St. Joseph's College nurtures spirit of Catholic schools

Well-informed, joyful teachers lift the level of Catholic education

- file photo St. Joseph's College at the University of Alberta encourages future teachers to love their faith.

By RICHARD RYMARZ
Special to the WCR

I once had a teacher . . . we know a lot about what students recall of their education. For many, the dominant memory of their schooling was a teacher who moved them in some way, who inspired, who made them think beyond themselves and toward a new world of possibility.

This is true in general. It is also especially true of those teachers who inspire a positive response to the call to faith by providing a tangible witness to what being a Catholic means in contemporary society.

Think of what impact a teacher can have. Imagine one who provided a good answer to a question that a student was wrestling with and who had no one else to turn to. So many teenagers today have good questions about belief, faith and being a Catholic but do not have a forum where they can be addressed.

Imagine another teacher who opened up an avenue to express faith in a caring and supportive way - to say to students it's OK to be a Catholic and to love your faith.

And, perhaps, most importantly, what impact could a teacher have who modelled the importance of prayer and the centrality of a personal relationship with Christ?

The spirit of Catholic schools is inextricably linked to the personnel who staff them. As Pope Benedict recently remarked it is not the stones who speak of Christ, it must be people.

Show me a school that has a fair quotient of positive, well informed, articulate and joyful Catholic teachers and I will show you a school that is filled with the Spirit.

The human element is vital because it is through relationships that we develop a sense of belonging and identity.

How then do we as educators try to lift the number of teachers who can be included in this quotient? There is no substitute for the experience of a nurturing and supportive community, because this is where most people experience the presence of Christ on an ongoing basis.

Being informed and trained also plays a part. The more informed and better in tune teachers are with the philosophy and ethos that underpins Catholic schools, the more likely they are to been animated by this spirit and, more importantly, provide an educational experience that is formative and decisive.

This picks up the classical idea from St. Thomas Aquinas, the more we know, the more we love.

Two major roles

St. Joseph's College, at the University of Alberta, has two major roles to play in keeping the spirit of Catholic schools alive and flourishing.

First, it provides a Catholic presence at the university, a place where many of the teachers who will work in Catholic schools come to study and prepare for their vocation as teachers.

Formation, though, is not just about passing exams and handing in assignments, important as these may be. For the Catholic teacher it is about finding a place where you can experience the fellowship of your peers as you develop your faith life. St. Joseph's provides a place where this can happen.

The college also provides courses that help prospective teachers understand their role as teachers of religion, helping provide the skills and knowledge that will make them memorable teachers in the eyes of their students.

Ethos of Catholic schools

Teachers will only know about what the ethos and spirit of Catholics schools is if someone tells them about it in a clear and engaging manner - a way that satisfies and also empowers by giving the individual a sense of what they can contribute.

As well as a general vision there are a variety of practical issues - how do I do this, what does this mean, how can I say this better? These are all questions that teachers wrestle with everyday. For teachers of religion they are no less important.

The answers that teachers give to these and other questions is a tangible manifestation of the spirit of the school.

(Richard Rymarz teaches courses on religious education at St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta.)

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