The 5Ws – A Model for Authentic Catholic Schools Kevin Quigley Director of Education January 2015...

The 5Ws – A Model for The 5Ws – A Model for Authentic Catholic Authentic Catholic

Schools Schools Kevin Quigley

Director of EducationJanuary 2015

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Based on the 5 Ministries of the Based on the 5 Ministries of the Early Christian ChurchEarly Christian Church

A Welcoming Community

A Welfare Community

A Witnessing Community

A Word of God Community

A Worshipping Community

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Model applicable to any Christian Community…

school, parish, diocese, religious order/community, the Church etc

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Perennial value of the Model? -

It goes back to the Roots of Christianity to Recover, Rediscover and Reenergise us with the vitality and attraction of the original dream of Jesus Christ, of the Reign of God, of the Kingdom for the 21st Century.

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The Model in Education speak

Song 5W’s Ministry Leading/Teaching

Come Welcome Koinonia Build Community

Walk Welfare Diakonia Serve

Work Witness Marturia Being and Doing

Talk Word Kerygma Teach

Pray Worship Leitourgia Celebrate

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Welcome Welcome Luke 9:11…the Model…again!

Romans 15:7 – the challenge of the Model!

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Welcome – In Early Christian communities – of ALL!

Neither Greeks, nor Romans, slaves nor freeman. As a Community of EQUAL DISCIPLES.Key elements of Hospitality, Greeting and Welcome.

Welcome Welcome

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Catholic – meaning – Kata houlus i.e.

Welcoming EACH and ALL

Welcome Welcome

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Implication of each The absolute value of the person

- As made in the image and likeness of God- Unconditionally loved by God- Reverence for the person

Welcome Welcome

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Implication of All - ?

‘Here comes everybody’ - James Joyce

…A radical inclusivity…at best!

Who is my neighbour?

Native American Story

Welcome Welcome

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Implications of Welcome for Teachers ? –

e.g. What is the climate I feel of your class(es)?

What type of learning space do you create for welcome?

Welcome Welcome

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A space with openness, boundaries and hospitality? ?

Welcome Welcome

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Welcome Welcome What would openess look like? E.g. Removing barriers and blockages Removing fears and inadequacies Inspiring imagination and creativityInspiring confidence and capability

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Saint Augustine said one meaning of Catholic was

‘To be OPEN to the TRUTH whenever it can be found!’

Welcome Welcome

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What about boundaries? E.g.

That give security and structure That give safety and self worthThat value trial and error and starting again! That nourish a zest for learning

Welcome Welcome

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Not repressive boundaries that breed –

Compliance and docility Shallow learning and rote performanceA reductionist acquisitive ‘banking’

concept of education – ‘the vessel to be filled’ mentality.

Welcome Welcome

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What of Hospitality?

i.e. To create learning spaces that are

Receptive to the voice of the learnerBased on an ‘ethic of critique, care and

justice’ RJ Starrett

Welcome Welcome

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Over to you …

In pairs discuss some/all of the following

Welcome Welcome

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1. Pupils learn best when …2. The climate for learning in my lessons is …3. My daily welcome to my pupils is …4. What I want most for my pupils is …5. When I am teaching at my best I am like …

Welcome Welcome

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Early Christian communities were committed to

- Welfare and service of human needs –

e.g. Acts of Apostles – care of the poor, the widow and the orphan etc.

Welfare Welfare

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What does service to human needs mean in an educational context ? E.g.

Intellectual Social Emotional Physical Psychological Spiritual

A BIG ask!

Welfare Welfare

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How do I meet these needs as a teacher?

Welfare Welfare

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- By addressing 3 Questions

o“What is it to be human?”o“How did we become so?”o“How can we become more so?”[Jerome Bruner]

Welfare Welfare

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Remember! – to go back to our Anthropology i.e. our understanding of what it is to be a person?

- Made in God’s image and likeness- With a divine origin and an eternal destiny- Image of the Trinity posits the person as a

relational being

Welfare Welfare

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- Or put it in a different non – theological way as a question

“What are the foundational qualities of a person?”

- that can inform a teacher’s approach to meeting the needs of pupils?

Welfare Welfare

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R.J Starrett suggests the following qualities –

Transcendence Autonomy Connectedness

Welfare Welfare

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How to teach for Transcendence ?

By inspiring and encouraging the search for excellence

By going beyond the ordinary, beyond expectation

By raising pupils to distinction

Welfare Welfare

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Welfare Welfare By nurturing and developing a sense of

being part of something bigger

something greater By eliciting a sense of otherness, of mystery, of beyondness in the pupil. - Of a God who is the BACKDROP to and Foreground of all life

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How to teach for Autonomy ?

- Through time and opportunities- With your support and challenge- Within a community of learners

To enable pupils to CLAIM their own lives. To be the person they were born to be – a

life time’s journey.

Welfare Welfare

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Autonomy –

“Each person has only one vocation…to find the way to oneself”

Herman Hesse German Author

Task of the teacher is for a time to accompany someone on their “journey to wholeness”.

Welfare Welfare

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How to teach for Connectedness ? - To foster, encourage and develop positive

relationships- To nurture relational ways of learning and

of learning as a social process- To encourage pupils to go beyond self

absorption, self indulgence, narcissism and self-obsession.

Welfare Welfare

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Connectedness - Rather to encourage pupils in recognising

and valuing that

“I am part of every living thingAnd everything is part of me

We are all created of this sacred earth So everything’s our sacred family”

[Kevin Gilbert, Aboriginal Poet]

Welfare Welfare

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Connectedness –

Connectedness ultimately has to do with – living a spiritual life i.e. a life connected to and integrated within the very ground of our Being, within Ultimate Reality.

Welfare Welfare

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Connectedness –

Hence to vital importance of teachers taking pupils’ spirituality seriously as pivotal to Welfare and addressing their needs for formation as persons.

Welfare Welfare

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And Formation –

Welfare in a Catholic educational context is about “forming people who will be lovers of true freedom, who will make their judgements in The light and Truth”

Welfare Welfare

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Formation as

“A lifelong process of seeking, clarifying, deepening and raising awareness of what it means To Be Truly Human”

Welfare Welfare

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The role of the Teacher therefore is

- To accompany, to journey alongside the pupil for a time, on their journey to wholeness.

- To be a companion- To be the Creator of a space in which

a community of Truth is practised.

Welfare Welfare

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- To be a model of humanity evidencing all that is best in being human

- To seek to meet their needs by giving of our BEST SELVES! – In “turning the soul of the learner to the good, the true and the Beautiful” [Plato].

Welfare Welfare

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Over to you!

In pairs please discuss some of the following

- How do you try to overcome barriers to learning in your pupils? Examples?

- How do you discourage an individualistic “I, Me, Mine” mentality and encourage a “we, together, mutuality”

Welfare Welfare

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- How do you build community in your class, in your lessons ? Examples ?

- How do you nurture an outward-facing mentality, broadening horizons and raising expectations ?

- How do you take children’s spirituality seriously ? Be specific!

Welfare Welfare

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Witness – What we stand for ?

School/College as a Witnessing Community to a Catholic Vision and Mission for Education as integral to the Church's overall Pastoral and Evangelising Mission (To proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, as did the Early Church).

Witness Witness

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To a God centred Way of Life To God’s Unconditional Love for All of

Creation To the Life, Story, Vision, Teaching and

Tradition of the Risen Jesus Christ and of those who follow Him.

WitnessWitness

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To God as the backdrop and foreground of a Curriculum for Life and as the Author of Truth

To a ‘God-in-all-things’ approach to educationTo a “God in the bits and pieces of everyday”

approach to everything in school/college. To learning about God’s world and our

stewardship of it with a “Reality is Sacred and the Sacred is Real” approach to learning.

Witness Witness

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“All branches of knowledge are connected together, because the subject matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself, as being The Acts and Works of The Creator”

Blessed John Henry Newman

Witness Witness

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To a deeper way of seeing, being, doing and knowing

To developing “a holy curiosity” [Albert Einstein] in our pupils/students

i.e. …

Witness Witness

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“Not only to questionBut to question the questioningNot only to intellectualizeBut to ponder the intellectualising Not only to learn But to move to what lies both within and behind the learning”

[Derek Webster]

Witness Witness

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As a challenge to a secular perspective on Education

As a challenge to dualism within some versions of Christian Education

“We must learn to penetrate things and find God there”

[Meiser Erckhart 13th Century Dominican Mystic]

Witness Witness

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Witness Witness To Values for Life – Gospel Values

e.g. JusticeCompassionServiceCommunityForgivenessFreedomPeace

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Values for Life informing and permeating all policies and

procedures and are central to the LIVED EXPERIENCE of the

school community.

Witness Witness

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Key Words/Phrases –

1.Deeply humanizing Values – for Life2.God as backdrop and foreground3.Unconditional love4.Reality as Sacred, Sacred is Real5.Learning about God’s World6.Deeper ways of knowing 7.Mission Statement

Witness Witness

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How well we are doing as a Witnessing Community ?

In pairs discuss some of the following:1.Does a God centred view of life permeate

our curriculum and all our provision ? 2.How do we portray Christ at the Centre of

your school community ? 3.If you were asked ‘What does this school

stand for’ … How would you reply ?

Witness Witness

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What are the dominant values within the school community ? … Explain please ?

What does the school witness to the outside community ? How do you know ?

How does the school witness to the beliefs and values of Catholicism befitting its 21st Century context ?

Witness Witness

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The Early Christian communities taught and preached the Word of God, the Good News of Salvation through the Risen Christ

- They EVANGELISED- They DIALOGUED - They Enculturized the Gospel in the

Societies they inhabited.

Word Word

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- But they were the Word of God- They lived the Word in everyday life- They were Models, Icons of Good

News - They were Living Logos!

Word Word

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4 Big Questions for Teachers

1.How does God’s Word express itself today? 2.How does God communicate with us today? 3.How does God reveal Godself to us today? 4.What does this mean for my Teaching in a Catholic School?

Word Word

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Word – to help answer these God’s Living Word and Self expression is

revealed through

1.The ordinariness of Life…yours and mine. 2.Creation and the Mysteries of Life and of

the Universe 3.Human history and Cultures4.The major World Faiths

Word Word

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Word of God revealed through: The Person of Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate The history and Traditions of the Christian communities Sacred Scripture and Church Tradition and TeachingKnowledge, the Pursuit of Truth and the Search for Wisdom.

Word Word

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Word of God – for Teachers to consider: “All branches of knowledge are connected

together because the subject matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself as being the Acts and Works of the Creator”

-offers a Catholic perspective on the Curriculum that a Catholic School should promote

Word Word

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Word and Wisdom

The Search for Wisdom? – the ultimate aim of Education?

Wisdom as a “deeper way of knowing; the art of living in rhythm with your soul, your live and the divine”

John O’Donohue

Word Word

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Wisdom – as the original and highest purpose of education in both Hebrew and Christian traditions. •A 2000 year old Christian Tradition of Education •Relevance and Appropriateness Today ? •A Curriculum for Life – i.e. Learning what it is to be Human and about one’s place in the world.

Word Word

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Word and Wisdom “Stewards of the Mysteries of God” [Cor 4:1]

Bigger Picture Education verses a narrow mechanistic one.

“Knowledge without WisdomIs a load of b…ooks On the back of an ass” [Japanese Proverb]

Word Word

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Word Word “Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire!” [W.B. Yeats]

“the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited” [Plutarch]

You and Your school as a Resource if Wisdom in our current context ?

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Word Word A Challenge to the School…to embody the Word of God? …to be Living Logos? i.e. The Word in action through us? …to be icons of Christ? …to model the Vision and Values of being a Catholic Christian Community? …to witness to a God-centred education in the very ordinariness of school life?

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An important reflectionOur being part of a Bigger Narrative viz “We are each a letter in God’s BookLike a letter we have no meaning on our own But joined together in families, communities

and nations We form sentences and paragraphs And become part of God’s Story” [Jonathan Sachs, Times Sept 24th 2011]

Word Word

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Over to you – please discuss some of the following How well are we doing as a Word of God community?1. Does our curriculum present God as the backdrop and

foreground of all learning? 2. Is there a coherent rationale that does justice to a Word of

perspective on the curriculum? 3. Do we encourage a spirit of search and enquiry, creativity

and imagination in addressing the Big Questions across the Curriculum?

4. What does high quality R.E. look like and how reflective is it of an informed up to date Catholic approach?

5. How does the school/college community witness to a Word of God approach to its everyday realities and lived experiences?

Word Word

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6. How do you encourage the Pupils to be self reflective?

7. What priority do you give to e.g. mindfulness, meditation or quiet prayer for your pupils?

8. What place, if any, does wisdom, play in your approach to Teaching and Learning?

Word Word

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Early Christian Church originally in small groups in household prayed and ritualised the presence of the Risen Christ amongst them in the Breaking of Bread and prayers, readings, psalms.

Worship Worship

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Their Eucharist and Christian Liturgy were inextricably linked to JUSTICE, concern for the poor

Theirs was a Worship in Action, a Faith in Action

Not Holy Joes or Josephine's!Nor withdrew as hermits etc

Worship Worship

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Worship explained as:

A genuine disposition to Worship sees the World

- As Holy as the Book of God- As a Healing Mystery- Full of Divine Messages- And responds to this Awareness and

Awakening in a Spirit of Worship

Worship Worship

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A Worshipping Community

As one in which the Centrality of God is given its proper status in various forms of Worship e.g. Praise, Petition, Thanksgiving, Adoration, Meditation, Contemplation.

In a School setting the following need to be kept in mind in offering Worship of Quality..

Worship Worship

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Worship – Guidelines

1.Appropriate, Relevant and Inclusive2.Planned prepared and resourced drawing

on a variety of media and materials3.Given due time, space, opportunity, status

and proper conditions4.Emphasis also on Community and

Belonging

Worship Worship

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Worship – Guidelines

Key Words/Phrases1.Prayer not Performance2.Participation not Passivity3.Creative not Constrained4.Flexible not Flippant 5.Tradition not Traditionalism6.Languaged not Mumbojumbo

Worship Worship

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Worship – Guidelines

Key Words/Phrases1.Reverence not Restraint2.Living not Laden3.God-graced not Goddamawful 4.Enriching not Emasculating 5.Silent not Sullen

Worship Worship

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How are we doing as a Worshipping Community in school?

Do we review our policy on prayer and worship on a regular basis and evaluate its impact and effectiveness throughout the school?

Do we have a prayer core at the heart of the school?

Worship Worship

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How are we doing as a Worshipping Community in school?

Are our opportunities for worship well planned and led, pupil centred, creative and relevant?

Are our staff well trained and supported in furthering the prayer and worship life of the school.

Worship Worship

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How are we doing as a Worshipping Community in school?

Do we actively encourage support and develop our pupils to take leadership roles in prayer and worship?

Do we allocated dedicated funding and resourcing in order to develop prayer and worship?

Worship Worship

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Worship Worship How are we doing as a Worshipping

community in school?

Are pupils introduced throughout their time in school to the various traditions and forms of prayer within the Catholic Christian traditions?

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Concluding RemarksConcluding Remarks5W’s Framework5W’s Framework::

Welcome, Witness, Welcome, Witness, Welfare, Word, Welfare, Word,

Worship Worship

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The 5Ws Framework touches the very heart of Catholic Christian Tradition as a vital evolving source of God’s ongoing Self Disclosure and Love

Concluding Remarks Concluding Remarks

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The 5Ws Framework gives:

Identity, Meaning, Purpose, Direction, Coherence and living to all we do in Catholic Education as part of our tradition as befits the needs and demands of an authentic Catholic Education at the service of the Church’s Mission to the world.

Concluding Remarks Concluding Remarks

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A Tradition to: Cherish Critique Contribute to Communicate Celebrate “A treasure of truth and a peace to share”[Jean Vanier]A Resource of Wisdom for our 21st Century World

Concluding Remarks Concluding Remarks

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The ultimate aim of Catholic Education and the role of the teacher within it is that

children and young people

“Attain the fullness of Being, the fullness of God Himself”

Ephesians 3:19

Concluding Remarks Concluding Remarks

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