EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
&
GOALS AT BLACK PINE CIRCLE

L. G. James

BPC's teaching philosophy is best described as Socratic.1 This is a system of learning based on inquiry, questioning, exploration, and discovery. It is a drawing out of ideas and thoughts that build toward "self-realized" hypotheses about the world.
For young children, a Socratic approach is natural, for, as we all know, they constantly ask "Why?" They are curious. They are passionately interested in everything around them. They come into the world with a fierce energy to learn. However, to instantly provide an answer or in some other way to stifle this curiosity in the cause of brevity or impatience or in the belief that there is a correct answer that they must know, internalize, and follow, is to blunt and ultimately disable mankind's greatest tool: his intellect. A dictated education is the way to tyranny, as is a narrow and dictated curriculum (current British and French practice with regard to History).
The curriculum at BPC is progressively spiral (after Bruner) and interrelated. Subjects cannot stand alone, discrete and unconnected. In the lower school, unity is given by the core teacher, who incorporates the work of the specialist teachers. In the upper school, where each teacher is a specialist, care is taken to correlate topics. Linear geometry finds its way into art, historical backgrounds enrich novels in English, geography and history walk always together, optics in science finds Galileo in Renaissance studies, and the skills of deductive and inductive reasoning from mathematics are constantly applied in history and communications discussions. This correlation, however, is diffuse, permeable, natural, never forced or overly articulated.
The curriculum is itself a tool and not an end. There is no body of knowledge that has to be covered or absorbed. Even in those schools and countries that believe in a "body of fact to be taught", there is no agreement on what this body of fact ought to contain.2
Beginning with language, reading, and computational skills, which are progressively investigated, expanded, and internalized from Kindergarten through Eighth Grades, the BPC curriculum feeds secondary socialization and the growing emotional needs of the child. Subjects and themes lightly touched upon return to be later developed in greater breadth and depth. Confidence and skills grow as familiar areas are expanded, and slowly the foundations of a Zeitundweltanshauungare laid down. Once again how something is learned is more important than that which is learned.
Outside of the academic curriculum is the "hidden curriculum," which is no less important and is supportive of the academic pursuits of the school. Here the learning is from example and from encouraged social behavior. Students are to respect each other, their environment and the staff. Put-downs, negative behavior and bullying (physical or emotional) are not tolerated either in the classroom or the yard. Each person in the school must feel safe enough to be vulnerable, to make mistakes, to venture opinions and to experiment without fear.
As with the school day, where social and emotional development is as important as intellectual development, so it is with homework. Never set as rote learning or as busywork, homework springs organically from the work in class, consolidating what has been done and preparing for what is to come. Content and purpose matter more than length, for hometime and an "afterlife" outside school are crucial to the rounded development of every person.

EXPECTATIONS OF BPC STAFF

Above all BPC seeks teachers who have a passion for teaching - that is, persons who want and can excite and inspire a love of learning in their students. They must have a respect for and an understanding of the special peculiarities of their charges. This is particularly necessary of those teaching the 11 to 14 year old. Here Is the great divide between concrete and formal thinking.3 And, as has been stressed many times, this is not a smooth or linear transition. Intellectual maturation is progressive/regressive and produces a "flicker effect." What has been apparently understood yesterday is today lost and then mysteriously regained. Staff need to be aware of and have the strategies to deal with both this and the differences between male and female behavior and response in class. They must actively work to prevent the "drop out" or disconnection that can be created in girls of this age.4
Teachers need be in themselves, egoless In the sense that they are not personally threatened or challenged by their students. They must above all be fair and just, and be seen to be fair and just in all their dealings with their students and in the marking and correction of their work. This last is not easy. It comes only with experience, from a deep security with oneself and one's field of study.
Teachers must realize that they cannot teach their knowledge, for their knowing is theirs alone. What they can do is to propitiate the learning of their students by imparting to them their passion for the subject and the myriad ways in which it can be experienced. It is in this arena of "various experiences" that the knowledge and practice of accommodating what are now called "Multiple Intelligences"5 is essential, as is the accommodation of those students with various learning difficulties.6
Any material or concept needs to be presented and examined in many guises. Maps, diagrams, drawings, varied repetition of salient points, discreet and gestalt conceptualization, hands-on where appropriate, getting the student to variously explain their understanding to others, all have a part to play in leading the learner toward the "Eureka" or "Got It" effect. This is a realization that illuminates and animates the student as the parts of an argument or discussion suddenly coalesce into a coherent whole. What greater joy is there than sudden and profound understanding? It is towards this goal that Socratic techniques have, over many years, been honed to lead.7 BPC teachers must daily practice this art, particularly that of questioning.

HOW IS THIS DONE?

At first this appears simple - just ask a question. However, this apparent simplicity is deceptive. At first the questions are simple, giving everyone in the class an opportunity to respond, and so in a sense they act as a review of the last lesson. Subsequent questions begin to approach what the students know from less obvious directions, and the levels of comprehension required to answer them increase. Further questions prepare the ground for -- and can be the new area of investigation proceeding from -- the known. Varying in difficulty and in the size of the step in thinking they represent (incrementalism), they engage both the most and the least able in the class. An occasional question of a highly compound nature challenges without defeating, as it can be left hanging while subsidiary questions tease toward an eventual answer.
For example, "What animals were the first to be domesticated by the Hunter-Gatherers/Early Farmers?" What do we need to know? Firstly what was the natural occurrence of animals in the late Neolithic World? (Here we turn to a substantive base, a map given in Man Becomes Civilized, p. 21.) Then we begin to ask questions: Where were the Hunter-Gatherers likely to be and why? What is particular about one of the animals in this area that may make entrapment easier? Why might man seek to entrap them? If bones were found in concentrations (here we may ask who remembers what conclusions have been drawn in the past from similar finds, e.g. bones of buffalo slaughter found from railroad expansion in North America {this work covered in 6th Grade History}), what differences might suggest that these were domesticated animals and not wild ones? And so on.
From this type of questioning, the students may find their way to the hypothesis that the animal was the 'XXX'. We may then ask, what suggestions can be made to support or refute the following statement: "Early farmers were smaller in stature, more subject to disease and chronic physical stress than Hunter-Gatherers." And, if this is so, why the change to farming and what was the trade off? Once farming became established why did Hunting/Gathering end in Europe? Where does Hunting/Gathering survive in the world today and why? Such a line of discussion may lead to: T. R. Malthus and population explosions, Density Dependent Mortality, the negative associations with the name Judas, the techniques of the Forensic Anatomist, the forces which inhibit/create change/progress and why the word progress is usually associated with the concept "good." The students in their discussion may either come up with or be encouraged to consider the question, "What may be the first fully manufactured item which farmers need that would not be used by Hunter-Gatherers and what evidence supports your answer?"
Similarly in mathematics, with the problem, 1/2 + 1/4=?, the routine question will be, "Who can find an equivalent fraction for 1/2 that we can add to 1/4? What's 2/4 + 1/4? Who can draw a picture to illustrate this problem?" Or, more challenging, "Who can find two different fractions whose sum is 1/2?" Or further, "S2 = 1/2 + 1/4 = 3/4." What's the next question? What problem could we solve to find S10, and so on.
To follow such a path of learning, the active involvement of the student in their learning is essential. It fixes both the information gained and, more importantly, the method used to gain that information. More important than what is learned is the way in which it is learned. A fact is a contemptible thing.8 Of course it would be quicker and easier to write the information on the board to be copied into the student's notebook, "The first domesticated animal was the goat in the Zagros mountains of Iran." A fact, correct as far as we know, but what does it illuminate and what does it mean to those who copy it down? By questioning both the source material (the substantive base) and the conclusions drawn from it, learning is relevant (self generated), exciting, and memorable.
This does not mean that the teacher has no role in giving information. The art of Socratic teaching is in knowing what information to give. A thousand years of questioning may produce the rules of grammar or the Periodic table, but we do not have a thousand years. Give the rules of grammar. Of course, the art is in how they are given, but give them and then question why they are the rules and how and why they are so applied. Give the Periodic table and then ask what can be learnt from it, why elements are so grouped, and why their properties are similar, even ask why we can predict that there are or are not some elements missing from the table. This is the substantive base from which all else springs, this is the specialist knowledge of the teacher which makes them a teacher. In Physical Education the teacher must demonstrate and then the student must practice, not by rote, but as an art. It is a teaching, by the student, of his or her muscles, until the effortless oneness of thought and action leads to the fluidity of purpose that brings awe to the observer. As I learn I teach, as I teach I learn.
Further learning and questioning lead toward the development of more powerful intellectual tools by which these original hypotheses or action may also be tested and so refined. It is a never ending process. Once understood, education is like breathing, an autonomic, yet essential, life-sustaining activity.
The ability both to engage the class and to control its tempo and involvement makes Socratic questioning a powerful tool for maintaining that necessary level of discipline essential for structured yet open-ended thinking. Tempo variation can also be achieved by a variation of activities. Fast review questioning can give way to a brainstorming session of ideas written up on the board, and students can then be given time to rank these ideas in order of relevance or importance in their notebooks. A student chosen by the teacher can give her list and then accept challenges from others; she may then choose the next student to lead the discussion on the area that has emerged, and so on. If there is information from a book or a chart, the teacher can ask students to develop alternative ways of displaying this information.
Such group activity allows students to confirm their understanding by offering different presentations. Toward the middle of the lesson new ideas can be introduced, and so further exploration begins. Here, too, the teacher may indicate available resources to be consulted. In the closing part of the lesson a rounding up of the conclusions drawn by the class gives a final coherence and also the chance to implant an idea or an intriguing question for consideration before next lesson.
Obviously and essentially this pattern will vary class to class, but implantation, questioning, review, and summation will always have a place. So too will oral and written exercises vary class by class.
For the teacher, a few moments to review what has happened, to reflect briefly and then to write a note on the class just taught is essential. This permits later and deeper analysis of method and content and gives the hook on which to bait the subsequent inquiry. Practice and a self-critical awareness plus the constructive comments and guidance of other staff observing the lesson help the teacher to hone the skills of Socratic Method, which take at least two years to grasp and a lifetime to master.

EXPECTATlONS OF THE PARENTS

Your expectation is that we will well and fully educate your child, and so your child is here at BPC - your first task is done. What now is expected of you? Three things are paramount: Trust, Participation and Forgiveness.
You must trust that we know our subject, know and care for children and have as central to our school day their best and fullest education. You must trust too that we know our limitations and fallibilities and that we do our best to overcome them in partnership with your suggestions and comments.
Participation in their education at home is essential for effective primary socialization. Help them, especially with those most difficult of concepts, honor, truth, justice, respect, altruism, and courage, for these cannot be learned at school alone.
Participate in the school community, in the family days, in the assemblies, concerts, plays, talks, parents groups and committees, offer your special skills to complement those of others. For without your participation the school cannot reach its full potential and neither can your child.
Forgive your child for not being what you think he or she ought to be and rejoice in what they are - a unique human in progress. Do this with love and support and they will be more than you could ever hope.
Finally, forgive us for not being perfect and we will forgive you.

EXPECTATIONS OF THE STUDENT

We expect the student to be present and not tardy to lessons. We expect them to be open to the challenge of growth. We expect them to have respect for the growth of others including their parents and teachers.

FOOTNOTES

1. Socrates, Greek philosopher, 469-399 BCE. He claimed to know nothing but was exceedingly effective at questioning those who claimed to know everything. He was a man who had little time for the outward pretence of knowledge. He did not believe in hiding behind authority or quoted "learning." He also believed that education was not just a tangible thing to be possessed in order to gain wealth or social standing, though of course it could and often did, as it does today. Education is a personal state of possessing an open informed mind capable of endless wonder and questioning, the root of education being Educo (educere) to lead out, to draw out. NOT to put in, as in rote learning and drills, which though in a limited way are effective, do not lead to independent thinking.
Education transcends college degrees and professional accolades that we use to mark the assumption of factual knowledge, for how many of us gain these and then begin to learn by experience and questioning on the job? Scholasticism was and always will be sterile.
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2. Facts are also like sacks, they don't stand up until we put something in them. Pirrandello.
It has often been said that History is (and was) written by the victor; so it is with curriculum content. Notice how in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Fascist Italy, et al, one of the first things to be purged is education and the content of the curriculum. This is because what is taught at school becomes the "common culture" and therefore is correct. Education is a prime means of control of the many by the few (Machievelli). Education in this fashion perpetuates (as in Mandarin China) the status quo or the attempts to accelerate the economic domination of one state over another in the name of God, for example, or the American Way. Elite domination and perception of the real world (i.e. the world as the elite perceives it) are behind any set curriculum, however liberal or benevolent that elite may be. Set curricula are set to benefit the state as it is at any point in time and seek a solution to that current problem. This means that they are not strategically designed to give multiple options by creating a critical and thinking population capable of responding to unforeseen problems.
For interesting reading on how curriculum content has been influenced by political thinking and elite culture over the last hundred years, you could do worse than:

It is noteworthy that early Greek education emphasized the growth of the individual on the basis that a strong and good society was the sum of such individuals. Hence the Athenian education suggested the study of Music, Dance, Gymnastics, Poetry and Rhetoric. (Not that this did Socrates any good!)
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3. Piaget
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4. M. and D. Sadker, Failing at Fairness. Scribners, 1993 Pipher, Mary Reviving Ophelia. BALT, 1996
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5. Multiple intelligences, usually defined as "different abilities which naturally direct children to learn in different ways," namely:

Some would add "naturalistic." Others would point to Cultural Learning differences.
Dr. Howard Gardiner Of Project Zero.
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6. E.g., dyslexia, ADHD, AHD, dysgraphia. There are of course many classroom strategies and techniques to include the learning needs of students with such difficulties to ensure that they are not disadvantaged.
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7. Socratic techniques may be listed as:

Each of course may be broken down into many subgroups.
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8. A comment of the historian Egon Friedell.
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Note:
While any errors in this paper are solely mine, I wish to express a debt of gratitude to Oscar Pemantle, Educational Theorist, Cofounder and Director Emeritus of BPC, whose many hours of discussions of the Theory of Socratic Teaching deeply enriched my own 26 years of Socratic practice in England.
L. G. James, October 1996


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