Catholic Curriculum Design Religious Education A the Curriculum How to Promote Your Catholic Mission/Identity In All Subjects
Assistant Principal of Curriculum at St. Charles Catholic High School
Contributing Writer and Consultant to Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division
Loyola University New Orleans Adjunct Faculty
Essential Question/Big Idea How can math help you get to Heaven? / Your school s Catholic identity can improve the rigor of each course in your school s curriculum.
Presentation Objective You will be able to apply Catholic Curriculum Design upon returning to your school in order to improve your school s Catholic identity while improving your school s curriculum rigor.
Part I: Introducing Catholic Curriculum Design
We are an evangelizing Church!
Having a sense of the sacred would help my students because.
Why is Catholic Curriculum Design Important?
Our Present Design? Six Secular Classes Vs. One Religion Class
What if all courses embraced their sacred dimension?
Defining Characteristics of a Catholic School 1. Centered in the Person of Jesus Christ 2. Contributing to the Evangelizing Mission of the Church 3. Distinguished by Excellence 4. Committed to Educating the Whole Child 5. Steeped in the Catholic Worldview 6. Sustained by Gospel Witness 7. Shaped by Communion and Community 8. Accessible to All Students 9. Established by the Expressed Authority of the Bishop
Benchmark 2.5 Faculty use the lenses of scripture and the Catholic intellectual tradition in all subjects to help students think critically and ethically about the world around them.
Benchmark 7.2 Standards are adopted across the curriculum, and include integration of the religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical dimensions of learning in all subjects.
What do you see?
What does it mean to do Catholic Curriculum Design? Understanding your role as a teacher in a Catholic school can be as subtle and at the same time be as significant as the difference that you see in the picture. Doing Catholic Curriculum Design is an old way of thinking that has come back in a new way.
It s important to see the both/and instead of the either/or.
Catholic Curriculum Design is designing a learning experience in light of the Gospel that invites discovery, challenges assumptions of learners, and motivates action as it applies to the revelation of God s creation.
Catholic Curriculum Design Catholicity of Essential Questions / Big Ideas Catholicity of Assessment Academic Standards Skills (Verbs) Content (Nouns)
Part II Understanding the Curriculum as SACRED (Sacred Secular)
The word that describes my mission as a teacher/administrator is.
The Story of Ego and Spirit
Catholic Curriculum Design Invites you to approach education from Spirit not ego.
Does creation reveal God s love to you? CCC 288
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. (John 1: 1 & 3)
All of creation is the curriculum of human inquiry.
Did you know that the theory for the Big Bang was first proposed by a Fr. George Lemaitra, a Catholic priest and a professor of physics?
the whole universe together participates in the divine goodness more perfectly, and represents it better than any single creature whatever. Summa Theologica Question 47 Article 1
PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE creation comes into being through Christ.
Christ is the principle of creation and redemption. CCC 792
Catholic education understands that the mystery of God is being revealed in its curriculum.
We come to know the artist through the art.
As Catholic educators we are invited to help our students see their relationship with the world, their relationship with others, and their purpose in life as sacred endeavors.
Part III Creating Catholic Curriculum Design: Helping Students to See with Their Spirit
Does this mean I have to add teaching religion to my curriculum?
Goal: To use our Catholicity to teach your curriculum.
Step 1: Teachers and students are called to reflect on the sacred dimension of their curriculum.
Use reflections on exams, tests, or bell-ringers to start or end class.
Step 2: Go deeper. Develop essential questions and big ideas for lesson design and assessment.
Develop Essential Questions Are thought provoking and Big Ideas That: Focus instruction and organize student learning Push students to higher levels of thinking. Help students make connections beyond the content being studied.
Teaching the Essential Question and Big Ideas Teach students the essential questions and big idea before you begin the unit. Mental Velcro
Why Essential Questions? Multiplication Catholicity: What would happen if God did not create multiplication? Essential: How is multiplication used in our daily life? FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT
Without Essential Questions Multiplication FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT
Step 3: Use your curriculum to develop service learning projects.
Help students see that they are not the passengers of life but its crew.
Three Categories of Catholic Curriculum Word Works Worship
Word beliefs
Sacred Word Questions Word type questions have to do with beliefs. Who is God? What is creation? Why did God create us? What is the meaning and purpose of life?
Works Moral teachings
Sacred Works Questions Works type questions have to do with how someone or societies act or live. Is an action right or wrong? What value does this action hold? How will an action benefit or hurt others or other parts of God s creation? How does the curriculum lend itself to the Gospel s call to justice?
Worship - prayers, rituals, or liturgical celebrations
Sacred Worship Questions Worship type questions have to do with prayers, rituals, and liturgical celebrations. What are we asking of God? How do we show gratitude to God and for all creation? How do we remember and celebrate those experiences that shape our world? How do we signify our passages into a new life and into a new world?
Questions to Encourage Do ask questions that encourage students to go deeper into the content of their curriculum. Do ask How is learning math like learning to pray? How is a character of a story supporting or breaking God s commandments? What affect does science have on your relationship with God?
Questions to Avoid Do not ask questions that are meant specifically for religion/theology class. Don t ask Can you recite a prayer? Can you list the 10 commandments? What is your relationship with God?
The Spirit of Language Arts Created "in the image of God," man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. CCC 2501
there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. CCC 159 Math is one expression of our human gift in the art of reasoning. Math holds one of the primary keys to understanding the order of God s universe. The Spirit of Math
Math It s the one class that we can t fall back on memorization. It calls us to think and problem solve.
The Spirit of Science The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are. CCC 159 God did not throw the dice to create the universe. Einstein
The Spirit of Science Post-modern science rejects the modernist notion of survival of the fittest. Instead, it embraces the Gospel concept of survival of the most loving.
The Spirit of Social Studies "The Church... believes that the key, the center and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master. CCC 450
The Spirit of Social Studies If God is master of history, there is always a sacred lesson in the story of the world. We should no more neglect the stories of our planet any more than we should neglect our stories of faith. Characteristic of free societies is to take the study of history and social systems very seriously.
Sample Questions Sample questions are meant to prime the pump. Use your expertise in your curriculum to create good questions for discussion.
Language Arts Word Questions (Grammar) Why are the rules of grammar an important part of God s creation? (Literature) How is this novel describing the human condition? What are we as Christians called to do about it?
Language Arts Works Questions (Grammar) How would you relate the rules for grammar to the 10 commandments? (Literature) Compare and contrast a character in literature to the ideal Christian life.
Language Arts Worship Questions How can the self-expression of journalism be important to spiritual development? Where can you find the paschal mystery, life-death-resurrection, expressed in literature?
Math Word Questions What concept in math describes how or why God created the world? What concept or principle in math helps describe who God is to you?
Math Works Questions Think of a math equation that has rules, procedures, or concepts that can be applied to living our life? Where would survival on the planet be today without our human ability to do math?
Math Worship Questions How can doing math be considered a form of prayer? What is a key formula or principle of math that should be celebrated because of the creative opportunities that it has provided?
Science Word Question How has science contributed to your understanding of what place humans hold in the universe? How do you see God working through science?
Science Works Questions Describe something you have learned from science that if more people knew or understood would help to make a better world. What would be some moral and immoral uses of science?
Science Worship Question There have been significant discoveries made in science. Which one do you think has made the greatest impact on our lives in a positive way? Write a prayer that celebrates that discovery. We use basic elements to create and signify important moments in our faith, such as, water, oil, bread, wine, etc. What are some of the basic elements God used to create our world and what significant part do they play in making new life?
Social Studies Word Questions Do you believe God acts in history in some way? Why or why not? What do specific events tell us about our human condition?
Social Studies Works Questions Why is the knowledge and understanding of social studies important to the Christian mission? Take a significant event in history and relate it to the Gospel message.
Social Studies Worship Questions What event in history, outside of Church and Scripture, should we be most thankful? What current event do you think most deserves our prayers?
Check out a school system that has a well-developed Catholic curriculum - Saskatchewan Catholic Curriculum Online. http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/cco/
Contact Information Triche.douglas@stcharlescatholic.org 985-653-3809 ex 120 Blog: religiousedacrosscurriculum.wordpress.com
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