Rhetoric School Stage
Rhetoric School Overview
In the final stage of the education (grades 9-12), the student will be trained to engage in the world. In this stage, the chief goal of education is to train the student to express the glory of God in Jesus Christ, fully utilizing and developing all the talents given to a student. This phase completes the process of recovering the glory of God, which began with discovering the glory of God in creation, and now ends by expressing the glory of God using the creation and in the creation. This goal is accomplished by “fanning into flame” the various gifts of God, such as writing, speaking, acting, drawing, playing (an instrument) and singing. These gifts will be developed in the context of “getting into the skin” of real people in various cultures, both in the past and present, with real life-challenges and providing Christ-honoring solutions.
Read More On The Classical Christian Education Grade Levels Here
Rhetoric School Pedagogy
In grades 9-10 learning begins to transcend the perceptive world, to the poetic and philosophical. Students have learned to love transcendent truths through metaphor, types and allusions and the deeper why, and now we introduce/shift to an evaluation of multi-layered philosophical or theological works, their point of view, and the philosophy which they contain. Students at this stage also can learn the fundamentals of argument, debate, and thesis. These rhetorical skills are developed to prepare the student for leadership and the rhetoric phase. Rhetoric is the core skill in leadership. Leading others requires the ability to see the big picture, think clearly about the facts involved, draw wise conclusions, and persuade others to follow. Classical Christian education’s long history has been attributed to the effectiveness with which it trains leaders. In high school, students begin to develop a sense of how others perceive them. They become self-conscious about fashion, vocabulary, mannerisms and various other forms of expression. Classicists called this the rhetoric phase. Students in this phase learn to speak and write well. They learn to relate to their audience with clarity and persuasion. Without the ability to communicate, the best ideas go unheard and are impotent.
Rhetoric School Curriculum
Some of these opportunities include writing contests, speech & debate contests, school plays, musical performances, and exhibitions. Furthermore, at this stage, education takes on its most holistic form, in that it is not merely about knowing and thinking, but living and applying God’s truth to all areas of life. Students will be given opportunities to meet model Christian leaders in various fields. Also, opportunities will be created for students to take part in improving the community.