Mrs. Joscelynn Tomaw
Joscelynn Tomaw lives in South Bend, Indiana with her husband Jacob Tomaw where she homeschools their five children. She holds a B.A. in both Political Science and Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Economics from Indiana University as well as an MBA with a concentration in Economics from Loyola University Chicago. In 2010 Joscelynn left work in Chicago’s insurance and financial industries to manage her home and discovered the beauty of classical education through the CCLE Summer Conference. She is a CiRCE Institute Master Teacher and Curriculum Developer currently developing an economics curriculum and teaching economics, literature, and composition to homeschool students in her community. Joscelynn is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and humanities and enjoys reading and gardening whenever she has the chance.

In Due Season: Towards a Classical Lutheran Approach to Teaching Economics
Thesis: Classical rhetorical deliberation teaches the free man to think; the Lutheran doctrine of vocation teaches the freedom in Christ to serve neighbors; together they give Christians the confidence to exercise dominion over their material blessings in God-pleasing ways. Description: This presentation will address the topic of teaching the ethical science of economics by practicing the seven liberal arts in that field. We will begin with the premise that a Lutheran understanding of management (economics) is vocational in two ways: 1. We use it to serve our neighbors. 2. God calls us to do it. (Genesis Ch. 2) Readings from Genesis and Luther’s explanation of the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer will open our exploration of the call to management and we will discuss what that practice might look like at the grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages of education, moving from the concrete and practical toward the abstract and theoretical. The second portion of this presentation will address three modes of instruction appropriate to classical education and economics specifically: didactic (catechetical), mimetic (skill-building), and Socratic (dialectical). Each mode of instruction can be used to illuminate economic artifacts for the student, from naming coins, planning budgets, and interpreting models to discussing the practical wisdom of fables and reading classic economic treatises. Finally, I hope to walk my audience through a few sample lessons in economics at a variety of levels and address questions and comments. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
