Simon Says

Two weeks ago was my second professional development day of the school year and the focus was faith. In recent years there has been worry about the state of Catholic education in
Ontario and it has especially been on the minds of people here during our recent provincial election. The question that is often asked is “how are you different than the public high school down the street?” And rightly so. We do need to be different. The parents of our students expect us to be different. We have a call to educate in a different way. We are called to remember the teachings of Jesus in all that we do. As part of our PD today we listened to a talk given by Jean Vanier at a recent conference for Catholic educators. There were a couple of points that he made that resonated with me. First of all, he discussed the purpose of education in the context of today’s world. He said that we need to work together for peace. Secondly, he said we need to educate in a way that does not foster individualism and the competitiveness that gives rise to it. Finally, he said that we need to educate in a way that recognizes that every human person cries out for relationship, asks to be recognized as a human person, and asks will you be my friend? When speaking about the individualism and competitiveness of our society I thought about the very essence of our school system. I once heard a pastor preaching a sermon in which there was a conversation between a student and a wise man. The conversation went something like this:”What are your plans for high school?”"Well I’m going to work very hard, get the best grades, and play football.”"And then what?”"Well then I’m going to go to college, on a football scholarship, and prepare myself for m carreer.”"And then what?”"Well then I start working, get married, buy a house in the suburbs, have a coupl of kids and a dog, and climb the corporate ladder.”"And then what?”"Well then I’ll retire and spend my time pursuing things that interest me, travel, enjoy time with my family.”"And then what?”"And then I guess I’ll die!”“….and then what?”I have asked classes in the past “what is the purpose of our being here in this classroom?” We have discussed many of the practical purposes of education, however, seldom do I hear from students that education is about helping us to become the best (and I mean best in the least competitive way possible) person we are intended to become. It is usually a discussion about preparing for the workforce. I think education is meant to be so much more. Steve Jobs talked about this in his commencement address at Stanford. He said people should learn about what interests them and see where that takes you. We should avoid thinking about school as the things we need to do to get job x. I thought this way. I was going to be an auto mechanic and run my own business. Now I’m a religious education teacher! The Lord surely does work in mysterious ways. As Catholics, we believe that everyone has a vocation, a mission that God is calling us to. Furthermore, we are all called to be transforming agents in the world. I think this is a big part of what Catholic education is supposed to be about. I also think, unfortunately, that many teachers in Catholic schools have forgotten (or never knew) this. They focus on their curriculum, which often times needs clarification in light of Catholic teachings, and forget about how this curriculum should be integrated with our deeply held values as a Catholic community. I think this stems from that whole competitiveness thing that
Vanier was speaking about. There is so much to cover, so many expectations that the ministry of education has laid out, and so much that the world expects from our students to compete in the market place. I don’t know how much of a change we can make, there are realities that we must deal with in this life that conflict with being a follower of Jesus. One of my colleagues used to have a sign on her classroom door that had a picture of the cross and the words “If you’re going to follow me you had better look good on wood.” As Catholic educators I think we need to be prepared to look good on wood if we are going to educate students from our counter-cultural perspective and to help shape society rather than just train students for the competitive job market. Sorry if this post seems a bit rambling, but I sporadically added to this over a busy couple of weeks. Mid-term, report cards, parent teacher interviews, and a bad dose of the flu to boot!

Image of Jean Vanier from speakingoffaith

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