What Makes Catholic Schools Catholic?

by Erin Carelse · June 6, 2018

A Catholic school should ensure that everyone is welcomed and no-one is excluded: all members of the school community are created in God’s image. Further, because all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, they are therefore valuable and there should be no discrimination,” writes CIE deputy-director Anne Baker.

When you walk into a school you immediately get a “feel” about the school.

There are a variety of pointers which give you this feeling. It could be the way the school looks, the way you are welcomed, the friendliness of the learners. This is largely an intangible and yet a felt presence. That has been called the “ethos” of the school.

Ethos defines and shows the core beliefs of the school and is closely linked to its value system.

This ethos should be reflected in the school’s mission statement, which is the beacon for all school activities. It is the school’s way of “being in the world”. It is about what they do and how they do it.

The school’s ethos should be a lived experience for the whole school community and is realised by the daily interactions and actions within the school.

However, this needs to be actively understood and promoted in practical ways. For the Catholic school this ethos is an essential and defining feature.

The following are some of these defining features of a Catholic school, but we must always remember that these are to be strived for, and at times there may be problems with one or another of them.

Types of Catholic schools

A significant one is that in South Africa we have two types of Catholic schools: independent or private schools, and Public Schools on Private Property.

The latter are schools which are on Catholic-owned land but are run by the provincial education departments. It is often more difficult to develop an understanding of what a Catholic school is when teachers are appointed to the school by the provincial departments rather than applying to be there themselves.

A Catholic school should ensure that everyone is welcomed and no-one is excluded. This is because all members of the school community are created in God’s image.

Further, because all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, they are therefore valuable, and there should be no discrimination.

Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and must treat others the same. This requires all members of the school community to know and understand this in order for a peaceful and just school climate to exist.

Its teachers, as Pope Francis said earlier this year, “are called to stimulate in the students an openness to the other as a face, as a person, as a brother and sister to know and respect with their story, with their merits and defects, their richness and limits”.

The Catholic school needs to have a strong value system based on Gospel values with Christ as the centre of the school. It is a faith community which fosters positive relationships among learners, teachers and parents, enabling them to feel personal support and care and offer the same to others.

The religious atmosphere, which addresses the formation of the whole child, includes worship and prayer. These are integral and central to school life. The liturgical calendar as well as important feasts of other faiths are acknowledged and celebrated.

Teachers in Catholic schools should always expect the best from learners because they believe in each and every learner.

Standards of behaviour

Clear standards of behaviour from all members of the school community are defined and expected, with mercy and understanding at the core of how the school deals with disciplinary issues, and when possible restorative rather than punitive practices should be in place.

In our very materialistic world, the Catholic school resists individualism. It is concerned about justice and the wellbeing of the whole community, we are our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers.

A sense of social responsibility based on the Gospel is fostered. This helps learners to become worthwhile citizens who will, hopefully, make a positive difference to the world around them.

These values should permeate all the school’s endeavours and should include an awareness of environmental issues and a dedication to preserve what Pope Francis calls our “common home”.

The school should provide a broad curriculum which is meaningful to students and relevant to their community, and which assists them to strive for personal excellence in all that they do.

School leadership should serve the community and develop positive student and staff morale, giving priority to people and the common good. It should also encourage collaborative decision-making and recognition of the gifts of each individual and that these are developed.

One of the most difficult features is the need for parents to be involved and for the school to collaborate.

Pope Francis has described education as a family matter. He advised that rather than contradicting one another, parents and teachers must collaborate openly and constructively to form children in core values which enable them to face modern challenges.

That collaboration between parents and teachers helps to develop true community—a community which has as its vision the development and wellbeing of every member.

Anne Baker is the deputy director of the Catholic Institute of Education.