Do you believe in a tolerant society? I do!

One neuralgic issue for all schools today is how to address the question of  marriage in Religious Education lessons and other school activities. Certainly those in favour of changing the traditional understanding of marriage as between one man and one woman (henceforth ‘marriage’) have largely succeeded in fighting the battle on the territory they have chosen. Supporters of marriage have constantly to respond to accusations that they are promoting attitudes which promote backwardness, bigotry and intolerance. It is clear that the issue of marriage is becoming enmeshed in wider arguments about the role of religious ways of thinking in a secular society.

The UK press tends to give a reasonable hearing to both sides of the argument. A recent article and associated comments in the Guardian exemplifies the mindset of some of those who wish to redefine marriage. Another article in the Telegraph (written by an atheist) states the case for Catholic schools to teach from a Catholic position and explains why Catholic schools will always support and teach the value of marriage.

What is of concern is how the state will deal with schools which cannot assent to the proposed new definitions of marriage  - assuming it ever becomes law.  I refer here principally but not exclusively to Catholic schools. Although we are often told that we live in a plural society, the Guardian article above is testament to how far we have to go to achieve a genuine pluralism in the UK.

This issue will be in the news for a while and educators are once again in the front line.

Revisiting Jacques Maritain’s 'Education at the Crossroads'

A classic but often neglected work on education is the French philosopher Jacques Maritain’s Education at the Crossroads. This short and readable volume is based on a series of lectures given at Yale University during the Second Word War. Maritain made no attempt to disguise his attachment to Catholic philosophy and proposed a carefully nuanced vision of education based on Catholic anthropology which would be of value to all who have an interest in good education. As such, he is both a Catholic philosopher of education and a philosopher of Catholic education…

The book merits careful reading as a whole but some brief sketching of its lines of argument can be helpful. Maritain joins the philosopher Hannah Arendt and the historian Christopher Dawson in identifying a cultural crisis in education. For Maritain, education is the process which makes the person fully alive. Wisdom is the key to good life and, for Maritain, there is danger in reducing education to the teaching of sets of skills without a clear focus on the moral and human development of the human person. Maritain’s curriculum for a liberal education (Chapter III) is hence a plan for a study of the ‘great achievements of the human mind’: philosophy, theology, classical literature and poetry are all there - although he courts controversy by not including Latin, Greek and Hebrew in his proposals.


In modern times, Pope Benedict XVI has drawn on similar ideas to diagnose an ‘educational emergency’ in the west. For all of these profound thinkers, an education system which is not rooted in the fertile stream of tradition is one which lacks the vital resources needed in order to nourish the young generation. Education which does not look beyond the teaching of skills and aptitudes is no longer education but training.

A final thought: the authentic educator should be an agent of both conservation and change in education; the authentic educator does not simply ‘deliver’ a curriculum designed to meet the perceived needs of an economic system; the authentic educator simply educates.

What can we do to steer our education systems back on to the firm rock of tradition?

Palm Sunday 2012

As the Christian liturgical calendar journeys through the great ceremonies of Holy Week and  Easter, the educator does not and cannot stand by in disinterested observation. There are rich and profound educational lessons here which sit alongside the rich and profound theological mysteries of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The secular world celebrates the 'spring festival' and watches in wonder as nature comes alive and new life bursts into the gardens, fields and valleys of our land. The Christian too rejoices at these signs of  'new life' and uses these propitious moments to proclaim that the human spirit and body can be renewed no matter how tough life can be. This theme of renewal and hope should not, of course, be unique to the Christian. All of us can look beyond the confines of our own memories and experiences and find in education the key which unlocks the potential within us to live an authentically human life.

Good education offers a new life of hope for those who have been beaten down by the scourges of materialism and family breakdown.

Good education opens our mind to the great thinkers of the past and allows us to draw inspiration from their works and words.

Good education allows students and teachers to look to the future with a joyful hope which is not enclosed by the fear of failure and the search for an undefined 'relevance'.

Good education helps to break down the barriers of unjust discrimination, sectarianism and narrow-mindedness. These vices flourish in a sea of ignorance but cannot resist the light of wisdom.

The important role of the educator cannot be overestimated. Let us all truly take education seriously.