2 minute read
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
“Competent” & “confident”
are two words frequently used to describe a Delphian graduate.
That the Delphian program so uniformly achieves this result is, in fact, remarkable. What is it exactly that brings this about so consistently in our students? Considering all the various aspects of the Delphi Program®, one might as well ask, “Which petal of this flower is it, exactly, that makes it beautiful?” In truth, there is no singular correct answer.
If there is one aspect of the Delphian program, however, that inarguably contributes to the competence and confidence so easily observable in each of our graduates, it is the practical program.
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Excerpt from Delphi Program Faculty Training Manual:
Upper School Practical
With the introduction of “practical requirements” in the mid-1980s, the authors of the Delphi Program took a stand: not only are students expected to study for application, they are expected to actually apply what they have learned.
Not in the future, but now.
It is in the crucible of practical application that students come to discover how useful, how valuable, how valid information is—and sometimes more importantly, what they are capable of. The lessons learned in practical are lessons learned for life.
Though the practical program has evolved since those early years, it has only been in the direction of greater simplicity and, we hope, greater rewards. - Editors
Goal:
Show students how able they actually are.
Key Purposes:
Test information for its validity, workability, and value.
Turn information into realized knowledge.
Balance theory with practical, in-class study with out-of-class experience.
Build confidence, competence, and certainty.
Provide opportunities to create knowledge.
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Just as one wouldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, expect to read a book on how to ride a bike and then immediately be competent and confident about actually riding a bike, one wouldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, expect an academic education alone, no matter how good, to produce a markedly different result.
The Delphian Program is not only academic. Students take what they’ve learned in the classroom into the proving ground of the practical program. It is in that crucible, where theory, understanding, and the ability to get a result are tested and refined, that confidence and competence are forged.
As you enjoy the rest of this latest issue of the Delphian, I hope you will keep this brief introduction to the Delphian practical program in mind.
Trevor Ott, Head of School
