This phrase, first coined by Robert M. Hutchins and Mortimer Adler in the 1950s, refers to the conversation that has been occurring in the Western world over the past 2,500 years about the greatest ideas and questions of humanity.

This conversation has covered much: the nature of law, order, freedom, happiness, beauty, goodness, truth, and so on. Hutchins and Adler taught that the tradition of the West is embodied in this great conversation, a dialogue between writers and thinkers who respond to those who went before them.

At St. Anselm’s we place great emphasis on teacher-led classrooms and time-tested content. This will situate our pupils within the Great Conversation and enable them to see they are, as Newton says, standing on the shoulders of giants.