Gove's vision of a traditional education

Michael Gove's recent speech on the need to promote high standards in education is a notable example of how to state the obvious. (Michael Gove is the Secretary of State for Education in England.) Let him speak for himself:

I want to proclaim the importance of education as a good in itself. I want to argue that introducing the young minds of the future to the great minds of the past is our duty. I want to argue that we should be more demanding of our education system, demanding of academics, headteachers, professionals in school and students of all ages. We should recover something of that Victorian earnestness which believed that an audience would be gripped more profoundly by a passionate hour long lecture from a gifted thinker which ranged over poetry and politics than by cheap sensation and easy pleasures.


The idea that a school or university should promote a body of knowledge as worthy to learn for its own sake is a radical idea. This is an age when a university can promote itself as a place of 'useful learning' (and miss the irony) and other Higher Education institutions jump through hoops in order to promote the employability and the transferable skills which 'employers' allegedly seek. 

One wonders, however, if the agenda outlined in Gove's speech is no more than a fantasy. Some who agree broadly with Gove's analysis would suggest that things have gone too far and cannot now be remedied. I would beg to differ.  We cannot let the heavy rain-laden clouds allow us to forget that one day the sun's rays will again offer us warmth, nurture and comfort.

Thinking of Advent

Preparations for the coming celebration of Christmas often serve as a window into the soul of contemporary society. Just this week I drove past one school with a banner advertising a 'Winter Fayre'. Some houses have festive lights on display and, of course, Santa has already made his grand entrance into many a store. Indeed, some schools have a 'Christmas dinner' for pupils in early December. One would think that Advent had been abolished and that Christmas was a month-long party season. Can we no longer see the value in waiting?

The season of Advent offers all of us a chance to discover/re-discover the joy of waiting.

Young people need Advent so as to learn patience.  They need to learn how to wait and not seek instant gratification at the click of a mouse or the snap of a finger. To have a good Advent is to glimpse the good things ahead, anticipate them with joy but wait until it is time to celebrate.  

Teachers need Advent to clear their minds of the form-filling, the submission of forward plans and topic webs, the endless 'reflections on practice' which drain the energy from the mind.  Advent should be a time when the joy of teaching is rediscovered as religious and cultural preparations for the feast of Christmas - song, drama, Scripture -  take the mind away from the latest 'outcome' to be achieved and 'learning experience' to be planned. 

Schools need  Advent in order to take stock, assess how the life of the school is promoting the common good and, yes, prepare in patience and joy for the coming celebration of Christmas. One key question for all schools, but especially for the Christian school, is this: are we really living 'Advent' or has Christmas come early.   

Perhaps we can make a personal resolution to live Advent as best we can. Christmas will come in due course.

Review of 'Communicating Faith' (John Sullivan, Ed.)

The recent focus by Pope Benedict XVI on the necessity of a ‘new evangelisation’ brings into sharp relief the on-going and, it seems, increasingly urgent, need to re-think how the Catholic faith is communicated to the world. Pope Benedict has also identified a current ‘educational emergency’ which is not simply a perceived crisis in the teaching of Religious Education but is a broader crisis which, at its root, rejects the concept of authority in education: the concomitant relativism has, he claims, eroded the moral foundations of the west.

This extensive volume edited by Professor John Sullivan, the professor of Christian Education at Liverpool Hope University, explores some of educational challenges which are apparent in the lineamenta for the 2012 Synod of Bishops: a) how can the Church proclaim a message of salvation in an age of relativism and marked hostility to religion; b) how can the Church most effectively use its resources in the family and its many and varied educational enterprises to renew the educational mission which is at the heart of Christianity.

This volume offers a scholarly approach to understanding some key issues for faith formation today. The tone is academic and presupposes some familiarity with key contemporary writers in the broad field of Catholic Education. There are twenty-three chapters arranged in six sections.
Parts One brings out what is understood by the ‘grammar of faith’. These underpinning principles place the various dimensions of learning viz cognitive, affective, attitudinal alongside the need for education to be both formative and critical.

Part Two explores the starting points or ‘baselines’ for faith communication in the home and parish with some interesting points made about the liturgical dimension. Given the recent developments in liturgy in the English-speaking world and the broader ‘Benedictine’ reforms in liturgy, there is an urgent need to re-examine how an appreciation of liturgy is fundamental to the formation of a Catholic mind.

 Part Three looks closely at the important role schools play in the communication of a faith tradition. This section explores the challenges posed to Catholic education by the prevalence of ways of thinking that, superficially at least, seem to be hostile to the Christian message. These challenges can be addressed by solid reflection on ways in which Catholic education can be developed in the school.

Part Four examines the tension emerging from the teaching of religion in tertiary education. This is perhaps the most challenging of the loci mentioned in this volume. This section reminds us of the need to find ways to bring together virtue and authority in an environment which often looks to the fruits of the Enlightenment as a perceived bulwark against the influence of religion.

Part Five brings an international flavour to the debate with an exploration of key educational challenges in Africa, the United States, Ireland and Europe. The themes emerging from section are, interestingly, not just localised challenges but are local expressions of broader challenges to faith communication: inculturation, inclusivity and identity.

Finally, Part Six has an ‘operational dimension’ in that it has a particular focus on some innovative ways of communicating the faith. This section will repay careful reading as the teacher and catechist needs to draw from historical and contemporary sources in order to communicate well.

Overall, this volume is rich in interesting and challenging material. However, I would like to draw particular attention to the valuable material contained in Chapters Five and Six. Chapter Five looks at the many theological and pastoral issues surrounding the question of sacramental preparation in the Catholic school. Father Peter McGrail, a priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool and an associate professor at Liverpool Hope University, draws on his primary research on this subject and pulls no punches in his description of the tensions surrounding the public celebrations of the sacraments of Confession, First Communion and Confirmation. A more extensive treatment of this theme is contained in his excellent book First Communion Ritual, Church and Popular Religious Identity. Father McGrail’s chapter in Professor Sullivan’s volume will certainly offer some food for thought for those involved with and interested in the sacramental preparation of young people.

In Chapter Nine, Stephen McKinney of the School of Education in the University of Glasgow explores how religious faith can be communicated within the context of Religious Education. At the heart of this chapter is an interview with Bill Horton, retired Adviser for Religious Education (Secondary schools) in the Archdiocese of Glasgow. A key message of this chapter is that a commitment to faith formation in Religious Education is not an escape route from intellectual rigour. This is a timely reminder of the need to adopt a scholastic approach to Religious Education. The advent of This is Our Faith in Catholic schools in Scotland ensures that programmes of Catholic Religious Education should foster both piety and orthodoxy. This aspiration is not without challenges, as all Catholic educators would acknowledge.

Professor Sullivan’s book is a valuable addition to the literature on Catholic education. Catholic schools would do well to have Professor Sullivan’s well-crafted volume available as a resource for general staff development. Those in leadership roles in Catholic education will find much material for their own professional and faith development. It deserves a wide readership.

(This review first appeared in Flourish, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Glasgow.)