January 22, 2009  
Mr. Rod Gilbert

Harkness Table Observations
I asked Mr. Geoff Sahs to write the article this week.  As Chair of Humanities, he is hosting a series of high school classes in the Academic Building.  AND - He invited K-8 parents to observe the classes.  Here is a summary of the first week.

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Do you know what Harkness is?  It sounds like it may be a bodily malfunction-or perhaps the hour between dusk and darkness:  "Beware the Harkness hour, when unexpected things happen!"  But no, the word does not have Gothic novel origins:  Harkness is actually the name of the tables in our humanities classes in the School of Rhetoric.  But the word does encompass more than just a table-it describes a style of teaching, learning, and community building centered around conversation.  In fact, during a Harkness hour, unexpected things DO happen!

While our classes usually take place around Harkness tables in the Rhetoric building, this past Tuesday we invited parents of 8th graders to observe a junior level European history class that met around the Harkness table in Squires Hall. The students discussed the significance of the rise of nationalism in conjunction with the Industrial Revolution, but they did it while letting parents observe what this mysterious "Harkness" discussion really is. 

With parents looking on, the students delved into the social and political changes in Great Britain as a result of the growth of industrial cities and fleshed out the nature of the individual's role in politics. They argued whether or not the Crimean War helped spread the concept of nationalism throughout Europe.  Then they considered what role the newspaper had as it was now reporting on events in foreign wars.  Wow!  We really attacked some big-ticket items.

After I dismissed the students, I enjoyed spending time with the ten parents.  I answered questions and talked about the learning environment here at Regents.  Some of the questions were about how students come so well prepared for class, how they moderate themselves so that everyone has a chance to speak, and how we, as a school, teach them to be the type of student we expect.  While we probably only scratched the surface of questions that parents have, it was a joy to talk with the 8th grade parents about what we do. 

As the father of two Grammar school children (K and 2nd) and the Head of Humanities...this is what I love about the Regents community!

Over the next few months I will be conducting class on Tuesdays at 9:15am in Squires hall.  Pidge Yeager and Judy Grigsby have invited parents by grade level to come and have coffee, observe class, and ask me questions afterward.  So start thinking about questions you may have about what we do in the School of Rhetoric and like all Regents events: come early, be loud (well...quiet in this case), and stay late!