Personal Reflection on Teaching in a Catholic School Setting

This essay is a reflective piece by a student on their experience as a teacher in a Catholic school, exploring the integration of faith and education. The author discusses their understanding of Catholic education, the role of a teacher in fostering a relationship with God, and their personal journey in embracing the six tasks of Catechesis: Believing, Celebrating, Living a Moral Life, Living in Communion with Christ, Living in Solidarity, and Praying. The essay provides a personal account of the author's experiences in a kindergarten school, highlighting their evolving perspective on proselytization, the importance of critical thinking, and the application of Christian principles in the classroom. The author connects their vocation to the five marks of a Catholic school identity, emphasizing the significance of a faith-infused curriculum and a moral worldview. The essay concludes with the author's appropriation of the Catholic worldview regarding education, emphasizing the values of service and non-discrimination, ultimately aiming to be an ideal Catholic teacher.

Running head: CATHOLIC EDUCATION
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The activity of imparting and receiving education is held in high esteem in the Catholic
Faith, which is considered to be having a status equivalent to spirituality and religiosity. By
means of imparting and receiving education, an individual upholds the moral duty the legacy of
which has been handed down by Christ himself, through his apostles. A major portion of the life
of Christ has been spent in spreading the sermon of God the Father to the mankind which was
beneficial in bringing about an egalitarian society, free shackles of ignorance and free from the
bondage of injustice whereby everyone was supposed to be considered to be equal.
In the Bible, there are immense amount of evidences which show that Jesus Christ was a
teacher and as per the divine wish. Jesus Christ had embarked upon devoting himself to the
divinely sanctioned duty of educating the masses and spreading the word of God at a very early
age of twelve which is often referred to as his first sermon. Later on in his life when he grew up,
Christ had delivered his sermon at the mount which consists of a collection of moral principles
which one ought to follow in order to lead an ideal life. Finally, before his death on the Last
Supper, convinced of his imminent death Christ had commanded his twelve apostles that they
were supposed to do the same as he himself did, and that was of spreading the word of God on
his behalf posthumously. Through the gesture of breaking the bread, the offering of the wine to
God and washing the feet of his disciples, Christ had conveyed the message to his disciples that
they were supposed to do the same as per his commandment.
It might seem apparently that the Christian teaching is deeply entrenched in
indoctrination and proselytism and spreading the practices of Christian religion, but that is a
misinterpretation. One is supposed to view the inner meaning of the acts and that implies the
spirit of educating oneself and spreading the education to others without forcing anyone to accept
the ideas. The message of Christ was to spread and to educate, and not imposition. Christ himself

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had by his life taught the masses to be critical and that is very much immanent in the fact that he
had challenged the customs and practices which were prevalent in his times in the Jewish
society. He had to lay his life down for it which reiterates the vitality of education and educating
in the Christian faith.
Having provided an idea of the centrality of education in the Christian faith, the
discussion in the following sections shall be devoted to the provision of a reflective description
of the thesis statement that Catholic faith based schools and classroom are a place whereby
education becomes the means by which the children tend to develop a strong relationship with
God. The thesis statement shall be substantiated by means of providing my personal experience
as a Catholic teacher which I have gathered at a kindergarten schools in a rural area. The basic
question that needs to be addressed in this essay is that of how I place myself as teacher in the
vocation of faith. In this following sections of the essay I shall be talking about how I have lived
up to the Six Tasks of a Catechesis, how much have I lived up to the value of being an excellent
Catholic Educator and how far have I been able to do justice to the five marks of a Catholic
School Identity. Not just an appropriation of the values and the experience but more importantly
the idea herein is to convey what the idea of being a Catholic teacher in a Catholic educational
set up means to me.
The six values or the tasks that a Catechesis ought to live up are of Believing,
Celebrating, Living a Moral Life, Living in Communion with Christ, Living in Solidarity and
Praying. In my vocational experience as a teacher at the kindergarten school in the rural region, I
have been able to gather a different insight and interpretation to the values and in the process I
have felt that I have become even more spiritual and could feel the presence of God in my life.
That has changed my view of being a teacher in totality and I have realized why the task of

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teaching is esteemed so high as an act of spirituality and religiosity. I had this misconception that
I was supposed to proselytize and win over the views of the students towards Christian faith, but
I was wrong. I had to refer to back to the Bible and educate myself more on the inner meaning of
Christ and his mission of dissemination education or the message of God to the world. I realized
that the aim is to be all embracing and spread the word of God in a way which shall appeal to the
sense and sensibilities of all sections of the society, inclusive of both Christians and Non
Christians. Hence I came around to the idea that my vocation as an educator in a catholic faith
based educational institution should be able to derive the symbolism of the life of Christ and his
activities and apply them to my pedagogical approach. I have thus derived the inference that I
must have faith in myself that I am capable of being an impartial and efficient teacher.
Praying implies spirituality and the spirit of being able to introspect and find out whether
my pedagogical approach is doing justice to the role of a teacher and reach at ways in which I
could be able to be a better teacher the next day compared to the present day. In order to live up
to that I am supposed to be live in communion, lead a moral life and forge a sense of solidarity in
the teaching environment. The three ideas are interconnected to each other and they can be
secularized. Forging solidarity and living in communion implies that I am as a teacher supposed
to reconcile the differences in the school environment by means of presenting myself as a an
embodiment of morality so that my students also learn from my example and implement that in
their own lives. That shall be the celebration of the vocation of being a teacher in a catholic
institution, as I shall be imbibing the spirit of Christ in my students without proselytizing them,
like Christ did. If I live up to these six values I shall be doing justice to the five marks of a
Catholic School identity which are similar and relateable to each other. The five marks of a
catholic school identity of living up to Christian principles imbued with a catholic worldview

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which are but very much similar to the secular universal moral world view. Apart from that it
also includes a faith infused curriculum which is very much immanent in the spirit of being
critical and unbiased; of living by the values of the gospel and implementing the moral vision
written in it and being highly spiritual. These are essential conditions which one needs to fulfill
in order to be an ideal catholic teacher.
As it has already been mentioned that education is equivalent to spirituality in
Christianity, hence as a teacher I was supposed to utilize my qualities to the best in order to
enhance the educational experience of the children. Each child that I was supposed to teach in
the school was to be treated as a special gift of God and I am supposed to cater to their respective
requirements in an unbiased manner. I am there teacher and I am supposed to be a role model to
them to whom they are supposed to convey their problems and grievances and I am supposed to
solve their issue just like Christ listens to our prayers and grants our wishes. Similarly, as a part
of my vocation in the Christian educational setup I was supposed to follow the example of Christ
and help my students develop to their best. Christ considered himself as the Good Shepherd and
to him each of his lambs were equally important as they were the creation of God. Similarly,
each of my students are supposed to be a gift to me by God whose individuality I am supposed to
cherish and enable them to develop to their best.
Thus having come at the concluding section, I shall provide an appropriation of the
Catholic worldview with regard to education which I have derived during my vocational
experience as teacher in a Catholic set up. I have come to terms with the fact that Christianity or
Catholicism is a way of life, a set of values and a devotion to service which can be implemented
even by non catholics in order to enhance the experience of learning and educating. Christ had
lived up to his commitment to God the Father by serving mankind and as a Christian, a catholic

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my vocation should be to live up to the values of the religious faith and serving mankind without
discrimination, and that shall make me an ideal teacher and also an ideal catholic.

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References
Groome, T. (2014). Catholic education: from and for faith. International Studies in Catholic
Education, 6(2), 113-127.
Groome, T. H. (2003). What makes a school Catholic?. In The contemporary Catholic school
(pp. 111-129). Routledge.
Groome, T. H. (2011). Will there be faith?: A new vision for educating and growing disciples.
Harper Collins.