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Pedagogical Principle #2- Formation vs. Information
“To promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness”. These are the first few words of the United States’ Department of Education’s mission statement. At first glance, they sound pretty good. As parents, teachers, and citizens, we want our students to be high achievers, to be prepared for the future. But if you look more… Read more
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Pedagogical Principle #1 – A Givenness to the Universe
Few people today would argue against the existence of natural laws. Gravity, energy, and thermodynamics are generally accepted as realities that govern the world around us. We accept them as constant, as true, and as given. Yet, the idea of givenness ends there. The world often stops short of recognizing what those laws reveal: that… Read more
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So many books, so little time
by Lindsey Ralls Having just returned form a summer conference, the title of this post is very much how I’m feeling. There’s so much I want to read but so little time to do it! And I don’t know about you, but for me the summer feels like this little window of opportunity that shouldn’t… Read more
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Making your Portrait of a Graduate Practical and Effective
by Lindsey Ralls Many schools have a Portrait of a Graduate, (though sometimes it’s referred to as a “Profile of a Graduate” ): a document that outlines what the school hopes to cultivate in their students by the time they graduate. The challenge, of course, is that much like a strategic plan, a Portrait of… Read more
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Lessons from Lewis’s “Learning in War-Time”
by Lindsey Ralls In October of 1939, at St. Mary’s Church in Oxford, C.S. Lewis spoke to an audience of undergrads who were questioning the futility of a college education in the midst of a country at war. To them, attending lectures and writing papers bordered on frivolity and selfishness when their fellow countrymen were… Read more
Where Paideia starts to feel possible…
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What We’re All About
Pai·deia (noun) – The upbringing of a child
Prac·ti·cal (adjective) – Concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with simply theory and ideas
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Gazing…and Aristotle’s Five Common Topics
Practical Paideia 