Ataraxia Through Aporia – Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning’s Approach to Pedagogy and Community Development
Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM HST
Location: Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center, located at 1922 Makiki Street, Honolulu, HI 96822
Cost: Free

Attend this public talk to learn more about Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning, located in Calabasas, California. Qualia is a term used in philosophical discourse about the mind and the nature of reality. It refers to “what it feels like” when we apprehend stimuli or concepts. As the students of Qualia School have pointed out, it simultaneously captures:

The idea that we don’t really “know” something until we’ve had our own conscious experience of it — hence the importance of a hands-on/minds-on learning model;
The appreciation that my understanding of something might not precisely match yours — thus the need for deep discourse to bridge gaps among learners; and
A rejection of “smartness” as recitation of facts, leading to a culture that celebrates inquiry and deeper understanding.

As a part of their visit to Hawai‘i, educators from Qualia will share more about the school’s approach and how they use ancient notions like aporia and eudaimonia to inform their pedagogy. They will share stories of how they have built a learning community deeply informed by Philosophy for Children over the span of the school's history, discuss the ways in which their Great Ideas program (in which every student is enrolled in a philosophy class every year) informs their practice in other disciplines, and how all of this encourages polymathic development in their students. They will also share game-based and project-based learning practices that inform their values and pedagogy. The session will end with a hands-on exploration of Qualia’s values and practices.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Jim Hahn is an inveterate explorer of knowledge, ideas, contraptions and cultures, and has taught everything from philosophy to chemistry to Rube Goldberg Machines during his 32-year career in education. As the founder of Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning, a next-generation educational model, Jim has worked with the gamut of brilliant, independent young minds, pushing them to think deeply, care deeply, and forge extraordinary paths.

Jon Cassie has worked in independent school education for nearly thirty years and is currently the Co-Founder and Avatar Architect at Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning. Jon is an author of several books, including a 2016 book on game-based learning titled Level Up Your Classroom, which won a gold medal for best technical book from Association Media and Publishing. Some of Jon’s other published works explore the relationships between roleplaying games and game design, with social-emotional learning and culture. Jon also hosts two podcasts about education – "Many Windows" and "Game Level Learn" – and has appeared on a number of podcasts speaking about the future of education (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTlA_wSCks8&t=2s).

JC Wright teaches elementary school philosophy, two sections of middle school philosophy, high school philosophy of mind, beginning band, and advanced band, and also serves as the Ethics Bowl coach. JC has also taught the philosophy of constructed languages, philosophy of games and play, and tabletop game design. JC looks forward to engaging with Hawai‘i’s P4C and Progressive educators.

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