men Speechless'. The very title itself already says much .. In the Ratio
system, secondary education ended with a class in Rhetoric. Nowadays the very
word rhetoric has a pejorative sense; it is usually preceded by the word 'mere.' But
it once stood for something quite noble and challenging. Here is a short excerpt
from that article.
Rhetoric: It is important to ensure that a boy's mind is not crammed with bits
and pieces of information. His grasp of truth must be like a living organism, with
one living principle of life .
This principle of clear and ordered expression is designed to ensure that a
student not merely remembers what he has learned, but really knows it. It trains
him to think about what he learns in relation to the rest of his knowledge,
gleaned in classes and from his reading and experience. It trains him to come to
a true and accurate knowledge of his subject, and to enter into the minds of other
men.
At eighteen a student is best prepared to undertake university studies, to do
well in them, and with personal benefit, if he has been taught how to think. If he
does not go to university, that is still a gift which will be of more service to him in
any walk of life than a memorised smattering of many things. So rapidly now do
circumstances change and scientific knowledge expand, that the mind must be
adaptable, flexible, strong, and alert to take initiative.
Rhetoric has a modern application of practical value. It is becoming
increasingly clear that it is precisely the advanced scientist, technologist, and
manager who requires the ability easily, and persuasively to explain a point of
view , to make a case, to expound a difficult argument, to make clear to other
experts a technical process with which they are not familiar, to convince them of
the merits of a policy.
Such, in main outline, were the hopes for this pre-university Sixth Year at
Gonzaga College. Later on in this history an account will be given of how things
worked out in practice, and what was the ultimate fate of this interesting
educational experiment.
The tradition of teaching Greek
It was inevitable that from the very beginning the Classical languages would
hold a very significant place in the curriculum of Gonzaga College. To begi n with ,
the old Ratio Studiorum was grounded on the teachin g of Latin and Greek . And it
was an unchallenged assumption that any true appreciation of European culture
necessitated a knowledge of Latin and Greek.
Apart from this cultural argument there was a very practical one. Without Latin
you could not enter university at all , in any faculty.
21
It was hoped to use the Sixth Year to make this transition. There was more to it.
It was hoped that the aim of the ancient Ratio Studiorum of the Jesuits might be
better realised in this rather free atmosphere of the Sixth Year.
The effort to adapt the spirit of the old Ratio Studiorum to the Sixth Year was
largely the work ofFr Joseph Veale, SJ. Not everything worked out as desired, but
the ideal and the vision were there. Father Veale has written an account of his main
ideas in an excellent article, published in Studies for Autumn 1957. The article is
entitled: 'Men Speechless'. The very title itself already says much .. In the Ratio
system, secondary education ended with a class in Rhetoric. Nowadays the very
word rhetoric has a pejorative sense; it is usually preceded by the word 'mere.' But
it once stood for something quite noble and challenging. Here is a short excerpt
from that article.
Rhetoric: It is important to ensure that a boy's mind is not crammed with bits
and pieces of information. His grasp of truth must be like a living organism, with
one living principle of life .
This principle of clear and ordered expression is designed to ensure that a
student not merely remembers what he has learned, but really knows it. It trains
him to think about what he learns in relation to the rest of his knowledge,
gleaned in classes and from his reading and experience. It trains him to come to
a true and accurate knowledge of his subject, and to enter into the minds of other
men.
At eighteen a student is best prepared to undertake university studies, to do
well in them, and with personal benefit, if he has been taught how to think. If he
does not go to university, that is still a gift which will be of more service to him in
any walk of life than a memorised smattering of many things. So rapidly now do
circumstances change and scientific knowledge expand, that the mind must be
adaptable, flexible, strong, and alert to take initiative.
Rhetoric has a modern application of practical value. It is becoming
increasingly clear that it is precisely the advanced scientist, technologist, and
manager who requires the ability easily, and persuasively to explain a point of
view , to make a case, to expound a difficult argument, to make clear to other
experts a technical process with which they are not familiar, to convince them of
the merits of a policy.
Such, in main outline, were the hopes for this pre-university Sixth Year at
Gonzaga College. Later on in this history an account will be given of how things
worked out in practice, and what was the ultimate fate of this interesting
educational experiment.
The tradition of teaching Greek
It was inevitable that from the very beginning the Classical languages would
hold a very significant place in the curriculum of Gonzaga College. To begi n with ,
the old Ratio Studiorum was grounded on the teachin g of Latin and Greek . And it
was an unchallenged assumption that any true appreciation of European culture
necessitated a knowledge of Latin and Greek.
Apart from this cultural argument there was a very practical one. Without Latin
you could not enter university at all , in any faculty.
21
