DENKEN is a specialized tutoring service dedicated to providing academic instruction and assistance uniquely tailored to the needs and interests of the individual student. For children in public or private schools who are frustrated with the standardized curricula, or who struggle with the fundamentals, or who simply wish to explore new areas of knowledge, Denken will craft a course of study, in collaboration with both parent and child, in which ideally the child will not only acquire the basic skills necessary to succeed in our complex and rapidly changing world, but will also experience, through active participation in the process itself, the freedom and joy of creative learning. And for adults of any age who have made learning their life-long endeavor, Denken offers an array of intellectual services.
GREGORY
SPANO
PRINCIPAL
Earned an M.A. (ABD) in Political Theory and a B.A. in Economics at the University of Massachusetts; received a Goethe Institute scholarship to study German in Berlin; awarded a Baaden/Wurttemberg scholarship to study German Philosophy at the University of Freiburg; previously worked as co-editor at Saucon News; and as proofreader and editor at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz.
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While in graduate school studied under such eminent scholars as Nicholas Xenos, professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Peter D. Fenves, Professor of Literature, Professor of German, Comparative Literary Studies, and Jewish Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Political Science, and English at Northwestern University, and Samuel M. Weber, Professor of Humanities at Northwestern University;
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Human beings need nurture and culture. Culture includes discipline and instruction....It is, however, not enough that children learn discipline; for it is of far greater importance that they should learn to think.
IMMANUEL KANT
GERMAN PHILOSOPHER
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DENKEN, which in German means “to think,” holds firmly to the principal that teachers, first and foremost, teach students how to learn. From this simple proposition it follows that teachers must be learners as well. But then several questions arise: What is learning? In what does learning consist? What is its purpose? Can one come to learn what learning is other than through learning?
PHILOSOPHY
CURRICULUM
Just as every student comes to Denken with his or her own unique and complex history, situation and character, as well as with his or her own unique feelings, thoughts and desires, so must Denken carefully tailor each and every curriculum to the needs, abilities and aspirations of each individual child. Toward this end, and in avowed devotion to the ideals of a traditional Liberal Arts education, Denken relies upon an extensive in-house library of nearly 3,000 canonical books covering all of the listed fields, in both the humanities and sciences, as well as upon a plethoral of learning and research resources available free online.
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I have often been asked how it was that some teachers who have never studied the art of teaching are still extraordinary teachers. The explanation is simple. They have a quick, sure and unflagging sympathy with the operations and process of the mind they are in contact with. Their own minds move in harmony with those of others, appreciating their difficulties, entering into their problems, sharing in their intellectual victories.
JOHN DEWEY
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER
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