Paideia is the Greek word for "nurturing of children." But for more than 70 of the 97 elementary, middle and high schools in the Guilford County School District, Paideia is also a departure from the traditional classroom approach of lecturing material. Based on the Socratic method, the Paideia teaching method educates by asking instead of telling, combining didactic instruction with academic coaching and seminar discussions.

How exactly does Paideia work? Can this teaching method address the needs and issues facing our schools? Can this program be implemented in all North Carolina schools and, if so, at what costs?

Paideia: Making the Grade, UNC-TV's new hour-long documentary, explores these questions and delves into many of the issues facing North Carolina schools-including achievement gaps and recruitment and retention of quality teachers. North Carolina Now host Shannon Vickery presents an intriguing look at the heart of this learning movement and The National Paideia Center-based right here in the heart of Carolina at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

North Carolina communities will find the experiences of their native sons and daughters both thought provoking and compelling. The following Tar Heel schools are featured in Paideia: Making the Grade:

• Bluford Communications Magnet School in Greensboro, NC
  
• Jesse Wharton Elementary School in Greensboro, NC
  
• Welborn Middle School in High Point, NC
  
• Southern Guilford High School in Greensboro, NC

"UNC-TV is always trying to report on issues that are important to North Carolina schools," says Vickery. "With so many people in the nation taking an interest in what's happening in Guilford County, we believe we should too."

Paideia: Making the Grade is part of UNC-TV's ongoing commitment to produce and broadcast programs for and about North Carolina and is made possible by the generous support of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Inc. UNC-TV is North Carolina's only statewide broadcasting system, made possible through a unique partnership of public investment and private support.