THSC602 MODULE 4: SOCIAL TEACHING ON CHILDHOOD

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1 THSC602 MODULE 4: SOCIAL TEACHING ON CHILDHOOD Introduction Catholic Social Teaching on Children Place of Children and Childhood in CST Journal U.N. Convention on Children's Rights Children's Rights Theologically Journal Assignment 2: Integrative Response

2 MODULE 4: INTRODUCTION So far our Unit has surveyed a major shift in the sociology of childhood, and has sought predominantly to develop a theology of childhood. In this final module, we will examine recent social teaching on childhood, both that which has been developed within the church and that in wider society. We will examine the United Nations Convention on Children s Rights (1989) and trace the theme of children and childhood through the tradition of modern Catholic Social Teaching, beginning in the late-nineteenth century. READINGS AND ACTIVITIES In Module 4, you will find links to: four required readings with activities Completing the readings and their related activities will enable you to complete the second Assessment Task: Integrative Response to Journal. LEARNING OUTCOMES On successful completion of this module, you should be able to: 1. Identify and evaluate the developing understanding of children s sacredness and dignity in the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching; 2. Interpret children s rights, as articulated in the 1989 UN Convention, from the perspective of the Catholic theological tradition, enquiring as to how a theological perspective enhances a view of children and childhood. 4.1 CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING ON CHILDREN In response to the major social challenges of the late-19thc, including industrialisation, urbanisation, and unemployment, Pope Leo XIII ( ) wrote a letter (an Encyclical) entitled Rerum Novarum: On the Condition of Labour. Thus began the modern history of Catholic Social Teaching. From that point onward, Popes, the Second Vatican Council and a Synod of Bishops have responded to major social challenges in their own times with significant teaching documents, reflecting on those challenges in the light of the Gospel and Catholic faith. Catholic Social Teaching has made a deep impact over the years right across the globe, yet it is often called the church s best kept secret. In this section of Module Four we survey the key principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and take account of the gradual development of its focus on children. It will be clear that these documents consider children within the context of other major issues, for example, workers rights to a just wage in support of their families although opposition to child labour is expressed from the beginning. We have already noted in Module Two that it s only in the 1990s that children, in their own right, become a particular focus for reflection both in church and society SURVEY FUNDAMENTAL THEMES OF CST PURPOSE: To become familiar with the 125 year history of modern Catholic Social Teaching through a survey of its fundamental themes. This activity outlines the context for MLO1 s focus on children and childhood in CST.

3 RESOURCE: Thomas Massaro SJ. Nine Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, TASK: Read Massaro s chapter, and ask yourself: How do these principles support or challenge the social and political arrangements in Australia? What transformation would be necessary to align our society more fully with these principles? How can these principles, especially 1-3, be seen to support the inherent dignity of children, as expressed in our study in Module 3?

4 ACTIVITY: THE PLACE OF CHILDREN AND CHILDHOOD IN CST EXAMINE THE PLACE OF CHILDREN AND CHILDHOOD IN CST PURPOSE: To examine the shifting place of children and childhood in Catholic Social Teaching over its 125-year history, and analyse the significance of this teaching for educational practice, especially the task of safeguarding children s welfare. This task seeks to focus on and apply the key learning outcomes in MLO1. RESOURCE: Ethna Regan, Barely Visible: The Child in Catholic Social Teaching, The Heythrop Journal 55 (2014): TASK: Regan points out that it is only in very recent years that Catholic Social Teaching has focussed upon children as subjects in their own right. This view coheres with our recognition in Module Two that it s in the very same period that the sociology of childhood s emergent paradigm turned to focus on the voice of the child. Given the historical limitations of CST documents account of children and childhood, read the article, and ask yourself: Although none of the documents discussed has its sole focus on children and childhood, what key principles should we take from CST in upholding and safeguarding the dignity of children? If you were asked to draft a document for the Pope on children and childhood, what would be your five key chapter headings? Which key concepts would you consider central to the document? What would be the draft s provisional title?

5 JOURNAL JOT A JOURNAL ENTRY: Explain, in a few sentences, the theological concepts or truths in this Module section that have caught your attention and given you new insight. How do these insights challenge, confirm, or extend your previous understandings or assumptions? If you took these new learnings on board, how would they change your self-understanding, your approach to life, or your educational practice?

6 4.2 U.N. CONVENTION ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS Pirozzi, Three schoolboys in Zimbabwe, UNICEF Poster 2006, Used with UNICEF New York Headquarters' permission The modern notion of human rights has its origin in the context of the Thirty Years War ( ) in Europe, during which eight million people were killed. It s hard to underestimate the impact of the war; some scholars speak of rivers of blood flowing through Europe. It began as a war between Catholic and Protestant states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, and developed into a wider conflict. In that context, Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius ( ) wondered how it might be possible to create a political community based on our shared humanity, rather than on confessional belief. It is through Grotius s work, and that of others, that what we call human rights (which, at the time, were called natural rights) came to influence social and political life in the West. A right is something that, in principle, an individual can waive (hence, we now speak of some rights as inalienable ), and which each individual has a role in enforcing. The notion of rights involves a philosophy of the person and of society, attributing great importance to the individual and making significant matters turn on his or her power of consent. A crucial question, then is: how can we live together in a religiously diverse nation while recognizing human rights, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? Renowned US political philosopher John Rawls ( ) developed an approach to answering this question which has been widely accepted. He speaks of citizens in multi-cultural societies having a plurality of reasonable yet incompatible religious and moral perspectives (what he calls comprehensive doctrines ). Liberal polities of their nature must be neutral towards these perspectives. However, liberal polities are not neutral to fundamental values, including human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Muslims, Christians and others, then, agree about these fundamental values, including human rights, but each from their own perspective, and with their own unique reasons. The fundamental values are shared, the justifying reasons are not. In this section of the Module Four, therefore, we will explore the theological reasons that Christians have to support and foster the rights of children. We will even ask how a theological perspective enables us to deepen our understanding of those rights.

7 ACTIVITY: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS THEOLOGICALLY INTERPRET CHILDREN'S RIGHTS THEOLOGICALLY PURPOSE: To interpret children s rights from the perspective of a theology of children and childhood. This activity focuses immediately on MLO2. RESOURCES: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) A Simplified Version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Your theological learning from Module 3 TASK: Focusing on one (or maximum two) of what you judge to be the most significant articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, contribute a post to Online Forum 3 [500 words]: 1. Summarizing the meaning of the article(s); 2. Discussing, in the light of this Unit s key themes, how that meaning could be expressed and upheld from a Catholic theological perspective; and 3. Reflecting on how that theological perspective is embedded in the life of your school (or the schools you are involved in) and on how it could be further embedded? After contributing your own post, respond to one of your classmates posts, respecting his or her contribution, and aiming to contribute to the group s learning [166 words]. You might: 1. Draw attention to a further aspect of a theological approach to childhood that could enhance your classmate s discussion; 2. Suggest other strategies for the implementation of that article from a Catholic theological perspective; or 3. Raise a question that could lead to further discovery on your classmate s part.

8 JOURNAL JOT A JOURNAL ENTRY: Explain, in a few sentences, the theological concepts or truths in this Module section that have caught your attention and given you new insight. How do these insights challenge, confirm, or extend your previous understandings or assumptions? If you took these new learnings on board, how would they change your self-understanding, your approach to life, or your educational practice?

9 ACTIVITY: ASSIGNMENT 2 - RESPONSE TO JOURNAL INTEGRATIVE RESPONSE TO JOURNAL PURPOSE: To synthesise the significant insights from the key learning/issues arising your journal entries, then to integrate these insights with your views and assumptions prior to doing this unit, and with how these impact on your role in education. RESOURCE: Five or six key themes, issues, or questions from your journal entries. TASK: Select five or six key themes, issues, or questions from your journal entries, particularly those that depict you coming to significant new insight. For each of those five or six: 1. describe in a few sentences the insight that you gained; 2. contrast that view with your previous view or assumption; and 3. discuss the significance of that insight for your role as a teacher, principal, or educational leader, particularly your role in safeguarding children s welfare. [1000 words in total]