Summer Institute, Round 2

Today marked the beginning of Malvern Prep's 2nd Summer Institute. It was nice to reunite with the faculty members that volunteered to be part of the pilot version 12 months ago. Although I see everyone from the SI throughout the school year, there was a nostalgic climate today like I was visiting an old friend. Perhaps because many of us had had a few weeks to rest after the school year or perhaps because we did not have bags full of student work to grade and lessons to plan, we were able to have calm and reflective discussions just like we did one year ago.

The theme this year is pedagogy, a shift from last year's theme of assessment. Although the two are intertwined (which came up in conversation) there was a noticeable difference in the format of our activities today. Christian Talbot, our HOS, was candid in sharing his lesson plan for the day, a note taking system he uses for monitoring class participation, and a reading check that he would offer to students to start their reflective thinking before a class discussion. These elements of the day were intentional demonstrations of pedagogical and assessment strategies that can be easily implemented in any classroom. Today's experience tells me that we can expect the two week long institute to maintain a healthy balance between philosophy and a showcase of best practices for pedagogical techniques.

On the more philosophical end we started the day with a reading about Augustine and tried to identify some of the times/places in his life when he was especially close and especially far from, what he would call "Truth." We ended the day by taking time to start working on an articulation of our educational philosophy. Fortunately for me, I had written a 4600 word version of my espoused platform for a graduate course. Unfortunately, I'll need to synthesize that to about 250 words. I started to go through my larger version, highlighting statements that I thought captured the main thrust of my philosophy. At one point, I tried to surmise my entire position be saying that "the purpose of education is to develop independent learners" and that "educators should be evaluated based on what their students learn after their formal education has ended." This immediately reminded me of a passage from our reading on Augustine earlier in the day when it mentioned that with his own son he "encouraged him to [learn] things for their own sake." It is one thing to agree with something when you read it, but it really makes me feel like I am in the right place when I can pick up Augustine's words and my own, read them side by side, and hear the same thing.