Joseph Pieper’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture quickly became foundational to my philosophy of teaching and learning. In his work, Pieper ties the conditions of leisure as foundational to culture and necessary for any kind of formation, from religious exploration and expressions to learning.
Scholé is Greek for “leisure.” Later used in Latin as scola, the root is evident in our English words school, scholarship, scholars, scholarly, scholastic, and so on. In each of its modern usages, the connotation is often one of orderliness, or structure, or rigor, but the original use of the word has so much more to offer.
Pieper traces how the leisure prized by Greeks has come to be identified with idleness and sloth in modern competitive, commerce-driven, fast-paced culture. This conflation robs us of the richness of scholé in its original form. We know that
“leisure is the free time, literally the free time, in which we are not enslaved by practical concerns that keep us from cultivating our higher powers of discernment. Leisure is the condition under which intellectual virtues can be acquired” (Pieper 2009, 4)
This leisure, this scholé, leaves room for wonder, reflection, and the conditions of deep learning. In her widely popular book Teaching From Rest, Sarah Mackenzie translates Pieper's work to a kind of "restful learning." Learning that is rich and deep and beautiful, and which requires space and time to operate.
To understand scholé is to have a recording of Jesus’ apprenticeship model of learning where he issues the following invitation to scholé:
“I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.... Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” Matthew 11:28
The same was true of Plato and Socrates. Just be with me and learn. That model for teaching and learning allows for scholé and has been passed down through the classical tradition. We’re creatures meant for action, but we’re also creatures meant for rest. We are bold in reclaiming our humanity when we stop to enjoy conversation, reading, and learning without guilt or shame and without rushing.