Quotes to Sit with the Ways of Working

Quotes to sit with the Ways of Working

Dialogue:

Each person is precious and unique and our value is rooted in the dignity of each and every one of us as a human person. As such, we are all worthy of respect, and we must consider as our brothers and sisters all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, nationality, physical ability, religion or economic status.

To go out from oneself and consider the world from a different point of view is not a denial of oneself, but, on the contrary, is necessary for enhancing one’s own identity.#38 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love Vatican City 2013

Catholic schools have in Jesus Christ the basis of their anthropological and pedagogical paradigm; they must practise the “grammar of dialogue”, not as a technical expedient, but as a profound way of relating to others. Catholic schools must reflect on their own identity, because that which they can give is primarily that which they are. #57 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools 2013

In the dialogue each person discovers their own perspective, and deepens their own perceptions of their life and their world. This process of discovery builds community and nurtures identity. (Haers, 2004)

Good teachers know that their responsibilities do not end outside the classroom or school. They know that their responsibilities are also connected with their local area, and are demonstrated by their understanding for today’s social problems. Professional preparation and technical competence are necessary prerequisites for teaching, but they are not enough. An expression of education lies in helping young people to understand their own time and plan their lives around a credible premise. Multiculturalism and pluralism are characteristic traits of our times; thus, teachers must be able to provide their students with the cultural tools necessary for giving direction to their lives. Moreover, teachers must allow their students, in the routine of the classroom, to experience real listening, respect, dialogue and the value of diversity.#83 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools 2013

The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of (economic) life is its vision of the transcendent worth — the sacredness — of human beings. The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of (economic) life must be measured. Economic Justice for All, #28 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools2013

“the school is thus becoming a place for dialogue and serene exchanges to encourage attitudes of respect, listening, friendship and a spirit of collaboration.”Pope Francis in

“education must make students aware of their own roots and provide points of reference which allow them to define their own personal place in the world.”[22] All children and young people must have the same possibilities for arriving at the knowledge of their own religion as well as of elements that characterize other religions. The knowledge of other ways of thinking and believing conquers fears and enriches ways of thinking about the other person and his or her spiritual traditions. Therefore, teachers are duty-bound always to respect the human person who seeks the truth of his or her own being, as well as to appreciate and spread the great cultural traditions that are open to the transcendent and that articulate the desire for freedom and truth. #18 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools 2013 Dialogue … must be cultivated for people to co-exist and build up a civilization of love. It is not a matter of playing down the truth, but of realizing the aim of education which “has a particular role to play in building a more united and peaceful world. It can help to affirm that integral humanism, open to life’s ethical and religious dimension, which appreciates the importance of understanding and showing esteem for other cultures and the spiritual values present in them.”[23] #20 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools 2013

Teachers and school administrators require new professional skills, aimed at reconciling differences, allowing them to dialogue with each other. Teachers and school administrators need to offer shared perspectives, while respecting the individual nature of different people’s development and world visions. #84 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

School leaders have the particular duty of providing what support is necessary for spreading the culture of dialogue, encounter and mutual recognition between different cultures. Both inside and outside the school, they promote all possible forms of collaboration that help to realize intercultural harmony.#85 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

Because of their intelligence and free will, people have both a right and a duty to participate in those decisions that most directly affect them. They are actively to shape their own destiny rather than simply accept the decisions of others. This right to participate belongs not only to individuals but also to groups and communities. St Columban’s Mission Society Catholic Social Teaching Available online at http://www.columban.org.au (Accessed on 15.7.04)

Ideas of ‘participation’, ‘agency’ and ‘rights’ does not necessarily need to be seen as the promotion of an individualistic approach, contrasting with a communitarian approach. …From a Christian point of view, focussing on human beings as beings created by God to live in relationships with due regard for others, the idea that children are agents challenges adults to respect the dignity of the child as a child (not as a ‘not- yet’ adult) and therefore his or her need to be given the opportunity of expressing his or her own voice as very valuable. Annemie Dillen, 2010.

Religion in the modern world is plural. Plurality of religious expression is not necessarily wrong. Dialogue is required. There is something deep and powerful when you move towards other people. You are lead to no longer needing to define yourself over and against another. You discover things you never expected in yourself and others. This requires openness. (Charles Taylor, Encounter, 2009)

Has a theological foundation : In the Catholic Tradition God ‘speaks’ to persons through word, ritual, symbol, sign, actions, experiences and through persons and community. God is a mediated God. God dialogues with people through the material world, through the stuff of life. In this way, God can never be contained in one particular historical time or place. We can never claim that everything that can be said about God, has already been said for all time. God continually speaks to or dialogues with believing peoples. This creates new ways of thinking, living and being with Other/other, i.e. God and each other. Janine Luttick

Dialogue is the process of coming to an understanding…. To reach an understanding in a dialogue is not merely a matter of putting oneself forward and asserting one’s point of view, but being transformed into a communion in which we do not remain what we were. (Gadamer, 1990.)

Enables the most vulnerable or marginalised to have a voice. (Haers, 2004)

Professional Inquiry: So that schools can develop as professional communities, it is necessary that their members learn to reflect and seek together. Schools are communities of shared practices, of communality of ideas and research. #86 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

“The purpose of the Christian tradition is not to simply repeat the truth, but to go in search of it.” Boeve

One cannot be content merely with an up-to-date didactic offering that simply responds to the demands deriving from the ever-changing economic situation. Catholic schools think out their curricula to place centre-stage both individuals and their search for meaning.#65 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads. Pope Francis, 2013

…Here, human self-understanding changes with time and so also human consciousness deepens…we grow in the understanding of the truth…the other sciences and their development help the church in its growth in understanding…The view of the church’s teaching as a monolith to defend without nuance or different understandings is wrong…After all, in every age of history, humans try to understand and express themselves better. So human beings in time change the way they perceive themselves. The thinking of the church must recover genius and better understand how human beings understand themselves today, in order to develop and deepen the church’s teaching. Pope Francis on Deepening Catholic Teaching by Encouraging Human Self-Understanding, August 31, 2013 The formation of the learner occurs within an evolving globalised world characterised by rapid technological and social change within multicultural and multi-faith societies. The educative purpose of the Catholic school in this context is to form a learner: … who is able to inquire about everything and everyone positively and with an open mind, inspired by a profound sense of humanity and by a connection with old and new stories, that can open alternative worlds that can grant… the Reign of God (Pollefeyt, 2006)

Dialogue .. … Is part of a searching way of life. [It] is concerned with active participation in the discovery of a truth. (Lombaerts 2009)

[Learning] … Involves discovering possibilities and being open to new futures, new ways of discovering God’s dream for all people. (Bieringer and Pollefeyt, 2005.)

Connected Learning:

Human beings are, in their most intimate nature, relational beings, who can neither live nor develop their potential without being in relationship with others. Men and women are not just individuals, like self-sufficient monads, but are open and grow towards that which is different from them. Man [sic] is a person, a being in relationship, who understands himself in relationship with others. #39 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

… it is primarily not cultures but persons who enter into contact with each other – persons who are rooted in their own history and relationships. Hence, understanding interpersonal relationships is the basic pedagogical paradigm, both the means and the end for developing the person’s very identity. This paradigm guides the idea of dialogue, ensuring that it is neither abstract nor ideological, but rather marked by respect, understanding and mutual service. #42 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

Moreover, it must be pointed out that teaching the Catholic religion in schools has its own aims, different from those of catechesis. In fact, while catechesis promotes personal adherence to Christ and maturing of the Christian life, school teaching gives the students knowledge about Christianity’s identity and the Christian life. Thus, one aims “‘to enlarge the area of our rationality, to reopen it to the larger questions of the truth and the good, to link theology, philosophy and science between them in full respect for the methods proper to them and for their reciprocal autonomy, but also in the awareness of the intrinsic unity that holds them together’. The religious dimension is in fact intrinsic to culture. It contributes to the overall formation of the person and makes it possible to transform knowledge into wisdom of life.” Therefore, with the teaching of the Catholic religion, “school and society are enriched with true laboratories of culture and humanity in which, by deciphering the significant contribution of Christianity, the person is equipped to discover goodness and to grow in responsibility, to seek comparisons and to refine his or her critical sense, to draw from the gifts of the past to understand the present better and to be able to plan wisely for the future.”[67] Finally, it counts that the teaching of religion is a field of study in schools. This gives it status, placing it alongside the other disciplines in the school’s curriculum, in a necessary interdisciplinary dialogue and not as a mere appendix. #74 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools recognizing the other person: one must avoid falling into the trap of imposing one’s own views on the other person, asserting one’s own lifestyle and one’s own way of thinking without taking into account the other person’s culture and particular emotional situation. #78 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

A Catholic school cannot be a factory for the learning of various skills and competencies designed to fill the echelons of business and industry. Nor is it for “clients “and “consumers” in a competitive marketplace that values academic achievement. Education is not a commodity, even if Catholic schools equip their graduates with enviable skills. Rather, the Catholic school sets out to be a school for the human person and of human persons. (Miller,2006,p.24)

The development of peoples depends, above all, on a recognition that the human race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side.”[46] #38 Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools

The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendent worth — the sacredness — of human beings. The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured. All human beings, therefore, are ends to be served by the institutions that make up the economy, not means to be exploited for more narrowly defined goals. Human personhood must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other, we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred. For that is what human beings are: we are created in the image of God (Gn 1:27). Economic Justice for All, #28 Catholic social teaching more than anything else insists that we are one family; it calls us to overcome barriers of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, economic status, and nationality. We are all one in Christ Jesus (cf Gal 3:28) - beyond our differences and boundaries. Communities of Salt and Light, page 10

"Am I my brother's keeper?" Yes, human beings are their brother's and sister's keepers. God entrusts us to one another. Our freedom has a relational dimension; we find our fulfillment through the gift of self to others. The Gospel of Life (Donders), #19

Solidarity helps us to see the 'other'-whether a person, people or nation-not just as some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to be exploited … and then discarded when no longer useful, but as our 'neighbor,' a 'helper'(cf. Gn. 2:18-20), to be made a sharer on a par with ourselves in the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God. On Social Concern (Donders), #39

In teaching the various academic disciplines, teachers share and promote a methodological viewpoint in which the various braches of knowledge are dynamically correlated, in a wisdom perspective. The epistemological framework of every branch of knowledge has its own identity, both in content and methodology. However, this framework does not relate merely to “internal” questions, touching upon the correct realization of each discipline. Each discipline is not an island inhabited by a form of knowledge that is distinct and ring-fenced; rather, it is in a dynamic relationship with all other forms of knowledge, each of which expresses something about the human person and touches upon some truth. Educating to Intercultural Dialogue #67

… collaboration in a spirit of unity and community among the various educators is essential and must be fostered and encouraged. School can and must be a catalyst, it must be a place of encounter and convergence of the entire educating community, with the sole objective of training and helping to develop mature people who are simple, competent and honest, who know how to love with fidelity, who can live life as a response to God’s call, and their future profession as a service to society. ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO THE STUDENTS OF THE JESUIT SCHOOLS OF ITALY AND ALBANIA, Paul VI Audience Hall, Friday, 7 June 2013

In order that the right to development may be fulfilled by action: (a) people should not be hindered from attaining development in accordance with their own culture; (b) through mutual cooperation, all peoples should be able to become the principal architects of their own development. Justice in the World #7