When I was receiving brochures from colleges during junior year of high-school there was one particular one that really caught my eye. While most of the mail I got was flashy and colorful, this was just a small brown booklet.
Instead of trying to convince me that Saint John's was a wild crazy fun place to learn like the other colleges did, this booklet was simply a clear and careful outlining of the Program.
When I first saw the reading list (found here: http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/academic/ANreadlist.shtml)I was intimidated, but after reading about how the books are all gone through in a careful and methodical manner,in group discussions without any lecturing, I knew that I had to learn more.
I visited the campus, sat in on some classes, and was accepted by the beginning of summer vacation before my senior year.
i enjoyed everything you shared, dave. And, i could have kept reading.
my question(s), what is the most important thing you want to pass onto your future students? And, would you ever consider teaching a music elective or something, too?
The thing I most want to pass on to my students is rationality. The Saint John's degree program is very hard to explain to people, so a common shorthand for what we do there is "Learning how to think."
What this means is, throughout the curriculum which is 100% discussion based we learn to focus our words, and therefore our minds, allowing for clear rational thought to not just become a skill, but a habit.
I think this is a habit that anyone can develop, even without a 4 year crash course through the history of thought.
For your second question: I would be uncomfortable teaching a music course, as I don't feel my background knowledge would currently support such an endeavor. I would be more than happy to participate in or even lead a music focused extracurricular however.
An interesting thing to me is that your teacher and my student, Stephanie Shelton, is now pursuing her Ph.D. in the same program I was in and working with the same professors there who were such an influence on me. And now you, her student are now here with me - is this a circle? A rhombus? A mess of wildly intersecting lines? I'm not sure.
First, I have a question for you about Ms. Shelton. When she was teaching at your high school, she was "out" - gay pride flag hanging in her classroom, students writing papers on gay rights (among other things). Sandersville strikes me as fairly conservative. How do you suppose she pulled that off?
And my question for you is, since St. John's has such a heavy emphasis on discussion, how did the professors there present the idea of civil discourse to incoming students?
Ms. Shelton managed to pull of being openly gay in a conservative rural town through a combination of two things.
1) She absolutely refused to back down. She was never afraid to go straight up to the administration and tell them that something they were doing was stupid or wrong or harmful to students. If someone at the school had told her that being out could get her in trouble, I imagine she would have laughed at them and said she was looking forward to it.
2) She was far too good at her to get rid of. She was consistently one of the best loved teachers at the school, and was generally able to make progress even with students that other teachers had given up on. She was named STAR teacher multiple years in a row. Eventually she herself wanted to leave the school to go get her doctorate. The administration wanted to keep her on so badly that they actually got her to stay two or three years longer than she wanted to.
This is how I think she did it. By not being afraid of the people in charge, and being good enough at her job to justify that lack of fear.
Now, your second question.
The professors of Saint John's aren't actually called professors. Instead we call them "tutors", because while they have many jobs at the school, it is never their job to "profess" things, or to "present" us with ideas.
The way they introduced us to civil discourse was therefore the same way that everything is learned at that school. We sat down around a table and just kept trying until we had something we liked. There were tutors present in the classrooms, but they also just sat in the group and took part in the discussions. The most they ever did in terms of teaching was to provide an example to the students of exemplary behavior.
I enjoyed the footnotes, I didn't see them at first because I was reading it on my iPhone (apparently it doesn't like footnotes). But anyway, what do you think will be your biggest challenge as a teacher?
All of the technical english stuff. I'm going in to this as an English teacher, but I am a far cry away from being an English major. This means that there are a lot of areas that I feel I may be lacking in, especially when it comes to things like grammar. You wouldn't believe the trouble I sometimes have trying to put commas in the right places.
I have at one point or another played piano, flute, marimba (think giant wooden xylophone), and timpani. The only instrument that I remain in practice with however, is my voice (I am a tenor).
I don't really have a style of music I prefer, I just like what sounds good to me. One of my favorite songs to be a part of is the first part of "Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans" by Claude Debussy. A recording can be found on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeG_Ko0wsco
What made you decide to go to Saint John's?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was receiving brochures from colleges during junior year of high-school there was one particular one that really caught my eye. While most of the mail I got was flashy and colorful, this was just a small brown booklet.
DeleteInstead of trying to convince me that Saint John's was a wild crazy fun place to learn like the other colleges did, this booklet was simply a clear and careful outlining of the Program.
When I first saw the reading list (found here: http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/academic/ANreadlist.shtml)I was intimidated, but after reading about how the books are all gone through in a careful and methodical manner,in group discussions without any lecturing, I knew that I had to learn more.
I visited the campus, sat in on some classes, and was accepted by the beginning of summer vacation before my senior year.
I forgot to add something to my autobiography that Kaitlin just helped me remember.
ReplyDeleteThis is the required reading list for Saint John's College.
http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/academic/ANreadlist.shtml
cue *applause*
ReplyDeletei enjoyed everything you shared, dave. And, i could have kept reading.
my question(s), what is the most important thing you want to pass onto your future students? And, would you ever consider teaching a music elective or something, too?
The thing I most want to pass on to my students is rationality. The Saint John's degree program is very hard to explain to people, so a common shorthand for what we do there is "Learning how to think."
DeleteWhat this means is, throughout the curriculum which is 100% discussion based we learn to focus our words, and therefore our minds, allowing for clear rational thought to not just become a skill, but a habit.
I think this is a habit that anyone can develop, even without a 4 year crash course through the history of thought.
For your second question: I would be uncomfortable teaching a music course, as I don't feel my background knowledge would currently support such an endeavor. I would be more than happy to participate in or even lead a music focused extracurricular however.
An interesting thing to me is that your teacher and my student, Stephanie Shelton, is now pursuing her Ph.D. in the same program I was in and working with the same professors there who were such an influence on me. And now you, her student are now here with me - is this a circle? A rhombus? A mess of wildly intersecting lines? I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have a question for you about Ms. Shelton. When she was teaching at your high school, she was "out" - gay pride flag hanging in her classroom, students writing papers on gay rights (among other things). Sandersville strikes me as fairly conservative. How do you suppose she pulled that off?
And my question for you is, since St. John's has such a heavy emphasis on discussion, how did the professors there present the idea of civil discourse to incoming students?
Ms. Shelton managed to pull of being openly gay in a conservative rural town through a combination of two things.
Delete1) She absolutely refused to back down. She was never afraid to go straight up to the administration and tell them that something they were doing was stupid or wrong or harmful to students. If someone at the school had told her that being out could get her in trouble, I imagine she would have laughed at them and said she was looking forward to it.
2) She was far too good at her to get rid of. She was consistently one of the best loved teachers at the school, and was generally able to make progress even with students that other teachers had given up on. She was named STAR teacher multiple years in a row. Eventually she herself wanted to leave the school to go get her doctorate. The administration wanted to keep her on so badly that they actually got her to stay two or three years longer than she wanted to.
This is how I think she did it. By not being afraid of the people in charge, and being good enough at her job to justify that lack of fear.
Now, your second question.
The professors of Saint John's aren't actually called professors. Instead we call them "tutors", because while they have many jobs at the school, it is never their job to "profess" things, or to "present" us with ideas.
The way they introduced us to civil discourse was therefore the same way that everything is learned at that school. We sat down around a table and just kept trying until we had something we liked. There were tutors present in the classrooms, but they also just sat in the group and took part in the discussions. The most they ever did in terms of teaching was to provide an example to the students of exemplary behavior.
I enjoyed the footnotes, I didn't see them at first because I was reading it on my iPhone (apparently it doesn't like footnotes). But anyway, what do you think will be your biggest challenge as a teacher?
ReplyDeleteAll of the technical english stuff. I'm going in to this as an English teacher, but I am a far cry away from being an English major. This means that there are a lot of areas that I feel I may be lacking in, especially when it comes to things like grammar. You wouldn't believe the trouble I sometimes have trying to put commas in the right places.
DeleteI really enjoyed your autobiography. What instruments do you play? And what type of music?
ReplyDeleteI have at one point or another played piano, flute, marimba (think giant wooden xylophone), and timpani. The only instrument that I remain in practice with however, is my voice (I am a tenor).
DeleteI don't really have a style of music I prefer, I just like what sounds good to me. One of my favorite songs to be a part of is the first part of "Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans" by Claude Debussy. A recording can be found on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeG_Ko0wsco