Class 9 (Year 10; Age 14 -15 Years): “Polarities” 

 

Kei hopu tōu ringa ki te aka tāepa, engari kia mau ki te aka matua. 

Cling to the main vine, not the loose one. 

 

With adolescence, the inner soul forces of the young human being become extremely active, and with this there is a corresponding (and often disconcerting) bodily change.  It is a bewildering world when the adolescent is often at the mercy of strong, uncontrolled feelings and emotions, which swing, like a pendulum, from one extreme to the other.  This manifests differently in boys and girls; yet both mask their vulnerability in different ways.  Boys may be uncouth and gawky, yet inwardly shy; girls may express their emotions more easily in volatile, temperamental behaviour.  Both need careful and sensitive handling and since that emotional world is both extremely sensitive and volatile, one needs to channel this energy into a healthy relationship with the outer world.   

 

One approaches the adolescent of this age as much through the intellect as through the senses, presenting one's material in as tactile a way as possible, yet always seeking to refine the senses through artistic activity, and challenging the student to think accurately, and observe meticulously.  The student of this age needs many physical challenges to counteract the emotional roller-coaster.   

 

There is little scope for the finer nuances of feeling; everything is black or white, wonderful or abysmal, joyful or full of sorrow.  It is truly a year of polarities and opposites, and all the Main Lessons in this year play on that theme, whether it is "Tragedy and Comedy" in English, "The French Revolution" in history, "stability and instability" in geology. 

 

The Teachers’ Pedagogical Aims For Class 9 Are: 

• To awaken to the polarities of subject knowledge through both heart and will. 

• To develop the reasoning power of the student 

• To show how causes, issues, “facts”, phenomena, opinions, etc. can pull in two directions, have two sides 

• To work with accurate observation, objectivity and detail 

• To bring claims of rights and responsibilities to consciousness 

• To foster tolerance and social engagement 

• To build inner courage and perseverance 

• To bring idealism to the fore -to push ideas to the limits, and limitations 

• To work with the hands and soil 

• To work with the discovery of assertion and a sense of place in the world.