Teachers’ formation key to keeping Catholic identity

By Vernell Bowen
Superintendent of Schools

For the past few years, the Office of Catholic Schools has felt the need for continuing education in the area of faith formation for Catholic teachers. Principals have also stressed this is a priority need in the Catholic schools. In the past few years, the majority of faith formation for teachers has been what the principals have provided.

A newly formed committee made up of religion teachers; parish directors of religious education; principals; Theresa Hall, associate superintendent for Catholic schools; and Deacon Chuck Ashburn, director of faith formation, met Jan. 10 to review the religion curriculum, but more importantly to develop resources for teachers that will assist with the growth in their relationship with Christ.

According to the National Director for Catechesis, “adult faith formation seeks to nurture an encounter with the Lord that leads the believer to a deepening conversion, communion and discipleship. Increasing our love for the Lord will naturally move us to learn more about him so we can share him with others.” Without this deep understanding, we are less effective in our ability to evangelize to others.

As adult Christians we are not all at the same place at the same time in our journey of faith. Therefore, as the Office of Catholic Schools, Office of Faith Formation and the faith formation committee meet and develop goals, the discussion and planning will focus on developing a wide variety of resources that can be easily assessed to provide meaningful learning experiences.

With the development of the NCEA Common Core Identity Initiative, Catholic teachers need to feel comfortable and steeped in their faith to be able to infuse the teachings of the Church and Bible throughout the curriculum.  The emphasis of the Common Core Initiative is to provide students with the opportunities to be able to analyze situations and how to use what they are learning in their daily life.  There tends to be a disconnect to what is being taught in the secular textbooks we use if we do not fully understand the Church’s teachings and the Scriptures. To retain our Catholic identity, it is important to be able to make the connection between Church teachings and the curriculum to prepare the students academically for a world point of view.

Here is an example of what this might look like in a lesson where Scripture is integrated with core academic curriculum. The example shows how to bring Scripture to vocabulary development. The example provides an exercise that is more analytical than the non-example.

Example: In the first book of Samuel 17.32‐37, David showed courage by facing Goliath. Identify when Jethro showed courage and explain your choice using specific examples from the text.

Non‐example: Define courage. Tell about a time when you showed courage. (http://catholicschool standards.org/unit-development-guidelines)

The Office of Catholic Schools and Office of Faith Formation will work to provide a variety of resources that will be helpful for teachers of religious education in growing their faith, to live the faith and to teach the faith.

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