Keeping the Faith Alive
Alan Murphy, Teaching Fellow
MA in Catholic School Leadership
St Mary’s University College
1
Pope Benedict XVI
defines Catholic
education when
speaking at St
Mary’s University
College, 2010
“A good school provides a rounded
education for the whole person. And a good
Catholic school, over and above this, should
help all its students to become saints.”
2
Contrary Forces
Education of the Whole Person
League Tables
Each in God’s Image
Gifted & Talented
Primacy of RE
English Baccalaureate
Faith & Moral Principles
Secular Society
3
Who do we serve?
Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how to
entangle him in his talk……. Tell us, then, what you
think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But
Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the
test, you hypocrites? Show me the money for the
tax." And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to
them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They
said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and
to God the things that are God's."
Matthew 22: 15-21
4
Serving those 'who are strangers to the gift of faith'
Pope Paul VI, in the Declaration on Christian
Education, Gravissimum Educationis (1965), stated:
… first and foremost the Church offers its
educational service to the poor and … entreats
pastors and all the faithful to spare no sacrifice in
helping Catholic schools fulfil their function in a
continually more perfect way, and especially in
caring for the needs of those who are poor in the
goods of this world or who are deprived of the
assistance and affection of a family or who are
strangers to the gift of Faith.
5
Building 'Faith capital' within our staff
Thomas Sergiovanni argues that the term 'capital' is not
just an economic concept but can also be applied to the
building of human capital within learning communities.
'At root, capital refers to the value of something that
when properly invested produces more of that thing,
which then increases overall value.' (Sergiovanni,
2001:47).
How do we build the Faith capital within our schools and
colleges so that we have at least a critical mass of
colleagues who are committed to the Mission?
6
Appointment of new staff
This is the main opportunity we have to invite into our
community colleagues who provide evidence that they
have the potential to become committed to the Mission.
The reality is that we will not always be able to appoint
'practising' Catholics to every post - but we will often
find that Christians of other traditions and members of
other faiths may have the potential to be able to actively
support the values we promote.
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Primary: Teaching Competence of Catholicity?
We have a teacher who is classed as one of our practising
Catholic teachers, she is leading the sacramental year group but
puts in little effort and I would have to question if Jesus is really
at the heart of what she does and believes?
Out of the two non -Catholic teachers we have, only one has her
own class. Her teaching of RE is outstanding but she does not
practise any faith. Therefore her pedagogical competence could
not be questioned but as for her ability to contribute to and
maintain the Catholicism of the school then surely this could be
an issue.
I know our parish priest who is also the chair of governors was
reluctant to employ her but her teaching convinced him. I don’t
think he would employ another non-Catholic teacher as he wants
to keep the number of Catholic teachers high. However when you
compare her outstanding teaching with the satisfactory teaching
and questionable faith of the teacher I previously described I am
not sure how one could take precedence over the other.
8
Secondary: Results or Catholicity?
I am currently working as a Head of department for ICT
or Leader of ICT based learning is my full title, it is only
my second school and my first Catholic school. I
currently sit on the senior managment team where I
advise on ICT and its impacts on learning within the
school.
I have been at the school for 18 months now and I have
been slightly let down by the school and its approach to
catholicism/christianity there seems to be far more
emphasis to the results that learners achieve first and
foremost.
I do not know if I came to the school with rose coloured
glasses but as a practising Catholic I thought I was
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"coming home".
‘Today young people do not listen
seriously to teachers, but to
witnesses; and if they do listen to
teachers it is because they are
witnesses’
Pope Paul VI, Evangelii nuntiandi, 1976:464
10
Continuing Professional Development AND Formation
CPDF
Appointment is only the start. Our next challenge is to
ensure that there is ongoing Formation to ensure the
potential shown on appointment is fully realised.
"Teachers can never be neutral in support of the
mission of the Catholic school – they either help to
build it or they work against it."
(Father Jim Gallagher SBD)
An INSET day once every few years devoted to
Mission renewal is not enough. Little and often is
more effective
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Renewal of ‘Mission’ Promises
12 each
Within the Easter liturgy we renew our 'Baptismal Promises'. Why not also
year involve our staff in renewing their commitment to our distinctive Mission.
Helping students to make progress
along their Faith Journey
The reality today is that although there is great regional
and phase variation, the % of children and young people
in our schools who come from committed practising
Catholic families is steadily declining. Many of the
children entering our primary schools have little or no
experience of church attendance. Some would argue
that schools should be more rigorous in their admission
procedures and admit only children from committed
Catholic families.
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Admission Policies: Opportunity or Barrier?
From an, admittedly, extreme admissions form…
14
However, the statement in the 1965 Declaration of
Education quoted above was confirmed by the Vatican in
its 1988 publication The Catholic School: "First and
foremost the Church offers its education service to …
those who are far from the faith'. (1988: pp44-45).
So it could also be argued that our admissions
procedures should in fact favour children whose parents
have not carried out their 'primary educator' duties.
15
Whatever the local context of our schools, we must all
recognise that it is increasingly becoming the school's
responsibility to bring the values of the Gospel to many
of our students, including those supported by a
Baptismal certificate.
Pupils are evangelised simply by living among people
whose lives are deeply affected by the values of the
gospel and who endeavour to let these values
permeate the structures that hold their lives together.
Evangelisation is a life-long process; before
catechesis can be given to individuals they must at
least desire to have the mind of
Christ. Many
teachers give catechesis before they have really
attempted to face the pagan reality of their pupil's
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lives. (Purnell, 1985:128)
So what strategies can we adopt to keep the
Faith alive for our students? A few suggestions:
•
Build Communities with Jesus at the Heart
•
Enrich our Assemblies
•
Ensure Morning Prayer involves the students
•
Consider an Acclamation at the start of each lesson
•
Ensure Mass is a true Eucharistic Celebration
•
Build Chaplaincy teams
17
‘Preach the Gospel at all times,
and if necessary, use words.
St Francis of Assisi
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