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School Newsletter: 3/13/2023

The Student’s Mind Must Grasp

One of our favorite texts full of practical wisdom on teaching is The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory. In this nineteenth century book, Gregory outlines seven rules for teaching that can be applied in any century:


  1. The teacher must know the lesson to be taught.

  2. The learner must attend with interest to the lesson.

  3. The language used as a medium between teacher and student must be common to both.

  4. The lesson must be explained in terms of truth already known by the learner.

  5. Teaching is awakening and using the student’s mind to grasp the desired thought or to master the desired art.

  6. Learning is thinking into one’s own understanding a new truth or working into habit a new art or skill.

  7. The finishing and fastening process of teaching must be reviewing, rethinking, reknowing, reproducing, and applying the material that has been taught.

All of these laws are fundamental to the teaching and learning process. If the teacher doesn’t know the lesson, how can any truth be presented? If the learner doesn’t give attention to the lesson, how can it be learned?


My personal favorite of the seven laws, however, is number five (and by extension, number six since they go together): Teaching is awakening and using the student’s mind to grasp the desired thought or to master the desired art.


This law can be especially difficult for new teachers whose most recent memory of education comes from the college setting. In most colleges, the favorite mode of teaching is lecture. Tell the students what they need to know. If they don’t learn it, it’s their fault for not listening.


The word lecture itself has negative connotations. Besides being “a talk given before an audience especially for instruction,” it can also be defined as “a long and tedious reprimand.” Lecture, especially in the case of younger students, usually does not awaken the student’s mind. It does not provide a venue for the student’s mind to grasp the desired thought or master the desired art.


To put it bluntly: lecture is death to the elementary and junior high classroom, and should only be used sparingly in the high school one.


But at the same time, there is a truth to be taught. If teachers don’t lecture, how can they get that truth across? How can teachers facilitate the student grasping that truth? How can they make the student an explorer, a treasure-seeker, an anticipator?


Questions are key. In the dialogues recorded by Plato, Socrates used a series of questions to help the student move toward expressing a truth. Providing students with the right questions can lead them to use their own minds to grasp the truth the teacher wishes them to know.


  • What happens when you blend two primary colors?

  • How many ways can you arrange these twelve unit blocks to form rectangles (i.e. the factors of twelve)?

  • What are ways we could form the letter “a” that would make it poor penmanship? What about good penmanship?

  • How are third declension nouns similar to the declensions we already know? How are they different?

  • What observations can you make about the author, audience, and purpose in the opening chapter of Philippians?

  • What does Rousseau claim to be necessary for government? Is this similar to our American government? Is it Biblical?

Along with using questions, using “labs” in every class (not just science), aids the process of awakening the student’s mind. Rather than simply explaining rhythm, the music teacher has her students clap it. Rather than just talking about similes, the literature teacher has his students find them and create them. Every text read by students is something the teacher could lecture about…or something the teacher could turn into a discussion “lab” that promotes student discovery of the desired truth.


The classical classroom, with its emphasis on logic, discussion, and eloquence, is particularly suited to awakening students’ minds so that they can grasp the truth to be taught. But the classroom is not the only place where things are taught. In the home as well, limiting lecture and using questions, hands-on “labs,” and discussions can lead to greater understanding.


If you want to teach your child how to make pancakes, you wouldn’t give him a ten minute explanation of how to make pancakes and then expect him to be proficient. Rather, you would provide him with a recipe, ask him questions that could come up (“What’s the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon?”), and provide support from the sidelines if he runs into issues.


In the same way, if you want to teach your five-year-old child how to forgive her brother, you wouldn’t give her a ten minute lecture on Matthew 18. Rather, you would turn it into a forgiveness “lab,” acting out the roles of what to say and asking questions to spur the child’s own mind to grasp truth. (“Why should we forgive other people? Has anyone forgiven us?”)


Make no mistake: there is still a truth to be taught. But sometimes the most effective way to get that truth across to others is not to lecture about it.

— ROSE SPEARS

Job Openings for the Fall

Paideia has openings at our secondary campus for the fall. We employ men and women who are strong in their faith, grounded in the Word of God, and passionate about cultivating wisdom, eloquence, and virtue in young people.

- Humanities & Rhetoric Teacher (full class load)
- Bible Teacher (two classes)
- Geometry Teacher (one class)

For more information, see our website.

To apply for one of our open positions, please send a resume/CV, a personal statement of faith, and a cover letter explaining your interest. These documents can be emailed to our Head of School, David Spears, at paideiaoffice@gmail.com.

School Calendar: This Week

Monday, 3/13 - 1:00-2:30pm Talent Night Auditions at NEW LIFE

Tuesday, 3/14 - 1:00-2:30pm Talent Night Auditions at NEW LIFE

Tuesday, 3/14 - Junior High Field Trip to Veritas Choir Festival

Wednesday, 3/15 - Sixth Grade Field Trip to Portland Japanese Garden

Friday, 3/17, 8:00am - Assembly at NEW LIFE. Parents invited to attend.

Friday, 3/17, 6:30-9:00pm - Secondary Game Night at Reformation Covenant Church (hosted by Cair Paravel)

School Calendar: Next Week

Friday, 3/24, 8:00am - Assembly at NEW LIFE. Parents invited to attend.

Friday, 3/24, 6:30-9:00pm - Paideia Talent Night at NEW LIFE

Spring Break is March 27-31.

Spring Program is April 28, 6:30pm.

Graduation is June 2, 6:30pm.