What is Digressio?

WHAT IS DIGRESSIO?

Owen Barfield once said about C.S. Lewis that “what he thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.” Over the last few issues of Digressio and throughout the curriculum published by Roman Roads, we have advocated the use of digressios, or digressions, in teaching—those distractions from the point, side stories and interesting anecdotes along the way in history or literature or science that capture our imagination and create a hook for our memory. But a secondary benefit to a digressio approach to learning is that it can’t help but interconnect our knowledge. Lewis had not kept the various threads of his learning separately spooled in his head but had put them all to use 0n the loom of his intellect. They were so interwoven that he could not utter a word without pulling on the whole intricate fabric of his extensive knowledge.

This sort of interweaving is not only an effective way of organizing knowledge, it is also an effective pedagogical tool. When a teacher strays from the main point of a lecture because the subject at hand reminds him of a story, the lesson concepts are more likely to knit themselves into the fabric already forming in a student’s mind. A digressio intertwines with the imagination and memory. It is the story the child brings to the dinner table, tells his friends, and remembers. It prompts the curiosity that allows him to make more connections with his other areas of knowledge. It becomes part of a child’s education.

Digressios are particularly effective with younger children. As you educate your children, use digressios as tools and opportunities whenever possible. They are not mere distractions. More often, they are the real education.

Daniel Foucachon

FOUNDER, ROMAN ROADS