CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND THEIR VALUE

ACW Survey on Catholic Schools and their value

In March 2008 ACW prepared a brief survey on Catholic Schools and
their value. This was sent to Members of the Association and available
for completion on the internet to visitors to the ACW website.
It was never intended to be wide in scope or large enough to form
anything other than an informative sample of views. Although it was
clearly intended for Catholics and principally for parents and teachers
in the UK, it was open, and responses from pupils, governors and others
including some overseas contributors were received. Some of these
comments follow.

The questions and the statistical summary of the answers is shown
at the end in Appendix1.

The comments

Many people responded with strong agreement to our questions, without
specific comments, including two priests and a Chairman of Governors
at a comprehensive school.
Perhaps the most enthusiastic response we received came from a pupil
who reported that her Catholic school was ‘a very positive factor’
with regard to faith and to a personal sense of right and wrong. The
respondent is at school in America.
Many older people also spoke with enthusiasm and gratitude of the
education they received. A lady, educated by nuns wrote that although
they were strict and the discipline sometimes seemed harsh, the effects
were good. Attendance at daily Mass was compulsory, but respect and
consideration for others were taught and they, as children, were guided
into sharing with others, for all of which this lady is ‘eternally
grateful’.
A retired nurse ‘received excellent teaching at all levels’ in her
convent and a grandparent wrote that his children and grandchildren
have received education of the highest standard. There was no bullying
in the schools and respect for teachers and priests was instilled
in the children. A parent ‘gained a lot’ from her time at a convent
school; she learned a deep respect for the faith and for others and
their values. A parent of four described her children’s schools as
‘doing a tremendous job and endorsing parents’ teaching of the faith,
while often being ‘at odds ‘ with most of society’. This parent recognises
greater difficulty in not being swayed by contemporary society than
even twenty years ago. A governor writes of an excellent primary school.
Another respondent, who has no children, wrote of the convent she
attended in the fifties, where she had ‘time to think, read and pray…
It was religious and kind.’
A grandmother and her daughter spoke of the splendid use of the penny
catechism that they experienced. ‘Most of us were theologians at the
age of ten!’ The Q and A formula they described as eminently suitable.
Children learned it and grew into the understanding of it, as they
matured. In more recent years, ‘knowledge of the faith has been lost
and with it much of the faith itself.’
A retired teacher had taught both at a monastic boarding school and
a non-Catholic boarding school and found that the influence of the
monks gave the boys ‘a firmer base and greater self-confidence in
their faith than the more compartmentalised teaching in the non-Catholic
school and made them better able to cope with modern, secular society.’
A teacher has found that Catholic private schools can more easily
teach as they want to. There are many restrictions on teaching in
the state sector. He/she wonders if it would be better for the Church
to stop running state senior schools. A priest expressed similar ideas,
which would rely on strong teaching in parishes for good formation.
A parent described an excellent primary school, close to the parish
church in the late 70s and 80s. Now religious education in secondary
schools is tacked on to other subjects and is ‘feeble’. Another teacher
had taught ‘backward boys’ until 1971 and she remembered how much
‘they loved singing the Latin at Mass’.
A number of parents wrote that in practice schools are often not the
partners of parents and in any case should only be junior partners.
Some felt that schools ‘side-line’ parents. Some people replied negatively
to our statement of the importance of having crucifixes and statues
of saints in schools.
Three comments were clearly very personal, from their descriptions
of the ways in which their own or their child’s Catholic schooldays
had been unhappy.
Many more had observed with deep disappointment the weakness of religious
education in schools, which in some cases undermined the parents’
efforts and concerns. Some had not realised the inadequacy of the
teaching until their children had left school. Some spoke of the need
for believing and practising teachers, for strong leadership and for
good teaching schemes. There was strong criticism of sex education
programmes and materials, which often run counter to the teaching
of the Church, which is then presented merely as one choice among
many. Only Catholics should teach human development courses, so that
Catholic teaching on sex and family life would be upheld. A teacher
with long experience remarked that teachers who seek to pass on the
faith can be pilloried as reactionary, ‘persecuted by senior management
and treated with disdain by diocesan schools’ commissions.’ Some parents
felt that many Catholic schools tried to be as like secular schools
as possible. A parent and part-time teacher pointed out that children
often do not practise the faith and that teachers are often lapsed
and therefore hate the Church.
One parent had found that schools could actually undermine parents’
teaching. Since Vatican II there have been no decent text books, a
number of people reported.
Certain respondents said that they ‘home-schooled’ because of dissatisfaction
with the schools they knew, which they felt lacked a Catholic ethos.
One parent, however, commented on the need for children to see the
practice of the faith from people other than their parents.
One former educator of adults and children hoped for more integration
between primary schools and parish. He/she would like to see foundations
to promote inculturation, to include information about local saints.
For older children, there should be teaching of ‘political literacy’,
for instance, teaching on the principle of subsidiarity, deriving
from Pius XI.
A retired headteacher, now working in a diocesan education service
would like to see education in relationships, adult to adult, adult
to child, children to children to reveal Catholic identity.
Several people maintained that Catholic schools did not bolster self-confidence
and self discipline. A contemplative nun rejected our hope that the
Catechism of the Catholic Church would be the bench mark for Catholic
religious teaching, on the grounds that it used ‘exclusive language’.
She recommended retreats as the best way of religious formation.
A school governor and Family and Youth Court magistrate pointed out
the difficulty in filling teaching posts with Catholic teachers. Some
teachers have been known to ‘convert’ to Catholicism in order to get
a ‘better’ position, he/she said.
Benedict XVI was quoted as saying that ‘it is evident that we have
not succeeded in transmitting in a concrete way the content of the
Catholic faith’ in the last thirty years. Again, the need for good
teaching schemes was endorsed.
One correspondent was rightly worried by the discovery of consecrated
hosts under church benches. The parish priest lectured the children
and was reprimanded by the headmistress for ‘terrifying them’.
Concerns were expressed about obvious government hostility to Catholic
schools and also about shared schools, especially where religious
education was delivered to all the children together. One former headteacher welcomed the presence of non-Catholic children in Catholic schools, holding that greater openness resulted.
Only one writer identified him/herself as belonging to another Christian
tradition. He/she described faith schools as being ‘to the detriment
of our society’, adding, ‘this survey is a disgrace.’ Promotion was
described as easier to obtain in secular schools.

Conclusion

We do not present this survey as a balanced opinion poll. We simply
invited our members and those hitting our web-site to respond to our
questions on Catholic education. We do, however, find a real thirst
for teaching that will enable children to grow in faith and become
mature Catholic Christians. It also appears that there is no confidence
that all teachers know the Catholic faith or indeed hold the Catholic
faith, without which they cannot adequately pass it on to Catholic
children.
It does seem as if primary schools are more effective in their task
than secondary schools. The world closes in on adolescents, and they
are more influenced by all kinds of secular entertainment and a materialist
culture.
The task is huge, but it may be, with God’s grace, that young Catholics,
through the new movements, such as Youth Two Thousand, The Faith Movement and many others, are beginning to be aware of the beauty of the Catholic faith and will be inspired to follow the vocations of priesthood and
religious life, and also of teaching as a Catholic vocation. Educators,
who can produce schemes which celebrate Catholic truth with intellectual
vigour, will have many people excited by the adventure of Christian
life. We are all much indebted to Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue for his
masterly report on the schools in his diocese.
We pray to Our Lady, and to St Anne and St  Joachim for all who seek
to pass on the faith to the next generation, so that young people
will remain steadfast and many will offer themselves to God as priests,
religious and teachers in answer to his call.

The Reasons for carrying out this survey

In the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Education, Gravissimum
Educationis, the Council Fathers asserted four rights: that of all
persons, “since they enjoy the dignity of a human being, [who] have
an inalienable right to an education that is in keeping with their
ultimate goal, their ability, their sex and the culture and traditions
of their country, and also in harmony with their fraternal association
with other peoples in the fostering of true unity and peace on earth”
(GE 1), see also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted
by the United Nations, December 1948;
that of children and young people “ to be motivated to appraise moral
values with a right conscience, to embrace them with a personal adherence,
together with a deeper knowledge and love of God” (GE 1);
that of parents “who have the inalienable right and duty to educate
their children [to] enjoy true liberty in their choice of schools…
according to their conscience” (GE 6);
that of the Church “freely to establish and conduct schools of every
type and level” (GE 8). In accordance with the instructions of the
Catholic bishops following the Restoration of the Hierarchy, the building
of Catholic schools assumed the highest priority; these were built
with conviction and considerable sacrifice by ordinary parishioners.
Since the enactment of the 1944 Education Act, the Church in England
and Wales has worked in collaboration with Government to provide Catholic
education within the maintained sector precisely in accordance with
these rights. Members of the Association of Catholic Women have, among
their founding, fundamental concerns, the Catholic formation of their
children and grandchildren, in which Catholic schools, in partnership
with families and parishes, play a key part. It was this concern that
led us to establish our Primary School Essay Competition, now in its
8th year (this year sponsored for the first time by the Catholic Truth
Society).
The recent publication by Bishop O’Donoghue of Lancaster of his diocesan
plan for education, Fit for Mission? Schools together with the lively
public interest it has aroused, provides a timely opportunity to reflect
on the place of Catholic education in our national life. We hope
that the results of this survey will help to inform the current debate.

Questions

1.The Catholic community has long had the right to educate their children
according to their conscience. This should continue.

2. A Catholic school should be a community grounded in Catholic belief
and practice.

3. A Catholic school should reflect Christian love of neighbour in
all its activities, by celebrating the dignity and uniqueness of every
person and encouraging students to be aware of the needs of others.
4. Catholic worship should be at the heart of a Catholic school.

5. A Catholic school should proclaim its religious identity by means
of pictures, crucifixes and religious objects.

6. A Catholic school should give a firm grounding in Catholic doctrine,
bearing in mind the individual circumstances of the students. In order
for this to happen, teachers of RE should be practising Roman Catholics
who accept the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a basis for religious
formation.

7. A Catholic school should give its students an understanding of
the Church’s teaching on marriage and family life, appropriate to
age.

8. By upholding Christian teaching and practice, Catholic schools
build up their students’ self-confidence and necessary self-discipline
to achieve their potential.

9.Catholic schools are partners of parents in assisting them to fulfil
their promise to educate their children in the Catholic faith, both
as young children and adolescents.

ANSWERS

 

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