Challenging Students to Think
This week, I had my first class of a new course I am teaching to all Juniors on “Life, Leadership, and Legacy.“ It is an interdisciplinary course taught in the Knowles Lecture Hall to CA's 97 juniors. The goal is to challenge students to think about their lives, to further define their value systems, and to explore critical principles of leadership. It is designed to help students to ponder their place in the world and society, as well as inspire them to think about their futures beyond Colorado Academy.
During our first class, we discussed all kinds of questions including, “Can you teach leadership?” and “What do you want your legacy to be?” We talked about the philosophical concepts of justice as presented by Harvard Professor of Ethics Michael Sandel, who sees “justice” as the product of balancing sometimes competing notions of providing welfare, extending individual freedom, and holding true to Aristotelian concepts of virtue.
We dug into Socrates and had fun along the way watching clips from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Monty Python’s famous skit of the "Philosophers Soccer Game” in which ancient Greek philosophers take on modern German thinkers.
This is the first course we have held exclusively in our new lecture hall, which allows for an entire grade level to engage in conversation with a teacher and one another. In addition my seminar presentations, I am incorporating elements of our SPEAK Lecture Series into the class. Students will hear from notable figures including NPR’s Michele Norris, University of Denver’s Professor of Ethics Dr. Steven Medema, Southern Poverty Law Center founder Morris Dees, Iraqi vet and gay rights activist Eric Alva, and Arctic explorer Ann Bancroft. In addition, our College Counseling Office and Liza Skipwith, our Director of Counseling Services, will work with the students.
I was impressed with our students' willingness to engage in important conversations about leadership and legacy. When I asked the students to consider what they wanted their legacy to be, one bright young woman turned the question around and noted that how we are remembered is something beyond our control. To paraphrase her, she said it is more important to find meaning and fulfillment and life and live accordingly.
One of my goals is to challenge students to think about life in a non-linear fashion. They are so accustomed to moving from goal to goal. Once they leave CA and enter the “real world,” they will find, like most adults, that life is complicated. Helping students become comfortable early on with human thinking that originates from multiple starting points, expands in multiple directions, and that inevitably concludes with a myriad of outcomes will better prepare them for the future.
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During our first class, we discussed all kinds of questions including, “Can you teach leadership?” and “What do you want your legacy to be?” We talked about the philosophical concepts of justice as presented by Harvard Professor of Ethics Michael Sandel, who sees “justice” as the product of balancing sometimes competing notions of providing welfare, extending individual freedom, and holding true to Aristotelian concepts of virtue.
We dug into Socrates and had fun along the way watching clips from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Monty Python’s famous skit of the "Philosophers Soccer Game” in which ancient Greek philosophers take on modern German thinkers.
This is the first course we have held exclusively in our new lecture hall, which allows for an entire grade level to engage in conversation with a teacher and one another. In addition my seminar presentations, I am incorporating elements of our SPEAK Lecture Series into the class. Students will hear from notable figures including NPR’s Michele Norris, University of Denver’s Professor of Ethics Dr. Steven Medema, Southern Poverty Law Center founder Morris Dees, Iraqi vet and gay rights activist Eric Alva, and Arctic explorer Ann Bancroft. In addition, our College Counseling Office and Liza Skipwith, our Director of Counseling Services, will work with the students.
I was impressed with our students' willingness to engage in important conversations about leadership and legacy. When I asked the students to consider what they wanted their legacy to be, one bright young woman turned the question around and noted that how we are remembered is something beyond our control. To paraphrase her, she said it is more important to find meaning and fulfillment and life and live accordingly.
One of my goals is to challenge students to think about life in a non-linear fashion. They are so accustomed to moving from goal to goal. Once they leave CA and enter the “real world,” they will find, like most adults, that life is complicated. Helping students become comfortable early on with human thinking that originates from multiple starting points, expands in multiple directions, and that inevitably concludes with a myriad of outcomes will better prepare them for the future.
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