Using the book Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination, by theologian Vigen Guroian, for inspiration, this workshop is designed to encourage teachers to see the value in highlighting story to teach students of all ages how to deepen their conviction toward virtuous living while seeing God’s patterns inherent in our world. Let’s make more room in our teaching to strengthen our students’ decision making skills through the “moral imagination” while applying Guroian’s ideas to the popular Narnia Chronicles and generalizing these ideas to all our book choices. Let’s not see narrative, whether in Literature, Humanities, or read-aloud, as an “extra,” but an essential part of our curricula and a powerful medium for classical schole reflection and deep thinking. Stories can be interactive tools to help people ponder well & live virtuously when we filter story conflicts through the grace-driven wisdom of God.

Liz Morgan’s top priorities are integrating classical education with a God-centered worldview to encourage virtue and academic excellence. She currently teaches 4th grade and Spanish as an elective to grades K-5 at Fortis Academy in Texas, previously taught 3rd grade at Regents School of Austin for 8 years, facilitated a Christian speech and debate club for 13 years, and holds a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in bilingual education from The University of Texas at Austin. She has taught for 39 years, including experience in private, public, and home education venues.