Final Report from the 2014 Catholic Education Symposium
November 15 2014
Michael Marien
• To reflect on the enhancement of our schools’
Catholic identity.
• To grow forward
from “good” to “great”.
•Catholic Educational
Leaders
•Catholic school staffs
•Parishes, especially
parish priests and PPC’s
• Board, administrator or school staff
retreats
• PD days with a focus on mission and
vision
• Staff meetings with embedded p.d.
• PAC’s, Student Council, PPC’s
• Strategic planning and budgeting at
local, district and provincial levels
• Parish-School liaison and committees
• Personal prayer and reflection
• Part One: The Symposium
• Part Two: The Five Marks of a School’s
Catholic Identity
• Part Three: A Proposed Catholic School
Assessment Tool
• Over 200 delegates representing Alberta,
Saskatchewan
• Presentations:
• Dr. Reginald Bibby
• Archbishop Michael Miller
• The work of the delegates
• Facilitated by Sandy Prather
• Canada is polarized, not secular
• Many “drop-in” but are not entirely
“dropping out”
• “As the Roman Catholic Church goes, so
goes organized religion”
• Time for:
• A mindset change…
• Exploring affinities
• “Restructuring” identity patterns
• Better ministry
Five Marks
Of The
Authentic Catholic School
Six Assessment Standards
• Reflect on the Five Marks
• Provide exemplars from their
experience of Catholic schools in
their province/territory
• Express the challenges
• Suggest strategies to meet those
challenges
#1. GROUNDED In A Christian
Anthropology
•Grace builds on Nature
•Schools for the human
person and of human
persons
•Jesus Christ is the
center of our
enterprise, not an addon. Faith permeates
curriculum
#2. IMBUED with a
Catholic World View
•A Catholic atmosphere “in
every nook and cranny”
•The Physical Environment
reflects tradition, worship
and sacrament
•A faith-filled climate
#3. ANIMATED by a Faith
Infused Curriculum
• Inspired and guided by the Gospel
• Love for Wisdom and Truth (critical
thinking, life-long learning)
• Truth can be grasped- we can know
our duties to God, self and neighbor
• Students should learn to transform
culture in the light of the Gospel.
• Faith, culture and life are brought
into harmony.
• Being in Relationship with Jesus
Christ
• In word and action
• In a lived experience of
community
• Nourished by the sacramental
life of the Church
• Open, welcoming and servant
disciples.
#5. SHAPED by a
Spirituality of Communion
•The school as community
first, institution second
•Four ways
• Teamwork (teachers, parents,
clergy)
• Cooperation between educators and
bishops
• Student and teacher interactions
• Physical environment Prayer and
liturgical life
• More time was required to process and internalize
the five marks
• All five marks can be found a single type of exemplar
• There was a “frequency hierarchy” in exemplars for
the five marks:
• Faith Infused Curriculum:385
• Spirituality of Communion:377
• Gospel Witness:312
• Christian Anthropology:268
• Catholic World View:232
•Exemplars
•Challenges
•Strategies
•Based on the
Five Marks and
the Challenges
identified by
the delegates
•See page 25
• Pages 38-41
• Five Marks
• Standards
• Mission and Vision
• Incarnate Faith life
• Curriculum
• Staff
• Community
• Benchmarks
“Catholic education is one of
the most important challenges
for the Church, currently
committed to new
evangelization in an historical
and cultural context that is
undergoing constant
transformation.”
Pope Francis
February 13, 2014