As a Catholic school teacher, I have sat through countless
curriculum development meetings aimed at making more effective teachers. I
should be an expert in writing objectives using Bloom’s taxonomy action verbs,
limiting lectures to allow for student engagement, and incorporating technology
in the classroom. In the end, I think what makes the best teacher, is one that
puts his students first. The ultimate goal is that they learn. I am not teaching for myself, I am teaching for them.
By the time of Vatican II, the Catholic Church began to make the realization
that the Church is the people of God. The people of God are no longer just a
collection of sheep that needed to be blindly guided by the shepherds (clergy).
They clergy exist for the people of God. Thomas Rausch notes that this
realization is evident by just looking at the order ordering of the chapters to
Lumen Gentium, (Rausch 24). Chapter two on the Church as the People of God
comes before chapter 3 on the clergy.
One lesson leaned in the countless curriculum meetings is
that students also generally learn better when collaborating with one another.
Students discover new ideas when engaging in conversation with other students. God
did not design man to be alone. Even before sin, when the world was still
perfect, Adam knew that something was missing, so God made a “suitable partner
for him” (Gen 2:18). LG also notes that God does not save man as individual,
rather as a communal people (LG 9). The Unites States Conference of Catholic
Bishops also notes the need for us to be in communion with one another, Call toFamily Community and Participation is one of its social teachings. In a
productive classroom, students are united together and learning with the
teacher, not merely under the teacher. In the same way, Christians are united
together under the guidance of the clergy and with the clergy. The laity are
now called to participate in all aspects of the common priesthood, such as
serving the poor, participating in the Mass through being Eucharistic
ministers, lectors, and active participation in the congregation.
Rausch, Thomas P. Towards a Truly Catholic Church: An Ecclesiology for the Third Millennium. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2005. Print.
Photo taken by me at the Jesuit Novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA
Being a former teacher and now as an evaluator for children for special education I can identify with your perspective. Educators go to great lengths to engage students in meaningful learning. As you pointed out we, the flock, are no longer asked to follow the shepherd blindly but to participate with clergy as the People of God. In using teaching metaphors, the laity in the church before Vatican II were like rote learners saying mass or perhaps not even that involved as Professor John O’Malley pointed out in the video "What Happened in the Vatican". Professor O’Malley described the reform of the liturgy as emphasizing the “collegial nature of our life together as Christians”. “Though they differ essentially and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are none the less interrelated; each in its own way shares in the one priesthood of Christ”. (LG10) In that case we are no longer rote learners but are given the permission to collaborate, much like teachers and students engaged in a lesson together, and to participate in the church using our individual charisms.
ReplyDeleteAs excited as I was in this validation from Vatican II, my excitement was soon diminished after attending mass. The homily was on the priest’s recent participation in the March for the Right to Life, in Washington DC, an important issue for a People of God. He was excited that there was such a positive response and that the march this year appeared bigger and better than last year. However I was soon disheartened as his delivery began to feel judgmental and punitive. He praised the large family that homeschooled their children and drove to be a part of the march while sharing his surprise that “exotic” groups such as lesbians and gays and bikers would be pro-life. He reiterated that artificial birth control is a sin while shaking his finger. I felt compassion for members of the congregation that identify with these “exotic” or “sinful” groups. Last week I was surprised that the model I identified with was Church as Mystical Communion (Rausch 64, Dulles 42) but in thinking about it, I came to a better understanding of what church is to me and what feeds me in my vision of church as well as my ministry. I am a peacemaker in terms of Enneagrams. I want harmony. I feel most comfortable and fed in an environment, including church, in which there is hospitality for all. My experience at mass Sunday helped me to understand this. In the past I would have internally railed against the priest and church as a whole, but now I am beginning to feel validated through the lens of Vatican II that as a People of God we are invited to collaboratively be a People of Bread, internalizing God’s love and hospitality and sharing that message each in our own way. My way, if led by the Holy Spirit, is as valid as any other way.
Iamtheclay, you name an important challenge here that the Church (us included) struggle with. How to be dialogical, collaborative, contextual and participatory, all the while claiming the concrete identity, beliefs and teachings of the Christian tradition. One extreme can lead to relativism, while the other leads to exclusivism. Between these two, the Church strives to find the balance and harmony between openness and truth, pastoral outreach and doctrinal adherence. Blessings,
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KevinG - I appreciate the "pedagogy of Vatican II" that you have distilled from the readings. In the spirit of what can we learn from the Council, you have landed on the question of "what can we learn about teaching and learning" from the Council. John O'Malley's "litany of shift in core values" that he shares in "What Happened at Vatican II", such as the shift from command to invitation, monologue to dialogue, laws to ideals, etc parallels really well the shift in contemporary pedagogical practices from a banking model of education toward a collaborative, contextual and dialogical one. Thanks for identifying this parallel! DZSJ
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