fall09 - National Catholic Educational Association

We thank all contributors to this issue! Some of the articles were written specifically for The Emmaus Journal; some are reprints from other sources. Christiane Connors provides both practical information and a guide for integrating Catholic Social Teaching across the curriculum. Jesuit priest, Fr. Mark McGregor, describes his award-winning documentary and project entitled, Posada. Jim McGarry shares an innovative interdisciplinary and field-based course in environmental justice. Elizabeth Wittschen explains why teaching bioethics is both meaningful to students and teachers alike.

Finally, as “partners for the gospel” we invite you to share your unique programs, resources, and ideas. If you are doing something that you think others would be interested to know, please email either me or Christiane Connors at rcutarelli@mercyhs.org, cconnors@ncea.org, respectively, for inclusion in the next issue. Please include a brief description, as well as your name, title, and contact information.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1: 6)

Editor of the Emmaus Journal/ Director of Campus Ministry

Mercy HS, San Francisco

Environmental Justice: A Field-Based Social Justice Class

Committed to improving awareness of social justice, Mercy High School, San Francisco, established an innovative course in the fall of 2007. The course is entitled: Environmental Justice: A Field-Based Social Justice Class. The same group of seniors enrolls in two separate courses, Environmental Justice and Creative Writing, which come together every third class session for a 3.25 hour field trip with shared outcomes. Students are given the tools to critically think and discuss how policies and practices of individuals and corporations have affected San Francisco’s environment and in turn, the poor and marginalized citizens.

Students examine Ecological Theology, Catholic Social Teaching, and North American Indigenous traditions. Activities on these trips alternate and combine various modes of learning: prayer and meditation, creative writing time with field prompts, restoration work with native and invasive plants, interpretive talks with rangers and other field experts, and accompanying younger students from inner city schools on nature-in-the-city experiences. Most trips are by public transit, with the intention of reducing the carbon footprint, thereby enhancing the environmental responsibility of the trips. A field journal is kept for the Environmental Justice Class, with one page of research in preparation for the trip and one page of post-trip reflection. Students also keep a separate composition book for creative writing and field sketching.

English teacher, Mark Botti, with members of the Environmental Justice class

One example of a field trip occurred during the spring 2009 semester when Mercy High School students met the 6^th grade class from De Marillac School in San Francisco at the historic Native Oak Woodlands in Golden Gate Park. De Marillac is a no-tuition school serving the poorest of the poor in a high crime inner-city neighborhood known as the Tenderloin. The two groups met over lunch and, with Mercy students as mentors, journeyed through the pristine oak habitat and into the Memorial Redwood Grove in the middle of the park, sharing observations and stories and having fun. The day ended with a poignant closing circle under the massive redwoods.

A second example of their field based learning is when the class visited and worked in a vibrant community garden that not only has plots for residents of the neighborhood to grow vegetables, but is raising the seedlings for the replanting of a whole watershed. This area that was previously dominated and polluted by the needs of a football stadium and military site, now includes the full restoration of a historic wetlands as part of a California State Park.

As members of the Environmental Justice class, students are expected to become leaders within the school community and at home. Armed with the knowledge to educate others and lead by example, students take initiative on campus by decreasing plastic bottle use, insisting on participation in recycling and composting and decreasing paper use throughout the campus.

Students learn the value of both contemplation and action

Through this relevant course, students learn to become leaders in environmental justice education, as well as stewards of God’s creation. Through the interdisciplinary approach to this course and the opportunity for field-based learning, students are encouraged to become contemplatives in action, learning that we have a responsibility to ourselves and each other, and to respect the world God created.

Jim McGarry is a teacher of Religious Studies at Mercy High School, San Francisco.

Why I Teach Bioethics: A Teacher’s Perspective

I teach bioethics to high school seniors and I am often asked, “Why bioethics?” I asked this question as well when I first inherited the course from an esteemed colleague. After six years of teaching it, I believe I will find it difficult to teach anything else. Bioethics energizes my class as we wrestle with its provocative issues. As my department works to meet the bishops’ request to change to the national curriculum, I have been reflecting on the value and importance this course holds for students and teachers alike.

As teachers, we want our students to connect in meaningful ways to their studies. From my experience, I have seen how bioethics appeals to my students’ varied interests. The same lesson will capture the attention of budding scientists, lawyers, politicians, and doctors sitting in my classroom. My students have all been touched by pertinent bioethical issues. In particular, many have witnessed a loved one suffer from injury or disease, and they are passionate about informed consent and autonomy. High school students, and seniors in particular, are in a constant search for meaning. Bioethics lends itself to critical thinking and questioning. Students ask, “Why am I here?” “What does it mean to be human?” “What is the role of suffering in my life?” They are eager to seek answers and to debate issues. They are pushed to their limits; their engagement and interest is palpable.

Bioethics allows students to discover what it means to be an adult in the Church. Their interaction with the Tradition of the Church provides them with grounding. As they read Evangelium Vitae, Humane Vitae and other Church documents on life, they are challenged by Natural Law and the countercultural message of our Church. Use of these documents in practical and meaningful ways motivates my students to analyze our laws, policies, and social norms within a concrete context. For example, they call into question the practice of embryonic stem cell research. They are asked if the potential benefits of this research are more valuable than the lives of these embryos. This spurs them to call into question how our government defines human life. Bioethics gives students an opportunity to see Jesus through a different lens. Students come to know Jesus as the perfect model of a countercultural, faithful person. Jesus is their guide as they promote a culture of life rather than one of death. His role as both spiritual and physical healer reminds them that science alone cannot bring them the health our world seeks. Just as he honored the inherent dignity and worth of all human life in all its stages, they too are called to uphold life. Their understanding of the Incarnation is more profound as they come to understand His life as sanctifying all human life and how our world challenges that sanctification.

Bioethics is interdisciplinary by nature; it moves beyond the science of stem cell research, euthanasia, and genetic testing connecting to broader themes present in other courses. For example, in a cross-curricular unit on Brave New World, bioethics and English teachers ask their students to question conventional notions of freedom, suffering and autonomy. We challenge our students to question what gives an individual worth and dignity. These connections reinforce the idea that one’s studies do not exist in isolation. What one learns about the value and worth of human life speaks to what one learns in other courses such as English, history, and biology.

As our school moves toward the bishops’ curriculum framework and leaves the future of this course uncertain, I am thankful for the opportunity to have engaged the critical minds and open hearts of my students in this unique way. In a world full of apathy, I have become increasingly aware of the trials facing young people today. Bioethics prepares students as they become the future of the Church and face morally complex issues. It allows them to apply general ethical knowledge to concrete situations. They learn how to identify ethical dilemmas, how to frame questions, and how we, as the Church are called to respond. As they move out of my classroom and into the world, I hope they have been given the tools to be truly Christian, to be a countercultural presence as they promote the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings.

Elizabeth J. Wittschen is a teacher of Religion at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School.

Forming 21^st Century Catholic School Students:

How integrating CST across the high school curriculum can achieve this end

(A version of this article will appear in NCEA NOTES, December 2009).

What more can NCEA say about the instruction of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and the high school curriculum? Apparently, a lot! Recently, the Secondary Schools Department collaborated with Education for Justice and Catholic Relief Services to host an inaugural webinar on integrating CST across the curriculum. Based on registration—more than 100 people signed up—and evaluation responses, the topic clearly struck a nerve with the Catholic secondary school community, both among religious studies instructors, school leaders and educators from other disciplines.

Building on what exists

By virtue of being Catholic institutions of learning and instruction, Catholic identity and social values already resonate in the instructional culture of our schools. We form young people with a profound sense of self and an unquestioned commitment to contribute productively to society. Deliberate integration of CST across the curriculum augments efforts to make students knowledgeable about the world and develop the skills they need to apply that knowledge. Moreover, it prepares graduates to be successful professionals and disciples focused on improving the world in radically innovative ways.

“What knowledge and skills do you want 21st century Catholic school students to have?” This is an excellent question for teachers and administrators to begin with when advancing CST across the high school curriculum. As Catholic high schools embrace the buzz around 21^st century learning, making connections between CST and 21^st century knowledge and skills is logical, straightforward and meaningful.

Levels of Integration Integrating CST and 21^st century skills across the high school curriculum can occur at three levels. At the Macro Level, school-wide activities that integrate CST might include:

At the Intermediate Level, administrators, department chairs and teachers might be involved in the following:

At the Micro Level, individual teachers might work alone or collaboration with another teacher on projects that include:

Across the country, diocesan offices, Catholic school networks and curriculum designers are developing programs to map CST across the curriculum. One high school in the Boston area has designed a synthesis map that shows areas where interdisciplinary work -- either reading, writing, speaking, researching -- is happening across the curriculum. The synthesis map offers educators methods to think about interdisciplinary work in concrete ways and see what colleagues are doing and when. A similar resource – a form created by Education for Justice - can be found at the end of this article. Steps such as the synthesis map and the form provided by Education for Justice can save time and allow educators to choose the degree of interdisciplinary instruction.

Education for Justice recently launched a new website called Educators Exchange: http://www.educationforjustice.org/educators-exchange. Modeled after the professional social networking site, NING, Catholic high school educators can share best practices, exchange ideas, and seek advice from one another. Educators are encouraged to upload and share resources with each other on different group pages, including interdisciplinary instruction, technology, social justice, service learning, and more. The site’s success depends on the contributions of Catholic high school educators from all disciplines - so logon today! So many wonderful things occur at our schools and it is critical that we build and reinforce the bridges necessary to share the light with others.

Christiane Connors is the Director of Special Projects for the Department of Secondary Schools at the National Catholic Education Association.

Posadas Project: Linking Faith, Justice and Immigration

Since launching its Campaign for Immigration Reform in 2005, the Catholic Church has steadfastly continued its important legacy of moral and spiritual leadership in America. Posada, an award-winning film about young immigrants, and the Posadas Project are part of a new initiative for every Catholic high school, college and parish across the country to foster a compassionate understanding about immigrants. As Director of the Posadas Project, and of the documentary Posada, I welcome all NCEA members to join this journey of hope in 2009.

The Posadas Project focuses faith and justice through Las Posadas, the traditional Advent procession from Mexico, and through the stories of unaccompanied immigrant children, as told in the film Posada. The Spanish word “posada” means “shelter.” The film's and project's title comes from Las Posadas, a popular faith procession that originated in colonial Mexico. In a procession of song and prayers, participants in Las Posadas play the roles of innkeepers, angels, Joseph and Mary, as the Holy Family searches for shelter. Posada, a 55-minute documentary is a cinematic journey of Las Posadas and of unaccompanied immigrant children and their search for shelter in America.

After having shown Posada at many high schools and gatherings, including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress and World Youth Day 2008, the positive reactions of students and of many teachers and religious educators have prompted me to create resources for schools and parishes. Thanks to support from Our Sunday Visitor and the Catholic Communication Campaign, every NCEA member’s president or principal was mailed a Posada DVD and other project resources. These are intended for teenage-young adult audiences and would go well with Religious Education, Social Studies, Spanish classes and community service experiences. The film and project's portrayal of Advent offers schools a participative model of celebrating an incarnational and inculturated faith.

Posada is a great fit for the classroom. Its running time is 55 minutes. A 12 page companion guide in English and Spanish comes with the DVD. The project’s bi-lingual website is www.posadas-project.com. Of special interest on the website is a variety of lessons plans and aids to prepare your own celebration of Las Posadas. One incentive for schools to participate is the "Build a Bigger Posadas" Contest. This will award seven communities $500 to celebrate Las Posadas. The contest asks that schools team up with at least one local worship community and one organization that serves immigrants, and to design one evening of as Posadas that expresses a concern for immigrants. Be sure to check out the website regarding a way for your school to win up to $500 to celebrate Las Posadas in 2009.

Catholic high schools and their communities have created wonderful relationships with Catholic Charities and many other community organizations that serve immigrant populations. I suggest that invite you people who provide services to immigrants and in Hispanic Ministry to preview Posada. The hope is that together you and your others in your area will want to design your own program for showing it the DVD and to consider how your community could celebrate Las Posadas. If your school has not celebrated Las Posada, the project can supply you with resources or help you get in touch with someone in your region. You have my permission and blessing to publicly show Posada. The only strings attached are for there to be no charge for admission and for you to organize some discussion about the film and immigration.

Without an informed and caring public that asks Congress for immigration reform that is more compassionate and just, immigrants and their families are kept on the margins and in the shadows. Posada the and the Posadas Project’s many resources can help your school grow in one area where the Church, particularly Catholic schools has excelled in past generations: integrating immigrants into American life and culture.

Rev. Mark McGregor, S.J. is an assistant professor of communication arts at Gonzaga University. He is the writer, director and producer of the award-winning documentary, Posada, and the Director of the Posadas Project.

Professional Development Opportunities:

Discerning Direction: Finding God in your School Conference, June 22-24, 2010: The National Catholic Center for Student Aspirations (NCCSA) will host its outstanding conference for students and educators on June 22-24, 2010 at Assumption College in Worcester, MA. Discerning Direction: Finding God in your School is for rising juniors and seniors of Catholic high schools and their teachers. The event will sharpen students’ awareness of God’s presence in their everyday lives and provide them with tools to enhance their prayer life and their ability to discern their vocation within the context of school. Students and educators will take part in presentations on callings and discerning lay and religious vocations, liturgies, games, and a concert with a National Catholic recording artist. The director, Kristin Melley, has presented with NCEA on numerous occasions including at the NCEA Convention, Wisdom and Witness, and at regional meetings; she is an expert in the field of assessing Catholic culture in a school environment and aiding schools to enrich the Catholic identity of students. For more information, contact Kristin Melley at 508-767-7659, kmelley@assumption.edu.

Marquette University offering an MA in Christian Doctrine (MACD) program: For high school religion/theology teachers, Directors of Religious Education, catechists, and others can now participate in a comprehensive course of study of Catholic theology routed in doctrine, history, ethics and the Testaments. Moreover, the entire degree can be taken online so as not to interfere with their teaching schedules! Those interested in discussing the program can contact the program director, Dr. Patrick Carey, at (414) 288-7189, or (920) 726-4491.

National Vocation Awareness Week: January 10-16, 2010 is National Vocation Awareness week. Please look a the following websites for resources on to share with your school community. The National Coalition for Church Vocations (NCCV), National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC), VocationMatch.com, National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors (NCDVD), and finally, Vocation Stories.