A Vision of Faculty/Staff
Formation
Alice I. Hession
Director of Sponsorship
Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools
www.xbss.org
History
 Members of Religious Communities –
Novitiate and Community Room
 No formation for lay faculty – Osmosis
 “To Teach as Jesus Did”
Issues of Faculty Staff Formation Today
Three perspectives on
Evangelization
 Those up close to us and curious about spirituality but
with little religious experience; now they are in our
culture—Never before
 The faithful who still need life-giving experiences to
reconnect with saying yes to God; “The New
Evangelization” which is on-going adult faith
formation.—Once more with feeling
 Those who have all the words but not the Word, don’t
get the heart of the Good News, need remediation.
Often have been hurt by Christian communities—In
need of healing
NCEA – 2000 - Michael Horan, “Evangelizing the School”
Questions for Reflection
 What do we know about the faith
journeys of faculty/staff?
 What relevance is the personal faith
journey to the role of teacher/staff
member in a Catholic school?
The Courage to Teach
Parker Palmer
“Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges
from one’s inwardness, for better or worse. As
I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto
my students, my subject and our way of being
together. The entanglements I experience in
the classroom are no more or no less that the
convolutions of my inner life. Viewed from this
angle, teaching holds a mirror to my soul. If I
am willing to look at that mirror, and not run
from what I see, I have a chance to gain selfknowledge – and knowing myself is as crucial to
good teaching as knowing my students and my
subject.”
Institutional Needs
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Catholic Identity
Culture of Your School
School Legacy
Goals and Values
“The Religious Dimension of Education
in a Catholic School”
In the 1988 document, it states.. “ From the first
moment that a student sets foot in a Catholic
school, he or she ought to have the impression
of entering a new environment, one illuminated
by the light of faith…The Gospel spirit should be
evident in a Christian way of thought and life
which permeates all facets of the educational
program.”
“The Catholic School” # 43
“The achievement of the specific aim of the Catholic school
depends not so much on subject matter or methodology
as on the people who work there. The extent to which
the Christian message is transmitted through education
depends to a very great extent on the teachers. The
integration of culture and faith is mediated by the other
integration of faith and life in the person of the teacher.
The nobility of the task to which teachers are called
demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only Teacher,
they reveal the Christian message not only by word by
also by every gesture of their behavior. This is what
makes the difference between a school whose education
is permeated by the Christian spirit and one in which
religion is only regarded as an academic subject like any
other.”
Educating Together in
Catholic Schools- # 25
“Catholic educators need a ‘formation of the
heart’: they need to be led to that encounter
with God in Christ which awakens their love
and opens their spirits to others, so that their
educational commitment becomes a
consequence deriving from their faith, a faith
which becomes active through love… It is only
in this way that they can make their teaching
a school of faith, that is to say, a transmission
of the Gospel, as required by the educational
project of the Catholic school.”
 Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing
“Everyone has a spirituality, either a life-giving one or a
destructive one… Spirituality is about being integrated
or falling apart, about being within community or being
lonely, about being in harmony with Mother Earth or
being alienated from her. Irrespective of whether or
not we let ourselves be consciously shaped by any
explicit religious idea, we act in ways that leave us
either healthy or unhealthy, loving or bitter. What
shapes our actions is our spirituality.” …”It is about
what we do with our spirits, our souls.”
 Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing
…“A healthy soul must do two things. It must put
some fire in our veins; keep us energized, vibrant, full
of hope… Second, a healthy soul has to keep us fixed
together. It has to give us a sense of who we are,
where we came from, where we are going, and what
sense there is in all of this.”
Models of Faculty Formation
Two approaches
Formational

Thematic

Formational
Concerned with the faith
journey of individual
Thematic
Concerned with the
values a school holds and
the process by which a
faculty member comes to
accept and espouse those
values
Faculty Formation
 Dimensions of Formation Programs
 Elements of Content for Formation Programs
 Models
 Applications in School Settings
Dimensions of Formation
Elements of Faculty Formation
 Message
 Community
 Service
 Prayer & Liturgy
 The Legacy of your school in
Catholic education
 Moral Formation
 Missionary Perspective
Adapted from Our Hearts Were Burning Within US,
US Catholic Bishops, 1999
Message
- Understanding the basic
teachings of the Catholic
faith
- Importance of Scripture
- Social Justice and the Dignity
of the Human Person
- Current Church teachings
Community
 Growth in personal relationships
 Celebration of gifts, talents, and
life’s blessings
 Recognition and involvement of
family
Service
 Personal service to those in need
 Social action
 Global call
Prayer and Liturgy
 Understanding of role of
liturgy in Catholic life
 Practices of Catholic piety and
devotion
 Shared personal prayer
 Opportunities of contemplation
and meditation
The Unique Tradition
of Your School
 Mission, Vision, Values
 Spirituality
 History
Xaverian Spirit
 Mission, Vision, Values, Calls, Goals,
and Criteria of Xaverian Brothers
Sponsored Schools
 Spirituality of Theodore James Ryken
 Fundamental Principles of the
Xaverian Brothers
 History of Xaverian Educational
Mission
 Xaverian Brothers Today:
Contemplative Stance in the World
and Mission to the Poor and
Marginalized
Moral Formation
Appreciation of Christian values
and moral norms
Christian ethics
Clarification of current
religious and moral
questions in light of faith
Missionary Perspective
Evangelization
Ecumenical dialogue
Global Perspective of Mission
Models of Faculty Formation
Two approaches
Formational

Thematic

Formational
Concerned with the faith
journey of individual
Thematic
Concerned with the
values a school holds and
the process by which a
faculty member comes to
accept and espouse those
values
Formational Approaches
Evangelization Model
 Pre-Evangelization
 Contact
 Evangelization
 Connection to People, History, Value
 Community
 Experiences, Ritual
 Commitment
 Service, Responsibility
Formational Approaches
RCIA/Conversion Model
 Pre-Catechumenate
 Initial Formation
 Catechumenate
 Specific Formation
 Enlightenment
 Ritual
 Mystagogia
 Discipleship
Formational Approaches
Servant Leadership Model
 Awareness
 Transformation
 Leadership
 Stewardship
Thematic Approaches
Teaching as Ministry Model
 The Church’s Call to Ministry in Education
 Ministry to Whom
 My Gifts and Talents in Ministry
 Christian Community
Thematic Approaches
 School Culture
 Selecting
 Conditioning
 Training
 Measuring and Rewarding
 Shared Values
 Legends and Folklore
 Role Models
Culture.com by Neuhauser,
Bender and Stromberg
Thematic Approaches
 Legacy Model
 History of those who have gone before
 Local legacy of Catholic education
 Current vision and values
 Reflection on mission
Thematic Approaches
Xaverian Legacy Model
 Theodore James Ryken and the History of
the Xaverian Brothers
 The Twelve Xaverian Brothers Sponsored
Schools
 Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools Mission, Vision, Values, Calls and Goals
 The Call to be Missionary
 “Reading the Signs of the Times”
Application to School Settings
Faculty Formation Committees
 Membership - 5-10 members including at least one
administrative contact person
 Develop a vision of faculty formation for the school
 Coordinate Elements of Faculty Formation
Message, Community, Service, Liturgy & Prayer, Moral
Formation, Missionary Perspective, Unique tradition of your
school
Sample Structures
1,100 students – 80 faculty
450 Students – 35 Faculty
Formation Committee - 8-10
Formation Committee – 5
including Campus Minister
including Assistant Principal
- Retreat
- Prayer
- Social
- Cultural
- Prayer
- Social
- Service
- Schools for Justice
- Retreat
- Book Discussion
- Mentoring
Sample Structures
650 Students
50 Faculty
Director of Mission - Chaplain to the Faculty
3 Spiritual Directors – outside of school
Retreat – Theme from sessions with
spiritual directors – personal spirituality
Formation Committee - 8-10
- Christian community activities
- Service
Challenges
 Formational Approach
 Unique faith journeys
 Planners – Background in Spirituality and
Personal Development essential
 Thematic Approach
 Academic Orientation
 Integration of personal faith and information
Questions for Reflection/Discussion
 Do you have an operating model, formational or thematic, of
Faculty/Staff Formation in your school?
 What are the specific goals of your program?
 What particular elements have been the focus of your
Faculty/Staff Formation efforts in the past few years? Why? What
elements have not been included? Why?
 How would a model supplement and inform Staff Development
and Faculty Supervision processes?
 Has/will your Board support the Faculty/Staff Formation effort
with sufficient resources?
“The Catholic School”
“To commit oneself to working in accordance with
the aims of a Catholic school is to make a great
act of faith. Only one who has this conviction
and accepts Christ’s message, who has a love for
and understands today’s young people, and who
appreciates what people’s real problems and
difficulties are, will be held to contribute with
courage and even audacity to the progress of
building up a Catholic school.”