MY EDUCATION AND TEACHING HISTORY
Early Education
My education and teaching history will illustrate some of the major experiences and influences that have shaped me as an educator and help you to better understand my teaching.
St. Mary School in Branford, Connecticut seared into me important attitudes like all elementary schools do. From the wonderful nuns and lay people who taught me, I learned how important it is for young learners to feel that they are cared about as an individual and surrounded by a supportive community. Although the school lacked material basics like books and science equipment, it had teachers that cared about me and held me to high standards in all ways.
My years at a public high school gave me the opposite experience; materials were plentiful but standards and expectations were low. I was a bit shocked by the change, but the experience taught me many crucial life lessons. It has made me very supportive of the home school movement and to parents who want to take their child’s education into their own hands. The experience also taught me that I could learn on my own and that when you get to the heart of the matter, we all do in fact learn by ourselves, within ourselves, through own our effort and drive. My oldest sister’s bookshelf of classic literature, which she lovingly collected, was one of my greatest teachers.
Skidmore College and Educational Achievements
Skidmore College gave me the opportunity to work intimately with outstanding professors who cared about teaching, the process of education, and their role as mentors. My desire to learn in a more experiential way and to follow my own educational interests inspired me to grab the opportunity Skidmore provided to design my own unique program of study. I created a “self-designed major” entitled The Art History of Non-Western Cultures that included completing independent studies in my junior year in preparation for spending my senior year in the University of Wisconsin’s College Year in India Program. This unique program gave me the experiential learning experience I desired, allowing me to live in India for 12 months and undertake field research rarely available to the undergraduate. I conducted research in India in 1982-83 at over 150 ancient temple sites and produced a 240 page senior thesis on “The Temple Architecture of the Early Chola Period, 800 to 1010, A.D.” In a letter of recommendation Professor Joel Smith said this about my thesis:
- "…his project (of more than 200 pages) on Hindu temple architecture in South India was well beyond undergraduate level work. The thesis was done near a Master’s level quality showing extraordinary accomplishment. I have never seen such a good thesis from a college senior, and John’s was done under adverse conditions in India."
I received a truly extraordinary college education through my self-designed major at Skidmore and in India; it made learning come alive for me and helped me to feel the passion that is unleashed when working like a professional investigator constructing my own knowledge rather than merely absorbing the conclusions of others. Many of my goals as an educator were directly born out of this experience.
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Shady Hill School, Master’s Degree, and Educational Achievements
The next leg of my educational journey took place in the Tufts University-Shady Hill School Joint Masters Program in 1985-86. As an apprentice in Shady Hill School’s yearlong Teacher Training Course, I learned how to teach under the direction of outstanding educators at a school with a long-standing reputation as one of the nation’s leading independent schools and trainers of teachers. I studied their Progressive educational philosophy that emphasized working with the child’s natural curiosity and passion for learning, and learned the importance of being able to accurately read and appropriately respond to the needs of each individual child. Their curriculum revolved around the “Central Subject” where the core disciplines worked in unison on an annual topic of investigation in tremendous depth. As an apprentice under the wing of two master educators, Sarah Bayne and Vera Nordal, I learned the complexities of designing effective learning experiences and developed a passion for creating inventive approaches and effective tools for students.
I thrived as a learner at Shady Hill and became a dedicated student of the craft of teaching. Marjorie Gatchell, Executive for Teacher Training, noted some of my accomplishments at Shady Hill that I believe reveal interests that inspire me still as a teacher today:
I learned the fundamentals of excellent teaching at Shady Hill. I have continually been thankful for the pivotal role its educators played in my development and have been greatly influenced by the core pedagogical ideas I saw work so effectively there.
Shady Hill School, Master’s Degree, and Educational Achievements
The next leg of my educational journey took place in the Tufts University-Shady Hill School Joint Masters Program in 1985-86. As an apprentice in Shady Hill School’s yearlong Teacher Training Course, I learned how to teach under the direction of outstanding educators at a school with a long-standing reputation as one of the nation’s leading independent schools and trainers of teachers. I studied their Progressive educational philosophy that emphasized working with the child’s natural curiosity and passion for learning, and learned the importance of being able to accurately read and appropriately respond to the needs of each individual child. Their curriculum revolved around the “Central Subject” where the core disciplines worked in unison on an annual topic of investigation in tremendous depth. As an apprentice under the wing of two master educators, Sarah Bayne and Vera Nordal, I learned the complexities of designing effective learning experiences and developed a passion for creating inventive approaches and effective tools for students.
I thrived as a learner at Shady Hill and became a dedicated student of the craft of teaching. Marjorie Gatchell, Executive for Teacher Training, noted some of my accomplishments at Shady Hill that I believe reveal interests that inspire me still as a teacher today:
- "… For Teacher Training Course seminars, Mr. Trapasso wrote one of the most outstanding child observation papers we have received in recent years. His view of the child was exceptionally insightful, his prose was vivid and descriptive, his slant was professional, caring, and undogmatic. This paper as well as his actual interactions with students reveal him to be a perceptive, sensitive observer of children. Another term project, a curriculum plan on Native Americans, was audacious in design. In execution it was a high point in the year’s curriculum… He is also intensely interested in pedagogical and developmental issues, has a probing mind, and enjoys speculating upon and generating ideas."
- "In letters of recommendation to Shady Hill about Mr. Trapasso there was a common theme: from a Skidmore professor… “He is the most interesting and energetic student I have encountered in ten years of teaching;” from the Curator of the Harvard University Archives… “He was one of the most satisfactory holders of the reading room position in my quarter century of observation and administration;”... And from his directing teacher at Shady Hill this year the theme is repeated: “John is one of the strongest apprentices I have ever had.”
I learned the fundamentals of excellent teaching at Shady Hill. I have continually been thankful for the pivotal role its educators played in my development and have been greatly influenced by the core pedagogical ideas I saw work so effectively there.
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Teaching at Georgetown Day School and San Francisco Day School
My first teaching position was in 1986 at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C. teaching seventh grade humanities in a team-teaching classroom. Georgetown Day also featured a Progressive educational philosophy and an integrated approach to curriculum, allowing me to continue my growth as an educator along these lines.
After two years at Georgetown, in 1988 I accepted a position to teach seventh grade humanities at San Francisco Day School and was given much freedom to design my own program of study. For the next fourteen years, I enjoyed refining my program, designing new methods to advance student learning, and working with the school’s fabulous students and families. I am forever grateful for the support I received from the school community that made me feel valued and blessed to be at home there.
Dr. Richard Paul
Dr. Richard Paul and His Model of Critical Thinking Education
From the moment I first stepped into a classroom, I knew that developing the students’ ability to learn and think critically would be my major objectives, and I set out to do this through my own explorations. After a few years of teaching in San Francisco, I stumbled upon a workshop on critical thinking by Dr. Richard Paul. The first words out of his mouth were, “We learn critical thinking to improve the quality of our lives.” Then, he stood silent for a long time and let that sink in and unfold. I watched his simple words unroll in me, grasping more of their implications, and felt viscerally that something important had just begun.
I was greatly impressed by his ideas and began to study at his Foundation and Center for Critical Thinking at Sonoma State University where he played a leading role in establishing and defining the field of critical thinking in the 1980s. Several years later, Dr. Paul asked me to join his small team of instructors and, while I still worked full-time at San Francisco Day School, I conducted workshops for schools and districts nation-wide and taught at his annual International Conferences on how to infuse critical thinking into K-12 education. Dr. Paul took interest in my teaching and in the critical thinking projects I designed for my San Francisco Day School classroom, and become a mentor to me. We designed together a two-year program for professional development at San Francisco Day School to provide in-depth critical thinking training to teachers in grades K-8 grades in all subject areas. Up until the time of his passing a number of years ago, I felt privileged to learn from Dr. Paul and discuss with him the new projects I was creating in my classroom to develop students’ critical thinking abilities. His wife and frequent co-author, Dr. Linda Elder, and Dr. Gerald Nosich are continuing the work of the Foundation and Center for Critical Thinking and moving forward its excellent work in the field of education.
From the moment I first stepped into a classroom, I knew that developing the students’ ability to learn and think critically would be my major objectives, and I set out to do this through my own explorations. After a few years of teaching in San Francisco, I stumbled upon a workshop on critical thinking by Dr. Richard Paul. The first words out of his mouth were, “We learn critical thinking to improve the quality of our lives.” Then, he stood silent for a long time and let that sink in and unfold. I watched his simple words unroll in me, grasping more of their implications, and felt viscerally that something important had just begun.
I was greatly impressed by his ideas and began to study at his Foundation and Center for Critical Thinking at Sonoma State University where he played a leading role in establishing and defining the field of critical thinking in the 1980s. Several years later, Dr. Paul asked me to join his small team of instructors and, while I still worked full-time at San Francisco Day School, I conducted workshops for schools and districts nation-wide and taught at his annual International Conferences on how to infuse critical thinking into K-12 education. Dr. Paul took interest in my teaching and in the critical thinking projects I designed for my San Francisco Day School classroom, and become a mentor to me. We designed together a two-year program for professional development at San Francisco Day School to provide in-depth critical thinking training to teachers in grades K-8 grades in all subject areas. Up until the time of his passing a number of years ago, I felt privileged to learn from Dr. Paul and discuss with him the new projects I was creating in my classroom to develop students’ critical thinking abilities. His wife and frequent co-author, Dr. Linda Elder, and Dr. Gerald Nosich are continuing the work of the Foundation and Center for Critical Thinking and moving forward its excellent work in the field of education.
Dr. Linda Elder
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Dr. Gerald Nosich
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Dr. Richard Paul’s ideas about critical thinking are the most powerful educational approach I have encountered during my studies and career as an educator. I often tell my students that I think Dr. Paul will be famous 500 years from now; the tools for learning he has designed deserve to be known everywhere and presented to all learners from the moment they step into a classroom in elementary school. His educational philosophy is central to what I do in the classroom and to the success of my teaching. I greatly enjoy the challenge of working with Dr. Paul’s core ideas and creating projects to teach them to my students. This undertaking is endlessly engaging, challenges my creativity, and continues to inspire me as a learner and educator.
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Study in India, Hilldale School, and a New Beginning in Home Schooling
In 2002 I decided to take my own self-financed sabbatical to return to India and study Indian philosophy and meditation. I also worked as a volunteer at an educational and charitable organization in South India for a number of years.
When I returned, I found a new educational home at Hilldale School in Daly City, California, where I have been teaching since 2010. My past decade of teaching has been a fruitful one; I have pioneered new educational tools and continued to refine methods I have been using for years. It has been my pleasure to work with the wonderful community of families and educators at Hilldale School.
At present, I am excited to begin a new phase of my teaching career by offering my proven educational program to home school families. My goals are to serve families who will value my program of study and share my teaching methods more broadly to a wide range of families.
Study in India, Hilldale School, and a New Beginning in Home Schooling
In 2002 I decided to take my own self-financed sabbatical to return to India and study Indian philosophy and meditation. I also worked as a volunteer at an educational and charitable organization in South India for a number of years.
When I returned, I found a new educational home at Hilldale School in Daly City, California, where I have been teaching since 2010. My past decade of teaching has been a fruitful one; I have pioneered new educational tools and continued to refine methods I have been using for years. It has been my pleasure to work with the wonderful community of families and educators at Hilldale School.
At present, I am excited to begin a new phase of my teaching career by offering my proven educational program to home school families. My goals are to serve families who will value my program of study and share my teaching methods more broadly to a wide range of families.
