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Connections
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| Posted: May 19 2011 at 4:12pm | IP Logged
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I think this is a simple question but I am not so sure the answer is simple. Or maybe it is. I am really interested in your feedback.
Does the Catholic Church teach us that our children should work hard on academics? In other words, whether our children are quick to pick things up, need a little extra time or are on par with the majority, is it our obligation to devise (or utilize) an educational path that challenges them and gets them to stretch themselves academically?
Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: May 19 2011 at 4:52pm | IP Logged
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Tracey, below I have highlighted a few sections of Pope Pius XI's encyclical Divini illius magistri. They speak generally to the purpose of Christian education, and also comment on the problem of allowing children total "free rein" and not working with them on habits of virtue:
Divini illius magistri wrote:
58. In fact it must never be forgotten that the subject of Christian education is man whole and entire, soul united to body in unity of nature, with all his faculties natural and supernatural, such as right reason and revelation show him to be; man, therefore, fallen from his original estate, but redeemed by Christ and restored to the supernatural condition of adopted son of God, though without the preternatural privileges of bodily immortality or perfect control of appetite. There remain therefore, in human nature the effects of original sin, the chief of which are weakness of will and disorderly inclinations.
59. "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child and the rod of correction shall drive it away."[40] Disorderly inclinations then must be corrected, good tendencies encouraged and regulated from tender childhood, and above all the mind must be enlightened and the will strengthened by supernatural truth and by the means of grace, without which it is impossible to control evil impulses, impossible to attain to the full and complete perfection of education intended by the Church, which Christ has endowed so richly with divine doctrine and with the Sacraments, the efficacious means of grace.
60. Hence every form of pedagogic naturalism which in any way excludes or weakens supernatural Christian formation in the teaching of youth, is false. Every method of education founded, wholly or in part, on the denial or forgetfulness of original sin and of grace, and relying on the sole powers of human nature, is unsound. Such, generally speaking, are those modern systems bearing various names which appeal to a pretended self-government and unrestrained freedom on the part of the child, and which diminish or even suppress the teacher's authority and action, attributing to the child an exclusive primacy of initiative, and an activity independent of any higher law, natural or divine, in the work of his education.
71. The first natural and necessary element in this environment, as regards education, is the family, and this precisely because so ordained by the Creator Himself. Accordingly that education, as a rule, will be more effective and lasting which is received in a well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian family; and more efficacious in proportion to the clear and constant good example set, first by the parents, and then by the other members of the household. |
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So, I would comment that 1)just punishment (not harsh or abusive) to correct bad habits/vices is appropriate and 2) encouraging children to the full development of their own natural gifts so that they might be of service to God in a supernatural way is important. I don't personally think this means any particular method or curriculum; rather, it is a continuous process of instilling the habits of virtue and the ideas of diligence and excellence for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Regardless of your curriculum or the natural gifts of your child(ren), virtue and excellence can be encouraged.
When the rubber meets the road in the everyday life of the homeschooling mother, this really means a great demand upon us as far as our level of consistency in teaching and character formation. I admit that I often fail in this area, but keep on striving to do better and to be more virtuous myself:
St. Paul wrote:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but
I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.--Phil 3:12-14 |
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ETA: Hope this isn't all just TOO general for what you asked! 
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Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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Kathryn
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| Posted: May 19 2011 at 6:56pm | IP Logged
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stellamaris wrote:
When the rubber meets the road in the everyday life of the homeschooling mother, this really means a great demand upon us as far as our level of consistency in teaching and character formation. I admit that I often fail in this area, but keep on striving to do better and to be more virtuous myself:
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Interesting topic and as such I have my DS that struggles mightily in the academic arena so I ponder what God seeks for him constantly. And it's true sometimes that trying to instill this level of consistenncy in teaching AND character formation sometimes seems to be at odds. I think that, for me, it seems I'm constantly trying to teach him according to our current world standards and when so.much.time is expended in that realm it seems at odds with what I really want to accomplish.
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(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 20 2011 at 12:15pm | IP Logged
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One of the things which attracted me strongly to Catholicism -- and we were already homeschooling before our conversion -- was that I found here the perfect synthesis of everything that seems beautiful and important and right: a simultaneous tradition of faith (obviously, and all-encompassingly), art, music, and *intellectual pursuit.* Being on the same team as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and so on, was a huge draw for me. The truth claims come first, of course, but to realize that truth and rigorous inquiry weren't antithetical was like a door opening onto an infinite sunlit field -- if that's not putting it too fancifully.
Clearly the Church doesn't teach us that everyone has to be Thomas Aquinas. All we have to do is to look at the range of the saints, and even of those declared Doctors of the Church: you have Saint Thomas and the Summa, and then you have Saint Therese and her Little Way. And clearly the pursuit of an intellectual vision outside the pursuit of Christian virtue is a run on a downhill road.
Like anything in this world, the essential goodness of academic pursuits can be corrupted. If all you're after is to get your kid into a prestigious school, or to show up your skeptical family by putting your little geniuses on display, that's clearly prideful (and I won't say I haven't ever been guilty of something like that:)). We can misuse academic excellence just as easily as we can misuse anything else, by considering our own ends and our own glory, and by teaching our children to think of themselves as "gifted" and "superior" (which actually has always been my beef with schools' "gifted and talented" tracks and programs).
At the same time, it seems to me that to ask of your kids less than they're capable of doing, or to downplay the richness of the intellectual life, to whatever extent they're capable of pursuing it, is akin to ingratitude -- it's wasting a gift. It also seems to me that study itself teaches virtue. To have to persevere at something (including finding new ways to get at subject matter if what you've tried hasn't worked); to have to exercise the mind and the hand; to commit things to memory and talk about them; to do one's absolute best in all things, even if that best is sometimes not that great, as a point of honor and a sacrifice offered to God -- all these things seem like excellent exercises in humility, patience, perseverance, and the rest. We often talk about how participation on sports teams, for example, is good for character-building, but our culture doesn't seem to consider so much that intellectual struggle can be every bit as rich an exercise in the development of good character.
So, I don't know if this is really what you were asking or just a tangent of my own, but so often people seem to speak as though faith and intellect (or fides et ratio!) were at odds with each other, and within the purview of the Catholic Church I just don't see that they are. It seems to me that in everything we do, we are to offer God our best; and also that the knowable universe He offers us is enormous and exciting, and it's right and good to want to know as much as we can about it.
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Connections
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| Posted: May 20 2011 at 12:57pm | IP Logged
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I am really enjoying reading your responses. All of your responses are relevant to my question and are helping me think this through.
Thank you for taking the time to share.
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Kathryn
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| Posted: May 20 2011 at 11:02pm | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
| so often people seem to speak as though faith and intellect (or fides et ratio!) were at odds with each other, and within the purview of the Catholic Church I just don't see that they are. It seems to me that in everything we do, we are to offer God our best; and also that the knowable universe He offers us is enormous and exciting, and it's right and good to want to know as much as we can about it. |
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Beautiful post and very well said, Sally!! In some ways I think that is helpful for me. I have to tell myself that sometimes yes, he is doing his best even if it's not meeting others expectations. Sometimes may be he's not doing his best b/c the expectations are just so very challenging for him and when anyone meets failure after failure, it gets harder to do your best.
I think where I find it sems to be at odds for me (faith vs. intellect) is that what the WORLD standards say my son should be doing is at odds with what he SEEMS to be capable of doing. Therefore, we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get him "up to par" so to speak, to the standards of what the state says he needs to know. In by spending so much time trying to meet these wordly standards, it can leave little time for building faith and character outside this education realm. Does that make sense?
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4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: Church's Teachings on Academic Work
