Spirituality and Teaching

1
Spirituality and Teaching
Part 3
A good teacher makes good children and a good
school where punishment if rarely
required. Julian Tennison Woods
2
Which of the following quotes for Kevin Treston
resonates with you and why?

• Teaching isthe sharing of a trustful presence
  which pervades every facet of classroom
  dynamics.
• Good teaching seeks to instil in student of love
  of learning.
• Hopefully, the profession of teaching is firstly
  a vocation to communicate lifelong values to
  students.

(Treston, 1995)
3
Which of the following quotes for Parker J Palmer
resonates with you and why?

• We teach who we are.
• ..he never lost sight of the fact that his true
  vocation was to teach not mathematics but a
  child.
• As I teach, I project the condition of my soul
  onto my students, my subject, and our way of
  being together.
• Good teaching comes from the identity and the
  integrity of the teacher.

(Palmer, undated)
4
Jesus - the teacher

• One of the most frequent titles in Gospels is
  teacher and he often refers to himself as
  teacher
• His work often described as teaching
• Scripture scholars summarize Jesus lifework as
  one great act of teaching
• He taught people to live for the reign of God
• He taught love, compassion, peace, justice,
  holiness and freedom

(Groome, 1998)
5
No educator ever had a more spiritual purpose
than Jesus. I came that you might have life and
live it to the full (Jn 1010) To be an
educator is to stand on holy ground peoples
lives (p. 35)
6
Seeds of my calling

• Before we move on and discuss the previous slides
  lets take a moment to reflect on what brought
  each of us to teaching.
• This is an activity from The Courage to Teach
  program by Parker J. Palmer and calls us to think
  about the choices we have made along our lifes
  journey and the gifts we bring to teaching.

7
Linking Archdiocesan Brisbane Catholic
Education with Teacher Spirituality

• Archdiocesan Vision
• Jesus
• Communion
• Mission
• BCE Vision
• Teach
• Challenge
• Transform

8
Jesus

• Embrace the person and vision of Jesus
• Knowing and following the way of Christ
• Formation will assist us to Teach about Jesus,
  the gospel, and the Catholic faith and its
  traditions

How did Mary MacKillop embrace the person and
vision of Jesus? How did she bring this to her
teaching?
Catching Fire, p. 23
9
Questions to ponder

• How do I understand the Jesus vision?
• What ways personal prayer might best suit me?
• What Gospel values do I recognise in our school?

Catching Fire, p. 26
10
Communion

• Build Communion with God and others
• Creating bonds of understanding, respect, love
  and shared commitment within and beyond our
  Church.
• Formation will assist us to Challenge our
  students to live in communion with God, others
  and creation

How did Mary MacKillop build communion with God
and others? How did she bring this to her
teaching?
Catching Fire, p. 23
11
Questions to ponder

• How do we welcome and show hospitality in our
  school community?
• Do we demonstrate a sacramental understanding of
  the world?
• How ritual/liturgy

Catching Fire, p. 28
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Mission

• Engage in Jesus Mission in the world
• Making a difference in the world today by living,
  in all we do, Jesus vision
• Formation will assist us to educate for a
  transformed world

How did Mary MacKillop engage in Jesus Mission?
How did she bring this to her teaching?
Catching Fire, p. 23
13
Questions to ponder

• Do we, or our school, understand and proclaim our
  vocation and mission?
• Do we witness to that in ourselves and others in
  word and action?
• Do we take our place in the wider community of
  Catholic education and Church?

Catching Fire, p. 29
14
Going Deeper

• How am I
• A person of presence, prayer and principle?
• A person of welcome, ritual and journey?
• A person of purpose, commitment and fidelity?

• What is my story?

15
Charism

• Our school charism?
• Is it Mary Mackillops/Jospehite?

16
Part 4

• Mary Immaculate Primary School

17

• What did it mean for Mary MacKillop to recognise
  Gods presence in the everyday by
• Being human?
• Being compassionate?
• Being forgiving?

Where might these qualities apply in our school?
18
Ethos Charism

• What this whole day has been about the charism.
• How do we promote it in our community?
• What symbols can we use in our liturgies?

19
Authentic Christian Community

• How can we promote a spirit of Christian
  hospitality to all visitors?
• Do our policies, structures and practices provide
  equity?
• Do our behaviour management policies and
  practices reflect Gospel values?

20
Sense of the Sacred

• What spaces do we already have?
• How can we improve on them or create new sacred
  spaces?
• Are the children engaged in recognising these as
  sacred spaces? (eg memorial garden)

21
Living the Gospel

• Do we have culture of hope, optimism, joy and
  inclusion reflecting the life of Jesus?
• How effective are the ways we present Christ to
  our students?
• Do we make connections between the life of Jesus
  and the world of our students?

22
Spiritual Formation

• Do we understand the spirituality of our students
  do we know who we are teaching?
• Do we know ourselves?
• Where do we most need formation?

23
Witness to the wider community

• How do we build relationships with the parish?
• Do we need to be more proactive in building
  relationships with other religious communities
  esp those represented in our school?

24
Christian Prayer

• Creative ways to build a culture of prayer
  prayer website, intentions book, prayer blog.
• Developing Christian mediation within the school
  as part of the prayer life as exampled in the
  Townsville Diocese.

25
Celebration of liturgy sacraments

• Are we all using the correct structure for our
  liturgies and prayer assemblies?
• How are we preparing students for participation
  in liturgies and masses?

26
Ritualising everyday life

• Can we make more use of the memorial garden as a
  prayer space?
• Are there ways to encourage more participation of
  our parent community in prayer and liturgy?
• Thinking of the rituals we already have and use,
  are there opportunities to develop new rituals?

27
Justice in the school community

• Edification we gave it a go once but we all
  need to commit to the process can we try again?
• Christian stewardship creating
  policies/practices/programs that encourage
  environmental and sustainable practices
  throughout the school community..

28
Action for Justice

• Does our peaceful relationships unit at start of
  year need more of a focus on Catholic social
  teaching, i.e., made explicit?
• How do we develop empathy in our students?
• Are there any local community projects we can
  connect with?

29
Reflection on action for justice

• Once-a-week Examen eg Friday afternoons
• Develop a consistent process for reconciliation
  (eg restorative justice)
• Teach an action-reflection process to students.

30
Where to from here?

• We need build into our School Renewal the ways in
  which we can develop the Religious Life of the
  School.
• Choose 2 or 3 goals for each year (some may
  overlap)

31
Mary MacKillop

• So great is the strength we posses in our unity
  
• (1874)