The Torch

At Nova Classical, our teachers hold seminars in any grade, not necessarily just our School of Rhetoric (grades 9-12). I have observed a seminar in a second grade class where students explored the meaning of a painting- connecting their previous knowledge of history to deepen their understanding of what they saw in the painting. Our School of Logic (grades 6-8) teachers hold seminars as well, one recently on a case study about socioeconomic equity.

Seminars are most common in our School of Rhetoric, with increasing emphasis on close reading of primary texts, such as discussing the theme of hospitality utilizing Homer’s Iliad instead of discussing a section of a textbook. Finally, our faculty joins in seminar practice during our Classical Education Certification (CEC) courses so that we adults continue to foster the seminar skills of critical thinking and the effective expression of complex ideas. To enter into the Great Conversation requires consistent practice with intellectual discussion.

In May of 2022, I wrote about the Great Conversation for The Torch. In that issue, I posited that the Great Conversation is magnificently open-ended, can move in any direction the participants take it, and builds upon a long tradition of systematic and impassioned reasoning to understand underlying principles. The Great Conversation allows people to reflect on their place in the world, their relationship with the universe, and inevitably think about and discuss the same basic questions that humans have pondered since antiquity.

But how do we enter into a great conversation with our fellow human beings? I invite you to think back to your most recent great conversation with another person. What made it meaningful for you? How did you listen to your conversational partner? Were you fully present while listening to them, or instead, thinking of how to respond? Did you feel heard by them?

For students at Nova Classical Academy, the first part of a seminar depends on seminar norms. These are the participant expectations that “set the table” for this conversation to be open-ended and allow participants to reflect on and discuss the topics for the seminar’s discussion. Some example seminar norms that we use at Nova Classical are:

• Citing reasons and evidence for our statements and using the text to find support

• Listening to others in order to build off of their ideas or questions

• Using silence as a moment to gather thoughts or respond to a statement or idea that has been proposed

• Questioning others in a civil manner

• Supporting each other

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all conversations had these expectations?

With our seminar norms set, participants are not encouraged to parrot the “right answer” as dictated by the teacher, but guided by the teacher to explore their own ideas in a structured way. The teacher usually lays the foundation for a seminar by establishing common terminology, e.g. review of a book’s characters and plot, definition of pietas (“respect for the gods”) in Vergil, or summarizing key terms from an article about scientific ethics. When we all have a common understanding of the seminar foundation, a healthy and structurally sound discussion can follow.

Seminars typically last a class period, with about five to ten questions up for discussion. If you were to observe a seminar, you may see some students who do not join the conversation for the first couple of questions. Our teachers have incredible methods to invite students in, for example:

• having all students complete pre-seminar questions so that they feel confident about the seminar content

• calling on a student specifically to be ready to answer the next question with accompanying textual support in front of them

• asking students who did not verbally participate in the seminar to write their thoughts on specific prompts from the seminar

This description of a seminar gives us the basis for how a seminar is structured. In next month’s Torch, I am writing about the Socratic Method (the “how”) which is intertwined with the structure of a seminar (the “what”).

May we continue to support each other in civil discussion,

Dr. Missy Johnson

mjohnson@novaclassical.org

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2021-2022 The Torch

2022-2023 The Torch