Final Report from the 2014 Catholic Education Symposium

November 15 2014

Michael Marien

Purpose of the Final Report

• To reflect on the enhancement of our schools’ Catholic identity.

• To grow forward from “good” to “great”.

Who Should Use this Guide?

•Catholic Educational Leaders

•Catholic school staffs

•Parishes, especially parish priests and PPC’s

How might it be used?•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

The Final Report

•Part One: The Symposium

•Part Two: The Five Marks of a School’s Catholic Identity

•Part Three: A Proposed Catholic School Assessment Tool

Symposium 2014

•Over 200 delegates representing Alberta, Saskatchewan

• Presentations:

• Dr. Reginald Bibby

• Archbishop Michael Miller

• The work of the delegates

• Facilitated by Sandy Prather

Dr. Reginald Bibby

• 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

Archbishop Michael Miller

Five Marks Of The

Authentic Catholic School

Six Assessment Standards

The Work of the Delegates•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 add-on. 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.

#4 Sustained by Gospel Witnesses

•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

Some notes about the Symposium data… (pg 16)

•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

Response of the Symposium Delegates

•Exemplars

•Challenges

•Strategies

Reflection Questions

•Based on the Five Marks and the Challenges identified by the delegates

•See page 25

Catholic School Identity Assessment Tool

•Pages 38-41

•Five Marks

•Standards

•Mission and Vision

• Incarnate Faith life

• Curriculum

• Staff

• Community

•Benchmarks

Thoughts, comments, questions

“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

Thank you!