Spiritual,
Moral and Religious Education is a Flagship area for Research in Australian
Catholic University
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Cardinal Clancy Centre for Research in the Spiritual, Moral, Religious and Pastoral Dimensions of Education. |
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Spiritual,
Moral and Religious Education is a Flagship area for Research in Australian
Catholic University
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By Marisa Crawford and Graham Rossiter
It is not uncommon to find that questions about ethos, identity and Catholicity are considered at staff development seminars in Catholic schools. Noone is likely to deny their importance. However, what is said by visiting speakers and participating staff often remains unconvincing. While heads may nod in agreement, many staff are reluctant to acknowledge that they feel uncomfortable with the discussion without being able to articulate why. The theory does not seem to make sufficient contact with the reality of school life as they experience it; the language may be too idealistic, too 'jargonistic' or too 'pious'. But they do not want to be the first or only one to press for a greater relevance in addressing the issues. There are many staff who are insufficiently interested.
A concern about identity is a common symptom of the difficulties experienced by any institution trying to cope with change. It is to be expected that it will take time for Catholic schools in Australia and New Zealand to come to terms with the extensive changes that have occurred in their makeup and function over the past fifty years. These changes have been well documented in Catholic School Studies and other journals as far as descriptions and statistics are concerned -- especially as regards the transition from schools staffed almost exclusively by members of religious orders to the situation where there are few or none on staff. However, an understanding of these changes and creative responses to them usually lag behind. This too is natural and to be expected, because part of the process of adaptation involves putting the practice into theory.
It is a crucial task for Catholic educators to continue the clarification of the identity and mission of the Catholic school in a pluralist community. It needs to be done in a way that is credible and realistic, which can win the moral and professional support of teachers, and the acceptance of students and parents.
The Catholic identity of Catholic schools is a very complex issue that requires detailed attention from a number of different perspectives. Our concern here is limited to one facet only -- that of staff spirituality. We are not proposing any new types of activity; what we consider is needed is an understanding of the issues that can make efforts to develop staff spirituality more realistic and effective.
One of the first tasks is to explore the meaning of the term 'spirituality' itself. It is a very important concept, one which is vital to the clarification of identity. But it is notoriously general and vague in the way it is used with reference to Catholic schools.
The Concept 'Spirituality'
The term 'spirituality' is French Catholic in origin. Spirituality is the tangible expression of people's piety; it refers to characteristic patterns through which people express their beliefs, particularly in prayers and devotions. Its meaning has been extended to include the patterns of thinking, spiritual reading, believing, feeling, talking and praying that are behind and which motivate behaviour. For Christians, spirituality is specially concerned with the ways in which prayer influences conduct and attitude to self and others.
If one wanted to relate its meaning to contemporary concepts of Theology and Faith, then one could say that spirituality is the interface between theology/faith and life. From the spirituality of individuals developed the spirituality of groups. Styles or schools of spirituality have always been evident in the Christian churches. They have served as traditions and resources which nourish the development of individual spirituality and piety. Spirituality has always been evident in Christianity (and in other religions).
It is important to take into consideration a modern development that has practical implications for educators in Catholic schools. Religious groups are no longer seen as having a monopoly on spirituality. Today, the concept has more general application which may include concerns about spiritual, but not necessarily formally religious matters. It is not inconsistent to talk about 'non-religious spirituality'. For many young people the concept 'spiritual' seems more all-embracing and less parochial than 'religious'. Often too they are for various reasons sceptical of the relevance of 'organised religion'. This does not make them unspiritual. Similarly, the spiritual element is not missing in so called secular philosophies.
While this development is important in highlighting the spiritual dimension of human experience in an age that is materialistic and hedonistic, it also creates problems of generality. What is meant by the word spirituality can encompass concerns ranging from those of environmentalists to the asceticism of Buddhist cults.
Hence, when using the concept 'spirituality', we need to be precise enough in delineating the intended meaning to avoid vagueness and ambiguity.
Defining Spirituality for Lay People.
Like the changes in liturgy and devotion brought about by Vatican II, spirituality, or rather what lay people may have understood as spirituality, has changed. In a sense, for the non-professional, that is someone not in a religious order or other specialist institution, spirituality was traditionally confined to set prayers, and well-known devotions, with the occasional travelling mission to stir things up, that characterised much of parish life. It would not have occurred to most lay people that they needed to define or identify the specific characteristics of spiritual development.
As with many other aspects of Church devotion, dogma and administration, the laity were guided by the clergy and church scholars. Now that there is a greater emphasis on participation, the dilemma of definition and understanding is more acute. In surveys, most lay people said they had difficulty explaining the term. Whatever one's background, spirituality is often still seen as the specific province of those in religious orders, or specialist scholars. Though most lay people would recognise the place of prayer, Scripture and liturgy in their lives, equating these links with the development of spirituality did not always occur.
Developing Staff Spirituality
The idea of developing staff spirituality in the Catholic school is one that teachers would generally agree with as valuable. Still there is likely to be reluctance and tentativeness on the part of many to initiate any activity or to be involved with programs designed to help.
Where then is it helpful to make a start? Firstly, it is important to differentiate between what we might call 'corporate spirituality' and 'personal spirituality'.
Personal and Corporate Spirituality:While personal spirituality is the pattern of thinking and spiritual practices chosen by the individual, corporate spirituality refers to the pattern of prayer, liturgy, devotions and public reference to religion and spiritual matters that is organised for community participation; it is designed to nourish personal spirituality as well as to give expression to the religious aspirations of the school as a type of community of faith sponsored by the Catholic church. Corporate staff spirituality is evident when the school staff share willingly in particular spiritual exercises which express their sense of partnership in serving the needs of students and fellow staff members. This may overlap to some extent with, and draw on, their own personal spirituality; however, the latter remains basically private and is usually outside the scope of general disclosure. Staff should never be required to share their personal spirituality if they do not wish to.
So when we talk about staff spirituality, both of these aspects (personal and corporate) will be involved because they are closely related. However, it is most important to acknowledge the distinction because this respects the freedom that is crucial for personal spirituality, while highlighting the need for staff involvement in and moral support for the school's corporate religious practices; these are structured to serve as a spiritual resource bank that hopefully will stimulate and nourish the individual spirituality of students (and staff).
The tentative (and at times negative) response of staff members when spirituality is being discussed often has to do with their perception that the school is trying to influence their personal spirituality, rather than involving them professionally to build up the school's corporate spirituality in ways that will be of value to the school community.
All staff have a professional responsibility to contribute to the social and spiritual environment of the school just as much as other aspects of school life like pastoral care and discipline. Take for example the sacrament of Reconciliation about which there is much current uncertainty in the wider Catholic community. No matter what a teacher's own personal stance towards Reconciliation, he/she has a responsibility to support the school's efforts to give its students encouraging access to the sacrament. What long term place any element of the Catholic religious heritage will have in an individual's personal spirituality cannot be determined by teachers or the school. However, teachers and the school will be culpable if they do not give their students an adequate introduction to the basic elements of the tradition -- and in particular a positive experience of its most important religious practices such as liturgy, sacraments and prayer. (It should be noted here that on the whole Catholic schools in Australia and New Zealand do an excellent job in relation to the celebration of Eucharist and Reconciliation. The decline of general Catholic practice in this regard needs explanation in terms of factors outside Catholic schools. Blaming Catholic schools does not explain the problem.)
Building a Corporate Staff Spirituality
Before examining components that may influence the formation of corporate staff spirituality, it is useful to look at some of the characteristics of the views of lay staff on spirituality itself. An article on the spirituality of school administrators reports the following:1
1. The term 'spirituality' is not common in the vocabulary of lay teachers.
2. Spirituality is rooted in reality.
3. Spirituality is exhibited in the quality of relationships between and among people.
4. Spirituality is exhibited in the services of others, particularly in work/school/family setting.
5. Spirituality is a difficult term to define for lay people who do not engage in significant discussion of the term.
These show a pragmatic approach to spirituality and a realistic grasp of the difficulties of implementing programs and structures in a setting that does not readily adapt to a contemplative lifestyle; the sort of withdrawal that one tends to associate with spirituality is not the routine, bells and movement of bodies characteristic of any school.
So what is needed is a re-definition of the term spirituality as it applies to staff teaching in schools.
When trying to promote a corporate spirituality suitable for school teachers, special attention should be given to developing amongst the staff a climate that helps foster some sense of spiritual identity. This can be assisted by the following:
*An informed and caring leadership;
*Staff sharing in the decision-making process within the school;
*Individual teachers feeling acknowledged and valued as members of staff;
*Staff having empathy with, and giving moral support to, the stated aims of the school;
*Staff actively contributing to the achievement of the school's aims;
*Periodic staff prayer or paraliturgies with the emphasis on shared professional commitments rather than on personal beliefs;
*The celebration of special events together (special school events and achievements; individual and group staff contributions and achievements; as well as some social events like birthdays, the birth of a child etc.)
What this amounts to is the basic need to have a 'happy' staff.
The ideal of having good corporate staff spirituality is implicit in the aims and purposes of Catholic schools. However, the significant changes in the Catholic school's role and purposes over the last thirty years has naturally influenced expectations of staff spirituality.
Before Vatican II the role of the Catholic school was clearly defined and it seemed to be understood unambiguously -- even though there were some exceptions. There were striking cultural differences; for example, it was unlikely that Italian Catholics in Australia would have made much sense of the Australian Catholic experience colourfully described by one teacher:
A generation ago the concerns that guided pastoral care and religious education were deeply influenced by the social context in which Catholic schools operated. Catholics felt themselves to be an oppressed, but finally triumphant, minority. They nurtured long memories of persecution in Ireland and of discrimination in earlier days in Australia when Catholics were distinctly working class and poor. In particular, they resented being taxed to pay for schools to which they could not in conscience send their children. Not surprisingly, Catholics saw their schools as the hope of the future, symbols of defiance and fortresses of the faith, and the Sisters and Brothers who staffed them were the heroic garrison. Their dedication procured the scholarships and examination results that would ensure future Catholic prosperity, and their influence would mould the Catholic faith of the coming generation. That was what Catholic education was about.
Perceived oppression was a powerful cement to bind the Catholic people. We packed a tight scrum! Added to this was a clear Catholic identity compounded of Friday fish, Saturday confession, Sunday Mass in universal Latin, strong authority, answers for all questions and rules for almost everything. To a child it seemed that most things were either forbidden or compulsory, and that everyone in your world, from your parents to the Pope, was unanimous about which was which. There was a very definite world that you belonged to, and an equally definite, faintly hostile world outside it.2
The principle purpose of Catholic schools and Religious Education was the handing on of the Catholic faith. What was offered by the Catholic school was a tightly defined spiritual and educational 'package deal'. While its main religious purposes have remained the same, social change and the differences in Catholicism since the Second Vatican Council have necessitated revisions of the purposes and rationale for Catholic schooling and religious education.3
Mission statements and similar documents have been written by schools and diocesan authorities to articulate the evolving aims and purposes of Catholic schools. These statements identify the philosophy and aspirations of those involved in the school community and as such are valuable. However, one aspect that is important but which is usually absent is an acknowledgment of the difficulties that achieving such aims will entail. This does not imply any note of cynicism, but merely states the obvious and acknowledges the failures that accompany all human endeavours. It is refreshing to see that writers of mission statements also have their feet on the ground. A good example of this is evident in one Jesuit mission statement which noted that: "obstacles are numerous, well-documented and uniformly discouraging."
Despite the difficulties in developing a good mission statement, a school staff can realistically strive to achieve what all can agree is a common and laudable task. When the role of the Catholic school is no longer so easily defined as it once was, the philosophy that underpins the rationale for the school's existence needs to be periodically revised and articulated anew.
There is no place for neutrality on the part of the staff who teach in a Catholic school. While the line of argument that "we are different from public schools" needs to handled carefully and with restraint to avoid inflated, self-righteous rhetoric, the real differences, particularly in relation to the role of religion in the life and curriculum of the school, need to be spelled out clearly and realistically. If not, then the school runs into ambiguity over its raison d'etre.
Regular Staff Prayer and Liturgies/paraliturgies
There are problems associated with having a regular time for staff prayer and liturgies. For many staff, before school or after school are difficult times. In an already crammed timetable, when are these 'prayerful times' going to be slotted in? Furthermore, not all staff may feel comfortable with or wish to participate in regular liturgy and prayer. Some members of staff are non-catholic -- should they be included or excluded, and how is to be done in a respectful gracious way? Often, when staff liturgies and prayer groups are organised out of school time they are poorly attended. Should something so central as the development of corporate staff spirituality take priority over other less important commitments?
How should we respond to the argument that attendance at staff liturgy/prayer could be made compulsory -- a mandatory part of the job, like the supervision of a sport or an extra-curricula activity? Possible but hardly viable. It is unlikely that this form of coercion would bring about the sort of spiritual formation that a school would want for its staff and it would be likely to stifle the sort of personal climate that is essential for a healthy corporate spirituality.
Some Alternative Suggestions for Staff Prayer
If there is to be time set aside for staff prayer then the activity must be well planned and relevant. By relevant we mean the prayers and readings must have some readily accessible meaning for those who are saying them and for those who are listening. It is not good enough to have a reading which is more or less relevant for the day or a reading that sounds good but is impersonal and which has little application to the common mission of those assembled.
Staff prayers should be brief and should reflect the concerns and needs of the school community and its reasons for celebrating -- things like:-
*prayer for a difficult or troubled student (no names need be mentioned);
*prayer for a a class that may be having a difficult time;
*prayers that reflect on the specific and demanding role of the educator;
*prayers for members of staff and their families;
*prayers that reflect on the passage of time and seasons which are all too often ignored or taken for granted;
*prayers that are inclusive and make all members of staff, Catholic and non-Catholic alike feel comfortable and accepted;
*useful readings from biographies or other texts.
Often the experience of staff prayer has been of the 'rubber stamp' variety, lacking in authenticity -- something that should be seen to be done because 'we are a Catholic school'. Either that or a painful striving for deep relevance with a clutter of candles and symbols punctuated with 'deep and meaningful' pauses; most of these experiences reveal more about the specific personal needs of the presenter than any consideration of the sensitivities of others. Staff prayer should not be dominated by any particular person (Religious Education Coordinator, the 'last' of the religious or someone thinks he/she has some sort of monopoly on spirituality). There is a danger that as the number of personnel from religious orders in Catholic schools dwindles, there is a desperate bid by the remaining religious to prove that they still have a 'special charism' (read 'superiority') in spiritual matters. Another problem is 'honeymoon spirituality' where presenters are so attached to their own idiosyncratic spiritual experience that they naively believe everyone else should share it and they try to force it on others who are expected to 'emote' on cue. Presenters always need to be respectful of the emotional/prayerful responses of participants and should avoid any potential manipulation, leaving people as free as possible while retaining the sense of corporate prayer.
When there are a number of people together whose personal spiritualities and prayer lives are varied, it is much better to present a service that is simple and matter of fact, leaving participants free to have their own private responses together with simple public responses, rather that one which is too specific in its objectives -- Eg. exercises in emotional engineering where participants are encouraged to feel joyous or grateful. In suggesting simplicity and respect, we are not advocating institutionalised boredom or suffocation of the imagination (many already have this in their parish liturgy!). What we are advocating is prayerful relevance and sanity!
1.The beginning of staff meetings should be one focal point for staff prayer. A few minutes spent in prayer can bring a sense of purpose and serenity to the proceedings.
2.Staff days and retreats devoted to furthering an understanding of the role and purposes of catholic education; another topic for such days can be the place of prayer in the life of individuals. The choice of venue and speakers are crucial for the success of these events; both should be vetted carefully. These topics are delicate and must be handled sensitively; staff can easily be alienated if speakers are too dogmatic, or too 'pie in the sky' and 'everything around us is loverly'.
Teachers in Catholic Schools as Spiritual Leaders
One of the activities that occupies a great deal of young children's time is watching adults. School students do it too. They watch you as a teacher and as a person. As a class they replay your idiosyncrasies to perfection. In role plays and end of year concerts the characteristics of teachers have been played back to an appreciative, discerning audience.
Students see teachers as leaders even though they may not be able to articulate this. They learn more from the way teachers treat them than from what the school may try to teach formally about spirituality, prayerfulness, good behaviour and appropriate manners. Young people will first learn about spirituality and prayerfulness through their personal interaction with parents and significant others.
This echoes the words from the Gospel of John:
Anyone who says 'I love God' and hates other people, is a liar, since a person who does not love the others they can see, cannot love God, who is invisible. . . . anyone who loves God must also love others.(John 4:20-21)
These words also appropriately identify the most fundamental element in the formation of staff spirituality. More than anything else, there must exist a commitment to care for each other's wellbeing. However, our own life experience will tell us it is much easier to care for some than it is to care for others. No statements like the above, inviolate as they are, can turn dislike into like -- besides, is it part of the teacher's brief to LIKE one another? What we are talking about is liking with the 'head' and not necessarily with the 'heart'. Thus school staff who like or love one another, do not circulate gossip, back-stab or sit in judgment of others. There is a clear distinction between constructive analysis/critique of teaching styles and comments that reflect negatively about a person's character and professional behaviour. It is within the context of a group of committed people working together, aware of tensions and disagreements, that the basis of respect and support needs to be established.
Teachers need to acknowledge that they have not really chosen this or that particular person to work with; and that they may dislike particular staff members more or less strongly. Developing a sense of professional, educational, Christian community does not mean that you have to 'like' these people. It means that you have to accord them respect and gracious cooperation so that together the school staff can discharge its corporate responsibility to maintain an environment that is truly educational and personally affirming for students in particular, but also for staff. This sort of thinking is also relevant to the aim of developing a corporate spirituality. "The effective teaching community embraces diversity: in opinions, in cultures, in ages, in viewpoints, in experiences, in beliefs, in expressions".4
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Endnotes
1.Anthony J. Pistone, 1990, The Administrator as Spiritual Leader, Momentum, 21, 2, p. 12, quoting the research findings of R.M. Hoatson.
2.P. Browne, 1983, The Religion Lesson, Catholic School Studies, 56, 2, 42-43.
3.See for example:- B. Dwyer, 1986, Catholic Schools at the Crossroads, Dove Communications, Melbourne, which looks at the changing circumstances of Australian Catholic schools; H.A. Buetow, 1988, The Catholic School: Its Roots, Identity and Future, explores the history of Catholic schools in the United States. For a discussion of changing trends in Religious Education see M L Crawford and G M Rossiter, 1985, Teaching Religion in Catholic Schools: Theory and Practice, Christian Brothers Province Resource Group, Sydney, chapters 2-4 and M L Crawford and G M Rossiter, Missionaries to a Teenage Culture: Religious Education in a Time of Rapid Change, Christian Brothers Province Resource Group, Sydney, 1988, chapters 1-2.
4.C. Glynn, 1990, Not by Manuals Alone, Momentum, 21, 2, p. 23.
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