The Main Contemporary Issues in Catholic Schools - Essay Example

? The Main Contemporary Issues Facing Catholic Schools Introduction The issues that nowadays arise from the catholic schools cannot be compared to those that happened two decades ago. This is applicable to catholic schools around the world. However, some of the buzzard issues are witnessed in the schools found in Australia. These issues can be classified into three different perspectives, which are administrative, doctrinal and political. If someone decides to look at the issues taking place in the catholic schools today and the entire world, it would be clear to understand that people have lost their way. The concept of administration looks at the conflict taking place between the state and the church. This can be explained by the tendencies that have been eroded to contour the catholic faith while at the same time, it has been seen to obstruct the essential reforms (Grace, 2010). Politics that goes on around the world has interfered with the way the Catholic Church conducts its business. The people who have the knowledge and the necessary tools to tell the truth are shushed as they are still the minority. The world is marred with numerous teachings that are seen to be conflicting with the teachings in these catholic schools. For instance, in this case, the case study on Australian schooling in catholic school is the best example. Archbishop Polding who is the first Australian Bishop in 1862 gave the same description (Pell, 2006). He claimed that the curriculum used by the Catholics was adopted from the secular world, and the people should accept it. He continued that education should be implemented bit by bit in the manner in which children are always trained. Different bishops from the world including his successor Archbishop Vaughan supported the same sentiments. However, the leaders had to come up with different strategies, which would make catholic schools to be seen to differ from other secular schools. They focused their establishments on the integral nature of the things that usually happen to the students when they are at school. These issues have been seen change with reference to different standards, which are rudimental even today. The setup of these curriculums is difficult as time goes and that is why certain aspects are usually seen to be the conflicts associated with the set up. Birth Control and Contraception Everybody around the world has had of the teaching that lay emphasis on birth control and the use of contraceptives. The teachings in catholic schools are different as people are expected to shun the use of birth controls. The move against contraception did not start recently as in 1968, the catholic community was warned against contraception through the letter of Pope Paul IV titled Humanae Vitae, which is the Latin expression of Human life. The letter implied that the Christians should follow the teachings of the church that constantly denounce contraceptives as it is intrinsically wrong since it is a tool which prevents a new human life from coming to existence. The letter clearly terms contraception to be "Any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act [sexual intercourse], or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" (Humanae Vitae 14) (D'Orsa, 2008). When it talks of contraception, nothing is left out, as all the methods are included. They include condoms and other barrier methods, sterilization, spermicides, pills and coitus interruptus which is referred to as withdrawal method. In other cases, the Protestants conjured with the Catholics in the fight against contraceptives. However, they changed their belief after 1930 Lambeth Conference where they indicated that at some point the use of contraceptives was necessary. This was after the social pressure, which was growing amongst its members and the public, swayed them. It was not long before they decided to consent to the use of contraceptive in form of birth control all over the world (Davies, 2002). This made all the Protestants to follow the use of birth control, and the majority started practicing it. This is one of the teachings, which make it difficult for the catholic students to understand as the entire world is practicing it. However, the catholic community still takes a stand on the use of birth control methods claiming that it is against the design of God to the human race as others may call it the natural law. In accordance to God’s law, sex should be used for procreation. The other pleasures that accompanies sex is just a blessing from God to show that new life is possible as the husband and wife strengthen their love, respect and intimacy (D'Orsa, 2008). When here is a loving environment in a house, it would be a perfect place to nurture children. However, when sex is used for a different purpose rather than procreation, it becomes harmful to the spouses. Therefore, the bible clearly states that humans should not abuse Gods gift of intimacy and pleasure as it deliberately frustrates its purpose of procreation. Marriage The society nowadays has proven that they do not respect the essence of marriage. Many young people live together even though they are not married. The concept of family has been neglected and people have decided to be together terming the move as socializing. However, the bible teaching puts an individual to be social while at the same time be sacred (Grace, 2010). The nature of the society has confused the way people should live in accordance to God’s teachings. The world is controlled by politics and economics, which is seen to be the laws and policies governing the land. The society has decided to brand the staying together before marriage concept to be trial marriage (McLaughlin, 2001). Some of them claim that it is the determinant of knowing if the relationship can work. However, the idea is wrong and the bible states this clearly. There have also been cases where this does not work, and it has led to different conception of marriage all over the world. The catholic leadership should be able to tell the students in catholic schools the disadvantages that accustom the practice as majority of them interfere with the stability of the society. One of the major issues that have been reported around the globe is the high rate of divorce among the young lovers. Cohabitation has been seen to be to make couples loosing track in their communication. Some of the couples who have been seen to live together before marriage have complained of lower levels of sexual satisfaction (Engebretson, 2009). This explains the reason why different couples living together before marriages will tend to be involved with different lovers outside marriage. The couples also have disregarded the core values of marriages, as some will not pass through the rituals of marriages (D'Orsa, 2008). These rituals include counseling and parental consent to be together. As more people engage into the practice, there is encouragement of marital instability. It has been reported that majority of these relationships do not work, and the individuals would end up having different spouses before they finally settle down for actual marriages. The practice has also been reported to cause the highest rate of non-commitment by spouses, which has led to increased number of single parenting. Majority of the parents will brake up some after they have had children. Sense of Responsibility The tradition that has been implicated in catholic schools is the essence of responsibility and human dignity. It is true that a healthy community can be in existence if the correct protections are applied especially in accordance to the human rights. This would show that the society is responsible for its people. However, the challenges seen by the teachers in catholic schools are the explanation of the imbalance in the world where individuals languishing in poverty are more than the rich people are (McLaughlin, 2001). The state that the impoverished people live in is pathetic, and one can clearly see that the human rights are not met. In the Christian teachings, everybody has the fundamental right to have the basic needs or the things referred to as essential for human tendencies. There are also claims that human beings are entitled to be responsible to the people surrounding them from their family and the other individuals in the community. This is the reason why students in the catholic schools will find themselves confused with the things happening in the society. These sometimes make them feel like changing the world. Therefore, there are issues which the teachers in these schools should be able to make realize that there is a lot that they can do to the community especially the poor to make them feel part of the community. This should correspond with the teachings that everyone is inviolable to God. This means that they should be in a position of following the teachings from the bible. It is essential to express their sacred nature to God through their prayers and love for everybody without discrimination (Pell, 2006). This would make the poor realize that they are also important to the society. Nobody has the right to discriminate anybody because of their race, economic status or even physical appearance. They should also ensure that they propagate the justly conditions to everybody in association to the embedded human rights. These are the rights to health, to family, to home and the right to culture. The students should be taught how to engage with different people and let them understand their right to life (Grace, 2010). It would show them that they have a right to live, and they would involve themselves in developing good nature. They will decide to look at the essence of living by finding food, clothing, medical care and shelter. In addition, they should know that they have the right to good treatment if they have ill health, disabled, widowed, unemployment and old age. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers Many people are unemployed around the world. This has become one of the issues distressing numerous catholic school students. They normally ask themselves the reason behind this huge number while the bible clearly states that individuals should work in order to eat and sustain themselves. According to the society, the economy should work for the people and the economy should not dictate the people. As individuals work, they make a stand on making a living which will help them with their families (Davies, 2002). Everybody is expected to respect the dignity built on protection of work. When this is respected, individuals will also have no choice but to protects the work of individuals, fair and decent wages, and rights of joining unions, their privacy and the economic initiative the workers might indulge in. The other issue regarding work which disturbs many scholars is the unfair treatment at the work place by the management. Some of the workers fid themselves overworked and are not granted days to rest (Engebretson, 2009). For instance, some workers will work throughout the week and month for six months or more without rest. This is against the biblical teaching as Genesis emphasizes on getting rest on the seventh day of the week. The individuals seen not to work the days that are required, might be sacked or even suspended (McLaughlin, 2001). Thos that work as required, will be given incentives and rendered hard workers. This makes people to be at a cross road as they weigh their option of working hard or serving their creator. Some of the people do not have a choice but rather follow what is required of them by their bosses in order to put food on the table for their family. Therefore, students should be made to understand the essence of work in the society before looking at these challenges facing the workers. They should understand that human beings are obligated to work. This is one of the duties relegated to man after creation. Humans are also expected to maintain the development taking place around the world (D'Orsa, 2008). This can only be done when work is done. When it is a question of working without rest, will depend on the choices of the individual, as he has to weigh the options he has regarding his family and faith. Correlation Approaches The challenges faced in relation to correlating approaches were even experiences in 1930s to 1950s when the leaders of the catholic churches were unable to integrate the curriculum into schools. This was difficult for them as there were other correlating Christian doctrines. People had taken the religious education and merged it with other subjects such as science, nature and social studies (Davies, 2002). In the early days of education, religious leaders wanted the other subjects to be permeated with other subjects taught in schools. Today, it is easy as the government has made it easy for religious studies to be independent not to mention even the catholic curriculum can be accepted. The catholic leadership struggled to see to it that subjects to be taught independently (Pell, 2006). They ensured that subjects such as ecological education, catholic social teaching and aboriginal perspectives became correlated with some of the essential curriculum in schools. As they were implementing the curriculum, there were mixed reactions accompanying the implementation. Some people criticized it for being pietistic while others supported it by claiming that it had the necessary tools needed for education. The only claims that were directed by the scholars were that the people needed to make this imitative a success should be the teachers who were interested in teaching the students the correct teachings according to God’s teaching. The Student Profile Approach This approach has usually been implemented with the intention of having results at the end of the studies. This is because there are certain students who have a catholic background and is interested in being at the school while there are those that are just interested in being in the school. This approach is used during the selection of students joining the school, as the administration will look at the students who would be productive to the catholic school (McLaughlin, 2001). An extensive research is usually done, and the students who have a background catholic primary and secondary schools are given the first priority. The whole concept started out in the United States of America at the Jesuit Education Commission. They claimed that they wanted students who will turn out to be individual with faith and use it in justifying their purpose in the world. This is a practice challenging the association as numerous students miss out in their selection. The other issue involves the students who would change before they finish their studies (Pell, 2006). Some of the selected students would end up not to be interested in the education. This would have interfered with the spot who was interested, but did not get a chance due to the background. The issues that the administration usually looks at are culture, family past and present, the natural world, the social world of the individual and the social interaction. In the social interaction, they look at the friends and their interest in catholic education. Values Integration The first integration of values can be dated back to 1980s which was initiated by Sr. Carleen Reck (Davies, 2002). This was integrated with the visions of the Catholic Church. The school committees were asked to ensure that all the catholic values were considered during the implementation of the Catholic curriculum. They were also asked to choose particular values that they saw were fit and were workable for them. This also meant that they were required to explore the curriculum, which were mandatory and those that could be inserted intentionally. The visions and the values of the catholic schools was expected to be used together with the annual goals in reference to the management of the school (Davies, 2002). The aim was to ensure that the school adopted the Christian values which would help them. This is a controversial issue since the schools are always run different from the goals of the church. The management team of the school has their own goals of ascertaining that the students are taught the values which would help them in the society. These values have always been seen to be different from ones of the church and the administration. For one to be fully integrated into the Christian values, all it takes is interest and the urge, but one cannot be forced with the Christian values as there are people who are in school to acquire certificates while others are in schools because they are forced by parents (McLaughlin, 2001). The society is also seen to judge the church harshly in reference to the values they impose to the students. Students in catholic school are required to have the highest standards and values. However, there are those that will be caught in absurd behaviors, which do not match the Christian values. Therefore, the students should be guided accordingly so that they do not mess when they are in the society and tarnish the name of the school. Conclusion The concept perpetrated by the catholic curriculum shows that it is an importance it has in the community as it is sometimes used in referring to the truth the people arte expected to adhere to. However, this is an ideology, which is propagated to individual communities so that they would interpret it in their own way then practices it as they prefer. This is an application which is rendered to different people with regard to their ages and culture. It is for this reason that some of the practices initiated by Catholics are sometimes given room for negotiation so that it would suit individuals. This is the phrase used in contextualization of rules expected to be followed but some aspects are ignored. In layman’s language, this is the term used when making sense of truth in accordance to the changing times, cultural evolvement and changing of messages to suit the people. This means that in this modern time, the curriculum has been changed to suit that the people in this era. This is something that is not new to the catholic community, as it has always been done in order to favor the individuals at that particular moment. References Bishops of NSW and the ACT. (2007). Catholic Schools at a Crossroads. Sydney. Retrieved 25 January 2013http://www.arm.catholic.edu.au/educational-resources/catholic-schools-at-a-crossroads.pdf/view Bryk, A. S., Lee, V. E., & Holland, P. B. (2003). Catholic schools and the common good. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Davies, B. (2002). Rethinking schools and school leadership for the twenty-first century: changes and challenges. International journal of educational management. 16(4), 196-206. http://ezproxy.acu.edu.au/login?url=http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0951-354x&volume=16&issue=4&articleid=838823&show=html D'Orsa, T. (2008, April 16 - 18). In the second modernity it takes the whole curriculum to teach the whole Gospel. Paper presented at the Prophets of a future not our own: Queensland Catholic Education Commission Conference on Catholic Curriculum, Brisbane.  http://ezproxy.acu.edu.au/login?url=http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/ereserve/copyright/documents/DOrsa10936.pdf Engebretson, K. (2009) Both universal and local: The catholic/Catholic identity of the Catholic school within the Church. http://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/197683/Engebretson_Catholic.pdf George S. Worgul, James P. Hanigan, Luke Mbefo, Sean P. Kealy, & Komakech, William. (n.d.). Convergences and Conflicts in a Comparison of Lwo Marriage Tradition and Contemporary Catholic Understanding of Marriage. Grace, G. (2010).  Mission Integrity: Contemporary challenges for Catholic school leaders.  Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on Catholic Educational Leadership, Sydney, Australia. (August 2010) Grace, G. R. (2002). Catholic schools: Mission, markets and morality. London: Routledge. Hesburgh, T. M. (2004). The Challenge and promise of a Catholic university. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. Koppelman, K. L., & Goodhart, R. L. (2011). Understanding human differences: Multicultural education for a diverse America. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. McLaughlin, D. (2001). Roman documents on the Catholic school. In The changing Catholic school: exploring and challenging new roles. A literature review for the Queensland Bishop's Catholic schools research project 1998-2000. (pp. 65-82). Brisbane: Queensland Catholic Education Commission. http://ezproxy.acu.edu.au/login?url=http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/ereserve/copyright/documents/McLaughlin11528.pdf National Catholic Education Commission. (2002). Catholic School Governance. http://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=39&Itemid=53 Pell, G. (2006). Religion and culture: Catholic schools in Australia. The keynote address National Catholic Education Conference, Sydney, 27-29 September. http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/people/archbishop/addresses/2006/2006928_17.shtml Slawson, D. J. (2005). The Department of Education battle, 1918-1932: Public schools, Catholic schools, and the social order. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press. Woulfe, E., & Cassin, J. (2007). From present to future: Catholic education in Ireland for the new century. Dublin: Veritas. Read More