American History

Paidea is of Greek origin which literally means upbringing of a child ( Paidea, 2006) and the name of the teaching style practiced and taught by Mortimer Adler. It rests on three instructional teaching techniques namely (1) the didactic instruction, which is a ten minute lecture that aims to provide the students with a particular idea on the topic which will later be elaborated inside the class (2) the intellectual coaching, which is the actual application of a technique that was discussed during the 10 minute didactic instruction (3) seminar dialogue, which is an educationally oriented discussion facilitated by the teacher. The seminar dialogue is the core of the Socratic Method that was adapted by Mortimer Adler. The seminar dialogue is most effective in a small group where they are arranged in a circle and name cards which contains either their last name or first name. The aim of such a set-up is to create a positive atmosphere within the group. Everyone should be comfortable in expressing themselves. The teacher then acts as an intellectual midwife just like the description of Plato in one of his dialogue, Theaetetus. He gives the burden of discovering realistic facts based on the guide questions which he boldly presents to his apprentices. Blooms taxonomy classifies evaluation, synthesis, and analysis at the top most level of the pyramid because it is the most difficult skill to absorb. The best way to develop such a skill is to immerse them into the actual learning process which is being blind from reality because of the massive information media and society feeds to them and allowing them to create the picture in their mind rather than do the sketching for them. This allows their creativity to foster and expand to greater heights. Ultimately, the last word uttered by the student within the dialogue will be the start of his own formulation of what will count as knowledge. That is effective teaching and should be the goal of everyone.