YOUTH INITIATIVE HIGH SCHOOL
Waldorf Initiative in Viroqua, Wisconsin, USA
COURSES AND CLASSES
Social Studies I (mixed grades)
Fall Semester 2006
Teacher: Charlene Elderkin
Communication Skills for Everyday Encounters
Communication is a part of our personal, social and work lives. It affects nearly everything we do. We are communicating all the time, whether we are speaking or not. In fact, we cannot NOT communicate. If communicating is such an everyday, common occurrence, then why should you have to learn anything more about it? Isn't it automatic?
Just because we are constantly communicating, doesn't mean we are doing it effectively. Has anyone ever said to you, "I told you that three times!" Have you thought you made yourself perfectly clear, only to find that you were misunderstood? Have you ever offended someone without meaning to?
Everyone can benefit from improving his or her communication skills. It is a very powerful way to improve the quality of your friendships and your relationships with family members. Your ability to get a job, work effectively and get promoted will be improved by your ability to communicate. Effective communication skills will help you avoid misunderstandings, reduce the amount of conflict in your relationships and help you more effectively deal with conflicts when they arise. On the other hand, poor communication skills can damage and even destroy relationships.
The purpose of this class is to provide you with the opportunity to improve your communication skills. The course readings will introduce you to the concepts so that you can identify what these skills are, and then the focus will switch to practice. Each module begins with a required reading that introduces the skills we are focusing on. During class time there will be group activities that will give you opportunities to practice. You will demonstrate your skill through a combination of written exercises; short essays, role-plays and observations based on role-plays and videos.
At the beginning of each lesson, there will be a pre-test. This is not graded, it is for you to determine what you already know on the topic. By the end of the reading and teacher presentation, you should be able to answer all the questions correctly. The objectives for each module are given at the beginning of the unit. The objectives will tell you just what you will be asked to do in order to pass this course. The readings, teacher presentations and class activities are designed so that you should have no problem in meeting these objectives. If you engage and practice these skills consciously, I guarantee that it will change your life!
YIHS Social Studies II (mixed grades)
Fall Semester 2006
Teacher: Jacob Hundt
“How Shall We Live?”: An Introduction to Ethical and Political Philosophy
In this class, we will take up Socrates’ challenging assertion that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Beginning with the roots of Western philosophy in ancient Greece and with Socrates’ revolutionary philosophical method of dialogue, skepticism, and critical self-examination, we will look closely at our motives and rationales for living the way we do. We will also try to get to the core meanings of common, but difficult to define words like “justice,” “virtue,” “wisdom,” “duty,” “freedom,” “right,” and “wrong.” We will examine the relationships between the individual, the community, and the government from the perspective of several different philosophical schools. Finally, we will attempt to apply the ideas of several ancient and modern philosophers to the political and moral questions of the present day.
The core work of this semester will be to read, discuss, and analyze the ideas several philosophers from ancient Greece, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. We will begin with the dialogue Meno, by Plato, which deals with the definition of the word ‘virtue’ and the question of whether virtue, whatever it is, can be taught or learned. Other texts for the semester include Plato’s dialogues Euthyphro, the Apology, and Crito, which deal with the trial and death of Socrates, and excerpts from Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. In the latter half of semester our discussion with turn to modern thinkers, possibly including Jefferson, Bentham, Locke, Marx, Nietzche, or Peter Singer, depending on the interests of the class.
Expectations:
1. Students are expected to complete all assigned readings for each class session and to come prepared with questions and comments to discuss. My goal is to assign no more than one hour of reading per class session.
2. Students are expected to participate actively in all class discussions. Person-to-person dialogue is the core of the Socratic method of education, which will be the model for this class.
3. Students will prepare a 1-2 page typed summary for each assigned reading. These summaries should attempt to describe the basic ideas behind the text in the clearest way possible. Students may be asked by the teacher to complete a revised draft of any summary.
4. In the second half of the class, students will choose from among several different longer thinking and writing projects relating to the themes of the class. Possible options include:
--Writing a new dialogue in the style of Plato about a particular virtue, quality, or idea
--Applying the ideas or method of one the thinkers we study to a current issue or problem
--Reading an additional philosophical text and preparing a paper and presentation on it.
--Other options suggested by the class.
YIHS Social Studies III (mixed grades)
Fall Semester 2006
Teacher: Donna Simmons
US Government: the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
During this semester we will take an in-depth look at the Constitution of the United States. We will start by considering its historical context: why it was written, who wrote it and for whom was it intended? What were the intentions of the Framers – and how relevant are their considerations for 21C America?
As we work our way through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we will look at the role that these documents play in our society and the issues surrounding them – I anticipate lively discussions regarding, for instance, the right to bear arms, the death penalty, and the First Amendment!
Throughout the semester we will also examine the role of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of government, the system of “checks and balances” and seek to determine how power and decision-making are distributed in this country. Who guards the Constitution? Who interprets it and who determines its relevance and importance? Are these fundamental human rights? What happens during times of war? And what is the role of the ‘ordinary citizen’ in all of this?
Most of the assignments given will be very short, focused on ability to assimilate information and think critically and creatively about it. There will be a number of short quizzes and worksheet type assignments just to keep things moving along. In-class discussion is a vital component of the class and those students who do not participate in conversation might find themselves doing extra written work. There will be one longish paper based on the relationship between the Patriot Act or other choice selections from the Bush government, and the Bill of Rights.