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Keeping the 'Catholic' in Distance Learning
April 7, 2020 /in Academics, Blog Commentary, Online and Distance Education Latest, PR Register Column /by Patrick Reilly
Faithful Catholic schools are far better for Catholics than public schools. But how do they maintain their distinctive advantage when students are forced to stay home?
In important ways, Catholic schools are doing just that with the help of students' parents. And in this time of anxiety and isolation, the special character of Catholic schools is more important than ever.
"For Catholic educators, this trying experience can serve as a time to recall what Catholic schools do both differently and do well," write Dr. Denise Donohue and Dr. Dan Guernsey of The Cardinal Newman Society in "Maintaining Catholic Identity in Distance Learning Instruction." "We are good at community, prayer, integral formation, and creating a Catholic worldview."
Those four characteristics are repeatedly cited in Vatican documents as essential to Catholic education, and they suggest a good framework for ensuring that the "Catholic" of Catholic education remains strong, even when it is done remotely.
Community life under quarantine
In a crisis, families need community like never before. And even with social distancing—or perhaps especially because of social distancing—Catholics need each other for support and sanity.
For many families, a good Catholic school is a center of Christian fellowship with school leaders, teachers and other families. That's because Catholic schools teach students how to build authentic human relationships, and since witness is a powerful teacher, they model Christian communion in every classroom and activity.
"It is through the community that students receive 'a systematic and critical assimilation of culture' which passes along our Catholic traditions, values and beliefs," note Donohue and Guernsey. "In Catholic education, the community itself is considered a formative and educative means of student formation and development, where students learn Christian values by being exposed to Christian values—primarily through the witness of adults and others with whom they interact daily."
This community remains vital to Catholic distance learning, and teachers especially can be present to students and parents in their online classes, communications and prayers together.
"How much more important now is the presence of the teacher in these unsettling times, when coming together is difficult and 'social distancing' is the norm," ask Donohue and Guernsey.
Teachers can make a special effort to write handwritten letters to students, make phone calls and send video clips—always communicating through the parents, of course. In addition to giving lessons online, teachers should be "speaking from the heart and saying and doing human things to lighten the load and let students know you miss them but are in good humor." Most importantly, teachers and families should be praying for each other and with each other, whenever possible.
Prayer and sacrament
At faithful Catholic schools, students experience reverent Mass, Confession, frequent prayer and Eucharistic adoration. But confined to home without physical access to churches, Catholic school students may be feeling as much of a loss as adults.
Still, this "does not mean that our hearts and minds should be allowed to go on a spiritual vacation," warn Donohue and Guernsey. Teachers should begin every online class with prayer, just as in the classroom. And parents should be encouraged to continue school practices such as morning prayer and the Angelus at Noon.
Involving parents and siblings in the school's daily prayer life can be a positive outcome of schooling at home. "Helping families start these family rituals now can have a lasting effect on children's faith development for years to come. In some cases, families may be relying on us to pray with and form their students, and now is an opportunity to fully engage the domestic Church and leverage fuller participation moving forward."
Parents should be encouraged to mimic the physical arrangement of the school—not only designated work spaces and well-lit, quiet rooms for online coursework, but also the distinctive Catholic imagery and prayer spaces found in a Catholic school. If a home does not already have a substantial amount of Catholic artwork and a dedicated prayer corner (with crucifix, Bible, prayer cards, etc.), that can be easily remedied.
Forming mind, body, spirit
A faithful Catholic school is not only concerned about academics. It looks to form the student to be physically healthy and strong, morally clean and virtuous, and spiritually on the path to sainthood.
"Specifically tying subject-area materials to lessons on virtue or the faith can help make connections between course subjects such as history or English," suggest Donohue and Guernsey. "Identifying virtues and essential questions will help parents enter into the teaching, exemplifying concepts through discussion and example."
The loss of school athletics will be keenly felt by students, and they are likely to get less exercise at home, especially if they have access to computer games and television. Educators can encourage walking and bike riding, as well as physical activities like arts and crafts or playing instruments.
A Catholic school teacher, concerned as much for the student's welfare as for the ease of using computers for teaching and communication, will also recognize the dangers of forcing students to sit at a screen for much of the day.
"Whenever possible, break up discussion with individual work that students can do with pencil and paper or reading from a physical text," advise Donohue and Guernsey. "Teacher teams may want to quantify, coordinate, and ration screen time as a 'corporal work of mercy' to our poor students!"
Teaching a Catholic worldview
"…Catholic education does not just teach secular subjects like other schools but also imparts a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history, ordering the whole of human culture to the news of salvation," write Donohue and Guernsey.
This integrated approach with God the Creator as the foundation of every study requires some effort within distance learning. Teachers will be tempted to water down courses to facts that are easiest to teach remotely, but good Catholic school teachers will not neglect the importance of group discussion and opportunities to highlight truths that are evident in math, science, history, literature and more.
Ultimately, "a Catholic school can never go wrong with a good supply of literature to recommend." Allowing more time for students to read classic works at home does not detract from a Catholic education—it enhances it.
Overall, the COVID pandemic is making it very tough for Catholic schools to pay employees and plan for the future, but students can still be given an excellent Catholic education. If Catholic educators work to develop "thoughtful and comprehensive strategies to try to compensate for the suspension of in-person instruction," argue Donohue and Guernsey, then they can continue to exhibit the strengths of Catholic schools.
The greatest of these strengths is love. Educators can show "comfort and mercy" to "stressed and overwhelmed" students and be true partners to parents, who may be trying to work from home while ensuring that students' education continues without interruption.
When this time of "stay at home" and social distancing is over, teachers and students will be eager to return to their schools. In the meantime, distance learning can be truly Catholic and preserve the unparalleled advantages of Catholic education.
Tags: Commentary, K12
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