Upper School Logic Teacher

Position Description

                                        Upper School Logic Teacher

The Geneva School is a mission-driven school established in 1993. Our mission is to provide students in grades K4–12 an extraordinary education, by means of an integrated curriculum, pedagogy and culture, both distinctly classical and distinctively Christian, that pursues goodness, truth, and beauty in all spheres of life, while viewing these spheres as elements of divinely ordered whole. Further, Geneva seeks to instill in students a desire to love beauty, think deeply, and pursue Christ’s calling. As a mission-driven school, faculty members play a central role in fulfilling our mission.

Hired by and subject to the supervision of the Director of the Upper School, the Upper School Teacher is an exempt position. The teacher, in a formational and relational role, models Christ-like behavior within The Geneva School community as he or she studies, re-imagines, and teaches within the Christian, liberal arts tradition.

We have a full-time opening for a Logic Teacher for the 2024-2025 School Year. Logic is taught to 7th and 8th grade students.

                                                  Logic Course Description

While all of the courses in the dialectic school (grades 7 & 8) operate according to and emphasize the liberal art of dialectic, which is a skill of reasoning, our seventh and eighth graders take stand-alone classes in logic. In these classes, the students are introduced to specific categories and constructions of arguments. They learn to identify formal and informal fallacies, they learn how to test syllogisms for validity, and they are introduced to the writings of Plato and Aristotle.

The term logic evokes a variety of images: from Sudoku puzzles to Sherlock Holmes, from abstract symbols on a page to word puns. While it can be difficult to see a unified concept between these disparate fields, they are all nonetheless associated with this term logic. From its roots, logic has been concerned with words, with claims, and with arguments or accounts of things. It is concerned with how something can be proved, and it involves thinking deeply about  what course of action to pursue.

In their study of logic, students learn to stop and pay attention to oft-ignored things: to words, to images, to the world around them. They are encouraged to understand more fully the power of clear thinking in all aspects of life, and they experience the joy that comes through delving deeply into the nature of things. Even more than this, they study logic so that they might better see what is true and beautiful, that they might find it of great importance to pursue practical wisdom to guide their actions, and that they would seek to understand others in charity and humility.

Logic uniquely ties together everything the students study, from the history of the ancient Near East to pre-algebra to the arts. The aim of the course is for students to be encouraged in their pursuit of wisdom, as they try with all charity and humility to understand what others have said and are thus aided in their pursuit of Christ’s calling.

Enduring Understandings

• There is truth, even if it is difficult to know.
• The human faculty of reason (including logic) is good, but it is not  ultimate.
• There are good arguments and bad ones, and we have the tools to discern them.
• People convey multiple levels of meaning by the language they use.
• Meaning in terms and propositions is often imprecise but can be clarified.
• Language is assertive. As such, we should pay close attention to our words.
• Reasoning is a process that necessarily goes from somewhere to somewhere else, requiring both a starting point and a telos.
• Humility and submission are necessary for the good intellectual  life—things are more
  complex than we realize. Therefore, treating other views charitably is necessary both for
  truth and for goodness.

                                               Essential Duties of a Geneva Teacher

Specific Job Responsibilities:

• Maintains curriculum maps
• Displays a clear understanding of subject matter
• Articulates a Christian worldview in the classroom
• Implements lesson plans
• Grades summative assessments thoroughly and in a timely manner
• Accurately reflect students’ mastery of subjects when grading
• Stimulates students’ interest in course work
• Treats students with respect and refrains from shaming or using sarcasm
• Maintains an attentive and engaged classroom
• Manages student behavior effectively
• Handles discipline in accord with the employee and student handbooks
• Begins and ends class on time
• Supports the school’s missions, vision, and values as defined in the employee handbook
• Carries out specific assignments including lunch duty, carpool duty, assigned supervision, committees, and other areas as determined by the Director of Upper School
• Enforces student policies (e.g. attendance, uniform guidelines, late work policy)
• Supports the admissions department by welcoming tours and classroom visits
• Supports development by maintaining a positive attitude toward helping as needed with fund raising efforts
• Supports registrar by turning in grades and student comments on time
• Supports the mission of the college counselor by completing student referral letters and keeping him up to date on student issues

 

 Other Job Requirements:
The following requirements are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of the Upper School Teacher position and are not intended to be inclusive.
Reasonable accommodation(s) may be made to enable individuals with disabilities, as defined by law, to perform any essential functions.

• Lift 20 lbs. occasionally and 10 lbs. frequently
• Sit frequently and stand and walk on varied surfaces
• Bend, stoop, crouch, push, pull, climb, balance, kneel, crawl
• Use hands/arms to reach in any direction and seize, grasp, hold, and turn objects using hand(s). Use fingers, versus the whole hand, to pick, pinch, and feel objects.
• See, talk, and hear to communicate with others in person, electronically, by phone, or by radio. Visual functions include the ability to identify and distinguish colors and bring an object into sharp focus.

                                               Personal Profile

Required Skills and Experience:

• Holds at least a 4-year college degree appropriate for the grade levels and content areas in
  which he or she is teaching (content area degrees for 7-12 th )
• Has at least 2+ years of teaching experience and/or has demonstrated the ability to create a learning community where students are motivated to learn and love learning
• Has demonstrated the ability to work well with colleagues and communicate clearly and graciously with parents
• Meets FCIS standards for professional credentials and/or certification
• Has demonstrated both intellectual and relational talents
• Will understand fundamentally and support the Christian and classical approach to education practiced at The Geneva School

 

 Intrinsic Qualities:

• Ascribes to and agrees to live in accordance with The Geneva School’s statement of faith
• Holds oneself to a high standard of honesty and integrity
• Able to work effectively both in collaboration with other professionals and on own initiative
• Professional and approachable in appearance and attitude
• Willingness to learn new skills
• Self-motivated with a positive ‘can do’ approach to work
• Reliable/dependable
• Detail-oriented
• Able to search for solutions
• Practices good stewardship of the school’s resources
• Enjoys working around children and is able to form and monitor appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children and young people.

                                     Employment Information

The Geneva School prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical disability, handicap, or any other consideration protected by law. Employment decisions will be made on the basis of each applicant’s job qualifications, experience, and abilities and in full accord with The Geneva School’s statement of  faith and the school’s statement of mission, vision and values.