Catholic Education A cross

the Curriculum

How to give Catholic identity

to all subjectsWeb Edition

Introduction

• Assistant Principal of Curriculum at St. Charles Catholic High School

• Contributing Writer and Consultant to Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division

Little Jonny Goes to Catholic School

What do you see?

What does it mean to do Catholic education across the curriculum?

• Understanding your role as a teacher in a Catholic school can be as subtle and at the same time be as significant as the difference that you see in the picture.

• Doing Catholic education across the curriculum is an old way of thinking that has come back in a new way.

Part I

Understanding the Curriculum as

SACRED

The Story of Ego and Spirit

Catholic Education Across the Curriculum

Invites you to approach education from

Spirit

not ego.

Does creation reveal God’s love to you? CCC 288

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. (John

1:1&3)

All of creation is the curriculum of human

inquiry.

Past, present and future creation comes into being

through Christ.

Christ is the principle of creation and redemption. CCC 792

Catholic education understands that the mystery of God is being revealed in its curriculum.

We come to know the artist through the art.

Through the study of each of our disciplines we encounter

the mystery of God.

Each of us are invited to do “Catholic education” across the

curriculum.

As Catholic educators we are invited to help our students

see…

their relationship with the world, their relationship with others,

and their purpose in life as

sacred endeavors.

Part II

The Invitation to EachTeacher in a Catholic School

Does this mean I have to add teaching religion to my curriculum?

•No! • That is the job of the religion / theology

teachers of your school. • They are the “catechist” of the school.

Broken Escalator

• What Happens when the escalator brakes?

Search UTube

We can support each other in our mission as a Catholic school.

• A CATECHIST is someone who’s teaching is specific to the topics of religion/theology, – Bible, doctrine, moral law, prayers, sacraments

Doing Catholic education across the curriculum has a broader application so as to support the mission of a Catholic school.

Catechesis

• Catechesis is from a Greek word meaning “to echo,”– as in to echo the specific teachings and

practices of the Catholic faith.

Doing Catholic education across the curriculum supports the “religious

education” of the school.

• Religious is from a Latin word meaning “to bind or tie together,” – as in to unite together in order to make

stronger,– as opposed to all wondering aimlessly

without purpose or meaning.• Education comes from a Latin word

meaning “to lead out.”

Supporting Catholic religious education means…

• As Catholic school teachers we use the virtues and values of the Catholic faith

• to lead students out • in a way that unites them to their

greater purpose – God, Church, Mission.

Brick Layer

Brief History of Religious Education

What is the First Article of Faith?

• God created everything seen and unseen.• Using faith and reason, creation is the worlds

first religious educator.• “Creation is revealed as the first step towards

this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love.” CCC 288

Pre-Modern

• The pre-modern had a one world view under God’s creation of the seen and the unseen.

• The world was a manifestation of God’s Spirit.

• “Teachers” are religious leaders of the community.

Modern

• Modernity proposes a split between – the spiritual and material world

• Spirit becomes the ghost in the machine, i.e. Wizard of Oz.

– the human and natural world.• The natural world is something that humans

must enforce its control over.• The natural world’s role as sacred revelation

is diminished.• The natural world becomes the “wild”-erness

rather than the sacred home of humans.

Post-Modern

• Because of the Judeo-Christian commitment to faith and reason

• and science’s move away from the Newtonian mechanistic view,

• there has been a reconciliation between religion and science / faith and reason / sacred and secular literature / religious ritual and the arts.

Wall-E as a Catholic Educator: A Parable for Our Times

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As Catholic educators we are invited to…

- disturb, - expand, - transform, and- grow

our students so that they may become aware of their relationship to the world, each other, and their purpose.

The Call to be a Religious Educator in a Catholic School

Goes beyond being an instructor.

It is a call to be a “Teacher.”–What does Mary Magdalene call Jesus

after the resurrection?

The Invitation to Be a Catholic Educator

• Uses learning to transform the person,instead of simply transmitting information.

The Invitation to Be a Catholic Educator

• Is focused on teaching the studentsNOT a subject.

The Invitation to Be a Catholic Educator

Understands the world as a communion of subjects

rather than as

a collection of objects.

The Invitation to Be a Catholic Educator

Sees learning as a dynamic co-creative process

rather than

as a passive collection of information.

Part III

Bringing Catholic Education Into Your Curriculum:

Helping Students to See with Their

Spirit

• Look what happen to Mr. FedEx.

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Fedex - Cast Away Commercial.flv

Three Areas Where You Introduce

Catholic EducationInto Your Curriculum

• Cosmic Awareness• Social Awareness• Spiritual Awareness

First: Cosmic Awareness /Understanding the World Around Us

• To call students into awareness of their relationship to the world.

• (How) Does your curriculum awaken your students to their relationship to the world around them?

Second: Social Awareness

• To call students into awareness of their relationships with other people.

• (How) Does your curriculum awaken your students to their relationships with other people?

Third: Spiritual Awareness

• To call students into awareness of their purpose for being.

• (How) Does your curriculum awaken your students to their purpose?

Catholic Curriculum Design

• Incorporate religious education questions and discussion into lesson components.– Big Idea or Essential Questions– Discussion points for Catholicity connection– Assessments• Design questions to assess understanding your

disciplines concepts, content, or skills while at the same time making the Catholicity connection.

Sample Social Studies Lesson on Egypt

• Essential question: Is the U.S. the Egypt of our day? (Compare and contrast theocracy to democracy?)

• Catholicity Discussion: What is the role of religion in government?

• Assessment: Compare and contrast Egypt’s theocracy and the U.S. democracy.

Sample Essay

• This student relates types of numbers to an understanding of God’s creation.

Check out a school system that has a well developed Catholic curriculum - Saskatchewan

Catholic Curriculum Online.

• http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/cco/

Three Categories of Catholic Education Curriculum

• Word• Works

• Worship

Word – beliefs

Sacred Word Questions

• Word type questions have to do with beliefs.–Who is God?–What is creation?• Why was it created?

–Why did God create humans? • Who are we?

–What is the meaning and purpose of life?

Works – Moral teachings

Sacred Works Questions

• Works type questions have to do with how someone or societies act or live.– Is an action right or wrong?–What value does this action hold?– How will an action benefit or hurt others

or other parts of God’s creation?– How does the curriculum lend itself to

the Gospel call to justice?– Is God calling me to act one way or the

other?

Worship - prayers, rituals, or liturgical celebrations

Sacred Worship Questions

• Worship type questions have to do with prayers, rituals, and liturgical celebrations.–What are we asking of God and our world,

and what is God and our world asking of us?– How do we show gratitude to God and for

creation?–What experiences shape our world or

signify passage to a new world?–What significant events in life are recalled

through celebrations or memorials?

Questions to Avoid

• Do not ask questions that are meant specifically for religion/theology class.– Don’t ask…

• Can you recite a prayer?• Can you list the 10 commandments?• What is your relationship with God?

– Do ask…• How is learning math like learning to pray?• How is a character of a story supporting or breaking

God’s commandments?• What affect does science have on your relationship

with God?

Sample Questions

• Sample questions are meant to prime the pump.

• Use your expertise in your curriculum to create good questions for discussion.

The “Spirit” of Language Arts

• Created "in the image of God," man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. CCC 2501

Language Arts “Word” Questions

• (Grammar) Using the rules for writing a complete sentence, describe the characteristics of God.

• (Literature) How is this novel describing what it means to be human?

Language Arts “Works” Questions

• (Grammar) How would you relate the rules for grammar to the 10 commandments?

• (Literature) Compare and contrast a character in literature to the ideal Christian life.

Language Arts “Worship” Questions

• How can the self-expression of journalism be important to spiritual development?

• Where can you find the paschal mystery, life-death-resurrection, expressed in literature?

The “Spirit” of Math

• “…there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. CCC 159

• Math is one expression of our human gift in the art of reasoning.

• Math holds one of the primary keys to understanding the order of God’s universe.

Math “Word” Questions

• What concept in math describes how or why God created the world?

• What concept or principle in math helps describe who God is to you?

Math “Works” Questions

• Think of a math equation that has rules, procedures, or concepts that can be applied to living our life?

• Where would survival on the planet be today without our human ability to do math?

Math “Worship” Questions

• How can doing math be considered a form of prayer?

• What is a key formula or principle of math that should be celebrated because of the creative opportunities that it has provided?

The “Spirit” of Science

• “The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.” CCC 159

• “God did NOT throw dice to create the universe.” Einstein

The “Spirit” of Science

• Post-modern science rejects the modernist notion of “survival of the fittest.”

• Instead, it embraces the Gospel concept of “survival of the most loving.”

Search UTube for Being Present by Brian Swimme.

Science Word Question

• How has science contributed to your understanding of what place humans hold in the universe?

Science Works Questions

• Describe something you have learned from science that if more people knew or understood would help to make a better world.

• What would be the wrong uses of science?

Science Worship Question

• There have been significant discoveries made in science. Which one do you think has made the greatest impact on our lives?

The “Spirit” of Social Studies

• "The Church. . . believes that the key, the center and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master.“ CCC 450

The “Spirit” of Social Studies

• If God is master of history, there is always a sacred lesson in the story of the world. We should no more neglect the stories of our planet anymore than we should neglect our stories of faith.

• Characteristic of free societies is to take the study of history and social systems very seriously.

Social Studies Word Questions

• Do you believe God acts in history in some way? Why or why not?

• What do specific events tell us about our human condition?

Social Studies Works Questions

• Why is the knowledge and understanding of social studies important to the Christian mission?

• Take a significant event in history and relate it to the Gospel message.

Social Studies Worship Questions

• What event in history, outside of Church and Scripture, should we be most thankful?

• What current event do you think most deserves our prayers?

Sample Questions for Other Disciplines

Sample Word Questions

• Foreign Language: What characteristic about foreign language tells us something about God?

• Physical Education: If God was a sport or a type of physical activity, which would God be?

• Fine Arts: What is the relationship between God creating the universe and any artistic creation of your own?

• Home Ec: What does good nutrition say about what God wants for human beings?

Sample Works Questions

• Foreign Language: How does the study of foreign languages help us to fulfill our role to live good Christian

• Physical Education: How does learning a sport help with living the Christian life?

• Fine Arts: What do the disciplines of the arts teach us about living the Christian life?

• Home Ec: Why is proper nutrition an important responsibility for Christians?

Sample Worship Questions

• Foreign Language: Why is learning a foreign language like learning to pray?

• Physical Education: In what ways could exercise be considered a prayer.

• Fine Arts: In what ways do the arts give expression to our spiritual lives?

• Home Ec: In what way is food considered more than just nourishment?

Recommended Book

• Sacred Universe by Thomas Berry

Recommended Book

• The Universe is a Green Dragon by Brian Swimme

Recommended Book

• Faith, Science, and Reason by Christopher Baglow

Contact Information

• dtriche@archdiocese-no.org or

• charlie_1104@yahoo.com

• 985-653-3809• Go to http://spiritualdiscovery.wordpress.com

to get PowerPoint.

The End

Special Thanks to …

• Faculty and Staff of St. Charles Catholic High School

Special Thanks to …

• Our Sunday Visitor