Virtues
in Catholic education
by Elizabeth Boddens Hosang, the Netherlands
Catholic
education in the Netherlands has changed over the past years. This is due to changes
in society and within the Church since the Second Vatican Council. Be that as
it may, the Netherlands still has schools which choose to be Catholic, which
search for ways in which students can be introduced to the Catholic Tradition
and Gospel values. Dutch Catholic educational institutes are warm and nurturing
centres where students of all ages feel welcomed.
In such a safe setting students
are able to develop personally. In the Netherlands, we have a system where
Catholic identity advisors help primary schools to develop their own identity,
within the broad Catholic tradition. These advisors develop materials necessary
for religious education classes, provide schools with background information,
but also aid in developing thoughts on Catholic identity for a mission
statement, personnel development and the proper information for parents and
others involved.
Part of the Dutch Christian National Union (the CNV) is
concerned with education and especially people working in education, both
Christian and Protestant. The Union has a working group specifically geared
towards Catholic education
, represented in the National Catholic Schools Council
and delegates members to the WUCT. The group has produced thoughts on the
developments in Dutch Catholic education and materials for people working in
Catholic schools.
All
schoolsin the Netherlands have students from various religious and cultural
backgrounds, so dialogue with and learning about different faiths is unavoidable.
This can only be done within a safe environment and when one has a better
understanding of one’s own faith background.
This is another focal point for identity advisors.
The
bishops of the Netherlands have written a document on Catholic Education
(‘Bezield en Zelfbewust’, 2002). In this document they have encouraged Catholic
schools to be a nurturing and safe place where young people can develop every
aspect of their being: a holistic approach. As the Dutch government made sex
education mandatory for all primary schools, Catholic schools especially should
emphasize that each individual is created in the image of God. Consequently, all
aspects of a person’s sexuality – whether he/ she is hetero or homosexual, is the
result of creation by a loving God. This should be treated with respect and
care, without any implicit or explicit judgment.
A
school is part of society and an open Catholic Church which engages in dialogue
with society respects all people, despite their background and orientation.
Several
years ago, the Catholic primary schools of the Foundation for Christian
Education in Leiden, have spoken about the values and virtues they consider
important with which to imbue the students. These are of course rooted in
Scripture. The result is that when the mission statement
on the identity of the Leiden Catholic primary schools was written, I
translated this into practice, to avoid it remaining a statement on paper.
The
result is that the schools now have a virtues program with one virtueas focus
for 6 weeks, stories from Scripture and from other traditions are told,
discussions are held, and a poster and lessons are provided. At another moment
in the week, teachers read from a children’s bible in order to familiarize
students with the stories Jesus knew (: our ‘Old’ Testament) and the stories
about and by Jesus and his followers (: our ‘New’
Testament).
There
is a concern that when discussing values without connecting these to Tradition,
the resulting mission statement may appear to be child-focussed and
educationally sound, but shows no awareness of the educational institute’s
foundation in the Christian tradition. Hence, the discussions of these
particular schools were led by myself. As Catholic identity advisor, I always
kept in mind the Christian background of these schools.
Dr.
Elizabeth Boddens Hosang, the Netherlands
