charism - a way of living
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What is amissionstatement?
JUST ANSWER THREE SIMPLEQUESTIONS:
· Who are we?
· Why are we together?
· What do we do?
Simple? Not really. Each of those questions
is weighed down with meaning beneath the
surface. Each question invites you to the
level of depth you need to inspire and bond
the purpose of your school community.
Who are we?
A massive question which the Catholic
Church would answer by saying that
we are a mystery as human beings: we
are rooted in the earth but our minds
soar to infinity. We are children of God
with a calling to steward the earth, we
are amazing and yet broken, we have
filled the earth and yet are frail and
short-lived. At a more practical level
we are all educators, students as well
as teachers. We are people committed
to learning and growing our individual
talents. We are pilgrims on a journey
through education and we carry
within us the presence of God in some
mysterious way
Charism - away of living
L E A D E R S H I P S Y M P O S I U M N E W S L E T T E R 3
IN THIS ISSUE
missionvisionwho we arewhat we dohow we belongcreating a living,breathingcharism
"As I teach, I project thecondition of my soul onto mystudents, my subject, and ourway of being together."
Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach
www.roe-uk.co.uk@CharismRoe
mission statementcont...Why are we together?
We are together in Catholic education
because it is a matter of the heart, of
relationships. We learn through
relationships, through searching for
answers together. We learn from others
about our own gifts and weaknesses. Our
friends mirror our soul and heal it too. We
are together because it is not good for us
to be alone and because education is a
matter of the heart. We are together
because we are trying to build a culture
that challenges the harsh and superficial
world around us. We try to model what a
community looks like when it is inspired
by the Gospel of Jesus. Together, we try to
build the household of God among us and
reach out as a community to those around
and in need.
Teaching is thearchitect of anation DR. YOGESH SHARMA (ADAPTED)
Teaching is not a profession,
It is a holy vocation,
It is a divine mission,
It needs committed attention.
What do we do?
We learn together: parents, students
and staff. We look at the world
around us and prepare our students
to take their place in life, develop
their gifts, deepen their spirit and
make a difference to their families
and the world around them. We do
that by good academic learning
adjusted to student needs. We do that
through deep spiritual relationships
that bring hope and optimism into
young lives. We do it by helping pupils
to ask questions more than give
answers. We do it by engaging with
the heart, easing the anxieties that
block learning and helping students
to find joy in being themselves. We do
it by reverencing the mystery of God
in each person whatever their
background and we offer the Gospel
and sacraments as a source of life and
wisdom for the whole learning
community.
These answers come from one
person. But a mission statement
needs to involve the whole
community. It needs to capture a
range of understandings. It needs to
inspire and it also needs to arrive at
values that can translate into at least
some visible consequences.
It cannot just be stuck on a wall.
Honest teachers earn admiration,
They give dull and empty minds inspiration,
Help sleeping cells get stimulation,
Because proper teaching is a transformation.
And the strongest pillar of education,
It widens and matures imagination,
From slavery and darkness, it is a liberation of the
soul.
It enlarges mental horizons and sharpens awareness.
The accent is not always on examination,
Good teaching requires a higher imagination,
Good teaching is revelation and the architect of a
nation.
Education hasbecome an institutionwhose purpose in themodern world is notto make culture, notto serve a livingcosmos but to harnesshuman kind to thedead forces ofmaterialism.Education alsodamages the soul.
Robert Sardello The Mystery ofWholeness, 1992
RESOURCES PADLET
Charism - A Way ofLife
Charism &Spirituality
Charism &Community
A definition ofSoul for alleducators: Soul is the vitalenergy a personcarries thatgives purposeand meaning totheir lives.
Education &Life of the SpiritWRINGE 2002 (P. 169)
Education as we currently experience it
is often presented as essentially
concerned with externals, with gradable
and above all observable integrative
skills, competencies and dispositions,
which will enable individuals to become
employable, performative and generally
acceptable future citizens. In this
endeavour the life of the spirit would
seem to have little part to play…
8 Principles ofsoulful learning EDUCATION AND THE SOULJOHN P MILLERNEW YORK PRESS 2000
1. The sacred and the secular cannot be
separated
2. The dominance of the secular has led to
the repression of our spiritual life
3. An awareness of the soul can restore
balance to our educational vision
The importance of the pause
Respect for the space before speaking
and acting deters us from plunging
ahead when the right time for action
or closure is still pending. gifted
actors, comedians, orators and
leaders have an instinct for this
quality. We have all noted the pause
just prior to an important point when
participants are momentarily waiting
for release from tension created by
the pause itself. Premature closure in
the name of efficiency deprives the
soul of a deeper engagement and a
learning opportunity about the vital
energy that moves them from within.
Adapted from Pascale and Athos:
The Art of Japanese Management.
New York 1981
4. We can nourish the students' soul
through creating a curriculum for the
inner life
5. The authentic and caring presence of a
teacher can nourish a student’s soul
6. Education of the soul must be
accountable and include academic
attainment
7. Teachers need to nourish their own
souls and become contemplative in
teaching
8. Parents need encouragement to be
present and mindful with their children.
Since moral andspiritual values arean integral part oflife itself, theycannot be shuntedoff into a separatecurriculum. Theyshould permeate theentire curriculum.
Erma Pixley, Moral andSpiritual Values in thecurriculum.
Pi Lambda Theta JournalVol 30 No4
I came toTeach…© LESLIE OWEN WILSON – ALLRIGHTS RESERVED
I came to teach, to see what I could find
Inside my students’ deeper selves.
I came to try and open minds
Before they were seamed shut.
I came to channel passages,
Hoping to connect hearts to heads and
hands.
I came to entreat,
To coax ennobled thoughts,
Ideals, and love of self and others.
I thought that this must come from
inside out
Into the essence of their beings,
Into relationships,
As connections to words and deeds,
And become a pedagogic styles.
I came to teach but was changed in
other ways,
And now remember that life is still a
two-way street.
These were lessons I needed to commit
to memory, again.
Perhaps it is enough to say, I came to
teach but learned instead.
The Courage toTeach: EXPLORING THE INNER LANDSCAPE OFA TEACHER'S LIFEPARKER J. PALMER
If we want to grow as teachers -- we must
do something alien to academic culture:
we must talk to each other about our inner
spiritual lives -- risky stuff in a profession
that fears the personal and seeks safety in
the technical, the distant, the abstract.
I came to probe,
And sometimes poke,
To make them think, and laugh
At small and narrowed views.
For I wanted them to see,
With their own eyes,
Beyond the limitations of closed
perceptions
Into the beauty and the pain of others’
views.
I came to teach,
But learned instead
That they had just as much to say to me.
Their lessons often raw,
Sometimes unformed and yet complex.
I came to give and yet was given.
For through their gifts I saw anew
That I must learn to guard against
complacency, conclusions,
And the allure of too soon ends.
I came to grow, Unknowingly
To shed my false, new scholar’s skin
And metamorphose Into to something
new and strange –
Something far beyond the shadows of my
old instructive self.
I came to teach but was changed in other
ways,
And now remember that life is still a two-
way street.
These were lessons I needed to commit to
memory, again.
Perhaps it is enough to say, I came to
teach but learned instead.
A definition ofSoul for alleducators: Soul is the vitalenergy a personcarries thatgives purposeand meaning totheir lives.
LET YOUR LIFESPEAK:LISTENING FORTHE VOICE OFVOCATION
We are exploringtogether. We arecultivating a gardentogether, backs to thesun. The question is ahoe in our hands and weare digging beneath thehard and crusty surfaceto the rich humus of ourlives.
Parker J. Palmer
EducatingToday andTomorrowVATICAN 2015
Catholic schools and universities are
educational communities where
learning thrives on the integration
between research, thinking and life
experience.
Learning can also provide the
opportunity to open students’ hearts
and minds to the mystery and wonder of
the world and nature, to self-
consciousness and awareness, to
responsibility towards creation, to the
Creator’s immensity.
The Catholic school is for the human
person and of human persons. The
person of each individual human being,
in his or her material and spiritual
needs, is the heart of the Church’s
teaching: this is why the promotion of
the human person is the goal of the
Catholic school. Catholic School on the
threshold of a new millennium
The education ofeven a smallchild, does notaim atpreparing himfor school, butfor life.
MariaMontessori
The Inner Teacher's Voice First, we all have an inner teacher whose guidance ismore reliable than anything we can get from adoctrine, ideology, collective belief system,institution, or leader. Second, we all need otherpeople to invite, amplify, and help us discern theinner teacher's voice.
PARKER J. PALMER, A HIDDEN WHOLENESS: THEJOURNEY TOWARD AN UNDIVIDED LIFE
Teachers are called upon to rise up to a
major educational challenge, which is the
recognition, respect and enhancement of
diversity. Psychological, social, cultural and
religious diversity should not be denied, but
rather considered as an opportunity and a
gift…Teachers must be open and
professionally knowledgeable when they
are leading classes where diversity is
recognised, accepted and appreciated as an
educational asset that is beneficial to
everyone. Those who find themselves in
greater difficulties, who are poorer, more
fragile or needy, should not be seen as a
burden or obstacle but should be at the
centre of the school’s attention and
concern.
ROOTED IN THEEARTH, HEADSREACHING EVENINTO HEAVEN!
Let us protect ourchildren; and let us notallow them to grow upinto emptiness andnothingness. Let ussteer them away fromthe harmful chase aftermaterial things and thedamaging passion fordistractions... Let useducate them to standwith their feet rooted inGod's earth, but withtheir heads reachingeven into heaven, thereto behold truth.
Friedrich Frobel
A PersonalReflection on thePower of CharismMAUREEN MEE, FORMER VICE-PRINCIPAL,LORETO SIXTH FORM COLLEGE MANCHESTER
It is no exaggeration to say that getting in touch
with the charism of Mary Ward, the founder of the
Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, helped to
save our sixth form college from closure. Loreto
College is in the heart of Moss Side, an area of
Manchester which, in the early 1990’s, was
deeply troubled by gang warfare, drug running
and shootings, much of this happening within
yards of our college. It was the decade when
Manchester was dubbed “Gunchester”. Parents
started to doubt that the college was a safe place
for their sons and daughters, enrolments began
to decline, and we were in grave danger of
closing.
Into that challenging situation, on an INSET day
in 1992, walked Sister Pat Murray, an
inspirational Loreto sister who at that time was
Loreto Education Officer in Ireland.
She later worked to develop education in South
Sudan and is now in Rome as Secretary General
of the Union of Women Religious Superiors. Sr
Pat had been invited by the Principal, Sr Patricia,
to speak to the whole staff about vision and
values in a Loreto school or college. On that day
she spoke to us about the story and values of
Mary Ward, characterised by her commitment to
freedom, justice, sincerity, truth and joy. She got
us to think about what a college might look like if
it explicitly embraced the spirit and values of
Mary Ward.
At a time when our morale was at rock
bottom and we were in danger of losing all
hope and confidence in ourselves, she gave
us a sense of being part of something much
bigger than ourselves, she gave us a story to
be proud of and a reason for striving to
remain open.
Today that college has three and a half
thousand students and a very clear and
proud sense of its identity as part of an
international community rooted in the
values of Mary Ward. That sense of identity
is, in part, because of what happened after
that INSET day. We decided that a
commitment to this charism had to go
beyond the warm feeling that came from
just embracing the words. Nor did we want
it to be something seen as the responsibility
of just the R.E department and the
chaplaincy.
"Let yourvocation, beconstant,efficaciousandaffectionate."
Mary Ward
"We arecalled by Godto a vocationof love."
Mary Ward
A PersonalReflection on thePower of CharismCONTINUED
Yes, we could – and did – re-write our mission
statement in the light of our new understanding,
but we concluded that if we wanted to make the
values a living reality in our college then we
needed to find a way of building them into our
key policies, processes, and routines. We wanted
the charism to find expression in our day-to-day
encounters with our students, in how we taught
them and how we supported them. This led to
many lively discussions in staff meetings! In the
early months a new quality framework was born
within which all college teams reflected on their
contribution to implementing the distinctive
charism and this began to form part of the self-
assessment process. Over the years, together
with the other Loreto schools in England, we
worked on a Vision and Values booklet, five
values became seven, a professional
development programme based on Ignatian
pedagogy - Teaching for Learning and Living:
something more than ordinary - was launched,
and, most recently, a booklet for governors was
written which highlights the distinctive features
of governance in a Loreto community.
So that one inspirational moment became a
defining moment in our college’s history.
Over the years that followed, the work of
successive generations of leaders in
building our founder’s charism, not just into
our mission statement but also into key
processes like teaching and learning, has
helped to give our college a shared sense of
purpose, an aspirational culture, and an
identity as part of a 400-year-old
educational endeavour to build a better
world.
"CherishGod’sVocation inYou."
Mary Ward
"Love andSpeak theTruth at alltimes"
Mary Ward
A Pastoral reflection with staff using the Charism of theschool
Sometimes a specific incident or experience raises a complex reaction within ateacher’s work. It could be a dramatic event that disturbed the staff member or asurprisingly successful event. An event that is surprising or apparently complicated islikely to be a good focus for a pastoral reflection. The line manager may well recognisesuch events before the staff member and may need to invite them to consider theirexperience in an informal conversation under some of the following headings:
· What happened?· What did you do and why?· What were your feelings before, during and afterwards?· What Gospel stories or themes are raised by this experience?· How does your experience connect with the ethos of our school?· What does this experience say about you as a teacher?· What would you do the same what would you do differently next time?· Does this experience suggest any change?
o in school?o In your view of your worko In your sense of belonging?o In your sense of vocation?
The opportunity for a teacher to reflect in depth upon a specific incident can help theline manager to understand the day to day thought processes of a teacher and tosupport their deeper motivation and personal growth. The discussion arising from thisreflection can also create opportunities to affirm the skills of the teacher and alsocorrect and deepen their sense of belonging to the school community.
A session like this needs some notice from the line manager to join a voluntary sharedreflection outside any recordable or professional process. It is meant to be anexpression of pastoral concern for the ongoing personal development of the staffmember. For that reason, it can never be imposed on a member of staff but must befreely taken up in an atmosphere of mutual trust.
www.roe-uk.co.uk@CharismRoe
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