Foundational, Empowering, and Creative
Internalizing the System:
A person who wants to make a creative contribution not only must work within a creative system but must also reproduce that system within his or her mind. In other words, the person must learn the rules and content of the domain, as well as the criteria of selection, the preferences of the field.     Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi

The modes of learning identified by Dr. Veith directly relate to three distinctly different modes of instruction. The "grammar" or "data accumulation" mode of learning is best served by the learning style which is purely pedagogical. In this stage, the student is acquiring, as Csikszentmihalyi terms it, "the rules of content of the domain." The teacher is in a mode of knowledge producer and the student is in the mode of knowledge receiver in this foundational stage.

The next stage is the mode of learning which Dr. Veith terms "logic," and relates directly to the instructional mode known as Socratic dialectics. This phrase is empowering because it involves discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation. In this stage, the teacher coaches the student through a rigorous process of "analysis and decision-making." The student, still in learning mode, is discovering Csikszentmihalyi's "criteria of selection [and] the preferences of the field."

In the final stage, when the student is ready to make a creative contribution of his or her own to the domain, the teacher is now acting as a mentor. This is the mode of learning identified by Dr. Veith as "rhetoric." This is the "communication" phase when the student ascends to the level of knowledge producer, and the teacher acts as advisor, assisting the student in making those connections to the greater world community.

At Renaissance Preparatory School, the overall movement of the curriculum is identical to these modes of learning and the accompanying modes of instruction. The approach employed in every discipline is a matter of knowledge accumulation, analysis, and articulation of thesis, leading the students through the "Higher Order Thinking Skills" valued in modern educational psychology.

This approach is discussed in different terms by Carol Tomlinson in her article on appropriate curriculum as she proposes a set of characteristics of engaging curriculum:

From Gifted In The Middle: Curriculum for Kids Who Don't Fit a Mold
by Carol Tomlinson, University of Virginia and NAGC Curriculum Studies Division Co-Chair
     I recently heard a presentation given by a woman who is responsible for development of talent and creativity in the young stars of Canada's famed Cirque de Soleil. I was captivated by her presentation because, without realizing it, she was talking about what it means to develop the capacity of highly talented [students] who are at very different points in their journey toward talent development. She explained that when the young athletes (all of whom possess exceptional physical and artistic ability) come to the circus, they will be in one of three stages of development. Circus staff find it essential to understand each athlete's point of entry and to begin to work with them at that stage. The first stage, is what is what the speaker called "Fun and Fundamentals." At this juncture of growth, the young person still needs to "play" with her art -- to find great joy in it -- to laugh with pleasure as she works on her skill. In addition to the aspect of joy, however, it is necessary for coaches to ensure that the young learner is acquiring fundamental skills, habits, and attitudes of mind that will undergird success through the remainder of career and life. The best coach at this point is one who knows how to generate joyful engagement with the sport while developing sound and essential ways of action and thought.
     The second phase is different. At this point, the young artist is ready for highly serious work, critical feedback, intellectual and physical risk. It is a polishing phase in which criticism is sought as a right of passage into the ranks of more seasoned and professional performers. Here the coach is a task-master -- someone who holds the standard slightly beyond reach, and coaches to ensure continual movement toward a continually escalating standard of excellence.
     The final phase might be the most difficult for a coach. Here, the athlete no longer needs the coach to "teach," but rather now to build a bridge between the athlete and the outside world. The young performer has developed both the necessary skills to ensure future success and a style of his own. The coach's job becomes one of helping the athlete link up with a broader fraternity of professionals beyond the "classroom."