Outreach: Santa Fe
Tecolote
- Introduction
- The Tecolote colloquia
- Fall 2005 Information
- 2006 - 2007 Information
- 2007 - 2008 Information
- 2008 - 2009 Information
- Contact Information
Recognizing and Enhancing the Dignity of the Teaching Profession
A Colloquium Series for New Mexico Teachers at St. John's College Santa Fe, NM
The Tecolote Group is an educational organization sponsored by St. John's College. Its purpose is to encourage and foster liberal education in New Mexico. It develops and hosts colloquia and collaborative projects with teachers, administrators, and community members who have a commitment to liberal learning in grades K through 12.
Tecolote is convinced that the teachers who maintain a life of active study and inquiry are the ones best able to engender and nurture these same qualities in their students. The Tecolote Group strives to enhance the dignity of New Mexico's teachers at all levels by providing occasions for building ideas through structured discussion of centrally important texts, thus bringing to life the idea that great books make great teachers.
Everyone recognizes the need for good teachers. To encourage the idealism that brings talented people to the teaching profession in the first place, The Tecolote Group offers programs by invitation for teachers at all levels. These programs are based on the method of learning developed in the great books curriculum at St. John's College.
The Tecolote colloquia
The Tecolote colloquia are a series of Saturday programs that provide occasions for genuine liberal learning through the discussion of carefully selected texts, led by St. John's faculty and other experienced leaders. They are designed to be non-competitive so that participants may explore, discover, and learn through shared inquiry. Colloquia are not designed for a particular discipline or grade level. Rather, they focus on books and questions that all teachers can profitably discuss.
The colloquia are planned primarily for the benefit of elementary, middle, and secondary teachers and administrators in New Mexico's public and independent schools. Participants are chosen with attention to diversity of experience, location, ethnicity, gender and age. Small groups from individual schools or school systems are encouraged. The primary criterion for selection is dedication to liberal education in the schools.
The colloquia, designed with an annual governing theme, are scheduled to avoid the busiest times for teachers. Each participant will attend two Saturday sessions in the fall and two in the spring. Participants agree to read the assigned material in advance and to be present at all of a colloquium's events. All materials and meals will be provided at no charge. No tuition fee is required for the colloquia; rather, participants will receive a modest honorarium for attending.
The greatest gift of teachers to students is the example they set. After participation in The Tecolote colloquia, teachers will return to their classrooms with a renewed sense of their vocation. In addition, the experience of working together in the colloquia will encourage teacher/colleague development of their own related initiatives.
The Tecolote Saturday colloquium series receives generous support from:
- The Bay Foundation
- The Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation
- The McCune Foundation
- St. John's College
For more information contact:
Stephen Van Luchene, Program Director
The Tecolote Group
St. John's College
1160 Camino Cruz Blanca
Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599
Phone: 505.984.6900
Fax: 505.984.6003
e-mail: svanluch@sjcsf.edu