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Current Initiatives (2004-05)
Over the past three years, the infant “Institute of Liberal Education”
has (under the auspices of the
Renaissance II Liberal Education Society)
sponsored a Tuesday afternoon seminar series for the staff members at
Island
Pacific School
to explore both the theory and potential practice of a liberal education as
related to middle school students. The trajectory of topics covered has been,
more or less, an evolution from theory to practice. While the initial seminars
in 2001 looked at the theory of liberal education (expressed through Paul Hirst,
Mortimer Adler, Michael Oakeshott, Robert Maynard Hutchins, and Charles Bailey,
amongst others), and the middle year seminars (2002-03) included
mini-explorations of practical reasoning and ethics, the most recent focus has
been on curriculum articulation and the creation of a coherent instructional
design for middle school students. Our current aim is to co-produce a curriculum
document that incorporates the aims of a liberal education and at the same time
makes use of the nine years of experience acquired in operating
Island Pacific
School.
Future Plans (2005 Plus)
Future plans in the area of Professional Development
include the following:
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to create a coherent professional development plan
for teachers that would appropriately introduce them to the theory and
emerging methodology of a liberal education
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to establish a strong relationship with a
like-minded university for the purpose of accrediting educators interested in
the theory and practice of a liberal education
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to implement professional development programs in
schools and in out-of-school training seminars
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to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of our
professional development programs
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