Forensics and Faith
Sometimes the most important twenty-first century skill is a first century one. Speech and words are theologically important, as the apostle Peter reminds us:“ in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you …” The power of words and the tongue lies not only in proscription or abuses, but also in proclamation of hope.
CPA Upper School launched its inaugural Speech and Debate program this year, striving to equip students with the power of words, the practiced skill of communication, and the ability to be a critical thinker, listener, and speaker in a world of noise. Currently an Upper School Latin and Biblical Studies teacher at CPA, I have taught for 11 years since my time at Vanderbilt studying English, Political Science, Music, and Forensics. I am grateful that my training and experience in competitive speech and debate during high school and college has made me more aware of the centrality of rhetoric in our lives.
According to Aristotle, rhetoric is“ the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” At our podium, we engage his three means of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is the speaker’ s credibility, the ethical ramifications of their message. Pathos speaks to emotion, the appeals of the heart made to the audience. Logos indicates a logical path of reasoning from point A to point B. Any effective voice must include all three. Whether my students engage in a prepared oratory or an unprepared dramatic dialogue, by referencing these three pillars of rhetoric, they craft their message around
CPA faculty members hosted four-day professional development workshops on campus for other Academy faculty, as well as educators from The Covenant School and Preston Taylor Ministries.
The Collaborative featured expert-led discussions and presentations on growing in teaching and learning excellence. Fifteen different sessions offered attendees insight into topics ranging from storytelling and Christian worldview in the classroom, to technology integration and methodology.
My vision for The Collaborative is to give teachers space to both showcase their strengths as presenters and grow professionally as they dialogue and collaborate with one another.
Instructor of Third Grade Meg Terry’ s presentation, Deepening Student Understanding through Project-Based Learning and Visible Thinking, spoke to achieving authentic, engaging, and transformative experiences in the classroom.
By Ben Crist, US / MS Instructor
... the best communicators of any age pare down what they are saying until the essence of the truth compels in unadorned simplicity.
The Collaborative By Dr. Dawn Ruff, Academic Dean
understanding and loving their audience. Ultimately, this is how we train Christ followers to engage in world culture.
I. A. Richards calls rhetoric“ the art of removing misunderstanding.”
Rather than heaping up words, postures, and positions, the best communicators of any age pare down what they are saying until the essence of the truth compels in unadorned simplicity.
Students at CPA are constantly communicating— with teachers, coaches, peers, and the inexhaustible conversation of the Internet— and need all the help they can get. We have lots of ways to amplify our voice, social media being just one. What we’ re finding as a culture is that just having a louder voice doesn’ t mean we’ re getting our point across. Sometimes we get closer to true communication if we focus on taking things away. At the heart of communication is love: if I love my audience, I’ m going to choose examples that are relevant and poignant: If I love my audience, I’ m going to speak on a level that will connect with them.
How do we deal with our assumptions about the world, and how do we reconcile competing values? Ultimately this is how students will practice for critical conversations of faith beyond the Academy. CPA has a tradition of excellence in theatre and the arts. Forensics, a term for competitive speech and debate, is a natural area of growth for our students. We are able to train apologists for the faith and provide tools for processing the dilemmas of life.
After removing all the misunderstanding to which we are prone in this world, we come right to the simple, beautiful truth. The Savior has come and done what we could not.
“ Using this setting to sharpen one another will help us continually improve classroom experience. My workshop focused on implementing two methods of learning that were wildly successful in my classroom this year,” says Terry.“ Both project-based learning and visible thinking hinge on student collaboration with peers, creativity, and action-oriented learning.”
Instructor of Third Grade Beth Graham commented on the importance of continual improvement as a deep connection with student learning:“ Jen Wilkin wrote,‘ The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.’ Knowing our students or our trade well means a deep love can exist because deep connection can be made. We strive towards our calling as life-long learners and collaborate with one another to do so.”
Other presentations spoke to curricular technology, the management role of a teacher, cultivating a true love of reading, and more. A new session of The Collaborative will take place in Summer 2018.
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