From your south campus principal, Grant Bickell
Dialectic Stage.
The argumentative, I know better, expressive stage that consists of our 11 – 15 year old students. Often any question you ask, gets a snappy, “No” in return. Your children enter into the Dialectic Stage formally upon entering 6th grade at The Academy but often they have been transitioning to this stage for a year or two. Dorothy Sayers described the Pert Stage (Dialectic) in her Lost Tools of Learning essay as a stage, “characterized by contradicting, answering back, liking to “catch people out” (especially one’s elders); and by the propounding of conundrums.” She goes on to say that the Pert Stages, “nuisance-value is extremely high.” Well isn’t that fun.
Yes, it is.
The Dialectic Stage is my favorite stage to teach just because of this. Students are thinking deeply and are taking the information that they have learned and are learning how to arrange things logically. As they begin to order things and see how they fit together they see the things that don’t fit into their logical ordering. This is beautiful. They then begin to question and discuss why something happens a certain way or why we believe that thing. Teachers in this stage are thick skinned and savvy. Constantly corralling the tangential ideas and redirecting back to the main point. The teacher moves from speaking a majority of the time to sharing the speaking time significantly with your children.
We want your child to question things, but we also want them to have great teachers who are prepared to answer many a question. We want them to see the wrongs in the world and to want to do something about it. We want them to embrace their identity in Christ and to reject their innate desire to naval gaze.
Special Note:
I would like to thank Helen Morris, Rachel Cole, and Margaret Stall for their service at South Campus over the years. All three of these wonderful people have served well and we are sad to see them go.
Our music department will be joined by Dr. Darla Eshelman. A seasoned teacher that is ready to take over our entire South Campus program. She will begin on Monday, October 19, 2020 and we are glad to have her.
Our Culture and Events team will be posting the South Campus position. If you are interested in applying please reach out to Mr. Bickell or to Mrs. Jamie Howell.
More information on all employment opportunities at The Academy can be found at: https://theacademyok.org/employment-opportunities/
Upcoming Events
Notes:
House Verse – This month we are memorizing Romans 12:12 as part of our yearly study on the Fruit of the Spirit. If they memorize it and recite it to Mr. Bickell, they will receive 5 House Points.
