Conservative Approach to Education

2025

Reclaiming Classical Education II. International Conference and Book Launch

On June 2nd 2025, the Learning Institute at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, in conjunction with the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture in Poland, will hold a one day conference in Warsaw. This international event will continue a discussion begun in Brussels in early 2024, which aimed to revive an interest in classical education in light of a renewed crisis facing schools and universities across the Western world.

‘(…) conservatism, in the sense of conservation, is of the essence of the educational activity, whose task is always to cherish and protect something the child against the world, the world against the child, the new against the old, the old against the new. Even the comprehensive responsibility for the world that is thereby assumed implies, of course, a conservative attitude.’

Hannah Arendt (1954). Crisis in Education

The Conservative Approach to Education is an international research and networking project aimed at developing a holistic conservative educational narrative. Conceived in 2023, the project seeks to offer a credible alternative to the prevailing liberal narratives in education. To build this alternative, we have formed a unique network of European and American educational partners dedicated to re-thinking and reshaping conventional approaches to education.

A core component of the project is research, centered on an international comparative study of history and citizenship education. Through this study, we aim to identify and analyze key trends in history and civic education across European and Atlantic contexts.

Through this combined research and networking effort, our project aims to deliver:

A database cataloging Europe’s conservative education network

Literature on conservative policies in education

A conservative education manifesto for the European public

The Conservative Approach to Education is led by researchers and educators Richárd Fodor and János Setényi, supported by junior researchers and teachers Judit Tóth, Boróka Iszály, and András Máté.

The project also has 3 foreign project advisors: Joanna Williams, Alka Sehgal Cuthbert and Nicholas Tate

The project was initiated by the Learning Institute, directed by János Setényi. Comprising educational researchers and experts, the institute is dedicated to objectively analyzing 21st-century global educational trends and adapting them into competitive solutions for Hungary. In pursuit of this mission, the Learning Institute conducts rigorous research and analysis, enhanced by a strong international presence and active social engagement.

The Learning Institute operates within Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), Central Europe's leading educational institution and research center. Committed to nurturing young Hungarian talent, MCC provides free supplementary education to students across the Carpathian Basin. Beyond its educational programs, MCC hosts research centers that publish influential studies, organize academic conferences, and foster public debate on society’s most pressing issues.