Strong Families, Strong Daughters Blog
Is there an ideal teaching method to help girls thrive?
Mary T. Ortiz, Ph.D.
Pedagogy: the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.
Is there an ideal pedagogy for teaching young women? At Oakcrest, we believe there is.
Education is ultimately a “leading forth” of the young person to authentic freedom and truth. Because we are personal beings, this transformation occurs through relationships, especially friendships, through rich conversation and the modeling of virtue. The student develops her intellect and character in communion with her family, her teachers, her peers, but also with those great men and women who have gone before her. She is invited into the great conversation of the best thinkers of the past and discovers her own intellectual geography as a result.
Our instructional techniques are thus rooted in this personal and relational understanding of education and include narrative and mimetic instruction, as well as Socratic dialogue. A narrative pedagogy presents truth through story. In this method, for instance, a science teacher might teach cellular structure by introducing the students to the burning scientific questions of the men and women famous for their cellular discoveries, and all this without “spoiling the plot” of what these men and women discovered until the students themselves discover the conclusions by conducting the experiments themselves.
Mimetic instruction teaches students to argue to universals by examining various types and arguing from them. For instance, an English teacher might present a variety of friends in literature and ask “what makes a good friend?” thereby prompting the student to apply literature to her own life. Socratic dialogue engages the student’s intellect through discussion, and question and answer. This method is particularly effective in guiding the student through subtle and difficult topics such as mathematics, moral theology and philosophy. For instance, a math teacher might guide the student to see the logical relationship between two formulas for herself by a guided question and answer conversation.
I am convinced that this method of teaching is ideal for girls, because it is based on the understanding of the human person and of young women.
Mary T. Ortiz holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in English and German from Bowdoin College. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While completing her doctorate, she taught writing and composition at NYU, and began a 15-year career of developing supplementary educational programs for girls throughout the U.S. Working collaboratively with educators and parents, she coordinated the creation and growth of programs that develop the whole person: camps, service projects, cultural and leadership programs, all of which offer spiritual formation through the Prelature of Opus Dei. Mary first joined the Oakcrest faculty as an English teacher and Assistant Head of School in 2009. She became Head of School in 2012, bringing to Oakcrest her love of literature and the humanities, and experience and commitment to the education of young women. Mary especially enjoys being part of a school with such a noble purpose shared by each of the individuals who work here. Her two nieces (Sarah '15 and Caroline '17) are Oakies! She has a deep affection for her home state of Massachusetts and the Boston Red Sox.
1619 Crowell Road, Vienna, VA 22182
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