EDUCATION
that,” she said. “We look at the work we are doing and say, which of the competencies are we actually building?”
EDUCATING THE COMPLETE PERSON When teachers ask themselves
what competencies a particular lesson can build, it can lead to interesting outcomes. Sophomores in Upper School read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, in which the character Pip grows up without his parents and navigates the complex social classes of 19th century England. English Department Chair Rick Rees and the other English 10 teachers do not want the students to merely read the book as a literary artifact but to relate it to contemporary life. This year the book will be a jumping-off point for an urban studies project that includes learning what happens today to children who lose the protection of parents, what poverty and class look like in Portland, how access to the legal system works for different groups, and who is working on those problems. Rick hopes the urban studies project
will help students connect to service learning so they can play an active role in addressing the social problems
they encounter in the book and in their study of Portland. That involves competencies related to “I Commit,” such as “I act with courage and compassion” and “I work for justice and peace.” One reason students read novels is to
develop empathy with the characters, but empathy without commitment can be hollow. “I believe
All
that a deeper life happens through commitment,” Rick said. “There are many ways to drift through life and not be committed to anything, but the better way to be is to have that sense of commitment and engagement. These are ideas that have always had meaning for me.” Upper School chaplain Corbet
and religion, and says his job is to transmit knowledge and also to engage students in playing an active role. “How can I help students not just
these things already happen
within the curriculum and we are trying to bring them out, to make them explicit.
—Chris Thompson, First Grade teacher
theorize about ethics but also learn how you live an ethical life?” he said. “How do you plan and carry out a just action?” He envisions the essential competencies as four quadrants in a mandala, which is a circle from the Buddhist and Hindu traditions that can represent oneness with the ultimate unity of the cosmos. It relates to the OES mission,
which calls for enhancing all aspects of a student— intellectual, physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and artistic.
The essential competencies are not limited to academic pursuits but include everything a student, or indeed any human being, needs to learn about life. “Our mission statement talks
Clark says the competencies of caring for others, working for justice, and respecting the dignity of others are very much a part of the Episcopal tradition, which emphasizes seeking knowledge from experience. Corbet teaches history
about educating the whole person,” Corbet said. “A big element of an Episcopal School is we are consciously emphasizing more than just skills and knowledge. To be a good, happy, successful person you need to cultivate all areas of your life.”
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