Paideia Conferences

Fall Institutes in Charlotte, NC

Leading Paideia Implementation - September 26-27, 2024
This training is best for school-based Paideia leadership teams (teachers, administrators, coaches & facilitators) and is designed to take your school's Paideia implementation to the next level. We will work collaboratively with you to candidly assess your current program status and plan an ambitious but realistic set of goals for the 2024-2025 school year.

Introduction to Paideia Seminar - October 3-4, 2024
Learn the key components for facilitating Paideia Seminar, which helps advance students' ability to think conceptually and communicate collaboratively. This two-day course is designed for new practitioners and focuses on an integrated literacy cycle of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking. Participants will study each component of the seminar cycle, develop plans for implementation, and practice facilitating Paideia Seminar.

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Past Conferences & Institutes

Paideia National Conference: The Culture We Deserve
June 20-21, 2024 at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA

In his 1989 collection of essays titled The Culture We Deserve, Jacques Barzun defined culture as “the traditional things of the mind and spirit, the interests and abilities acquired by taking thought; in short, the effort that used to be called cultivation … of the self.” By extension, every school and every classroom has a culture, whether it consists of boredom or excitement, apathy or purpose—shallowness of mind and spirit or depth in reflection and dialogue.

Although it is hard to define, classroom and school culture plays a profound role in shaping how much students learn and how much they enjoy the process of learning. Join us in Malibu, California on June 20-21, 2024, when we will explore how to enhance the educational experience by creating The Culture We Deserve.

Introduction to Paideia Seminar

Learn the key components for facilitating Paideia Seminar, which helps advance students' ability to think conceptually and communicate collaboratively. This two-day course is designed for new practitioners and focuses on an integrated literacy cycle of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking. Participants will study each component of the seminar cycle, develop plans for implementation, and practice facilitating Paideia Seminar.

July 24-25, 2023 in Asheville, NC; Dec 5-6, 2023 in Matthews, NC; March 18-19, 2024 in Asheville, NC

Advanced Paideia Seminar
This training is designed for educators who have completed the Introduction to Paideia Seminar Institute training and are interested in furthering their mastery of Paideia Seminar. We’ll invite you to reflect on your past Paideia Seminars while highlighting important nuances of text selection, question development, facilitation, and participation. We'll also spend time helping you develop a comprehensive Paideia seminar schedule for your classroom or school.

Dec 5-6, 2023 in Matthews, NC

Paideia Classroom
Join us for an in-depth introduction to the Paideia Classroom, where you will learn how to support the skills of creative and critical thinking on a daily basis to activate your students’ development of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The Paideia Classroom is a simple, direct, and powerful set of practices that build upon the ideas and values, and the features, of the Paideia Seminar and the Paideia Project. The Paideia Classroom fully integrates the skill-building of dialogue into the life of the classroom, while inspiring students to practice speaking with clarity and listening mindfully to improve the two-way communication of shared understanding. During this Institute, participants will have the opportunity to explore the elements of the Paideia Classroom and begin to design and adapt activities ideally suited to their classroom, school, and community.

April 19-20, 2023 in Asheville, NC; Dec 5-6, 2023 in Matthews, NC

Leading Paideia Implementation:
This training is best for school-based Paideia leadership teams (teachers, administrators, coaches & facilitators) and is designed to take your school's Paideia implementation to the next level. We will work collaboratively with you to candidly assess your current program status and plan an ambitious but realistic set of goals for the 2023-2024 school year.

July 24-25, 2023 in Asheville, NC

The Paideia Coordinators’ Institute
If you serve, officially or unofficially, in the role of a Paideia Coordinator, this Institute is for you. Whether you have held the position for years or have just started, join us for a collaborative learning experience and networking opportunity. Participants will be introduced to or advance their thinking around the many aspects of leading and supporting a successful Paideia implementation and/or renewal certification/accreditation. The Paideia Coordinators’ Institute will focus on supporting classroom, school-wide, faculty, and parent/community seminars, along with scheduling, archiving, marketing, hosting learning visits, and recruiting, growing, and retaining strong Paideia practitioners. During our time together, we will discuss potential problems in coordination and possible solutions to the challenges and opportunities that come with being a Paideia Coordinator.

April 19-20, 2023 in Asheville, NC