Catholic Curriculum Design Religious Education A the Curriculum

How to Promote Your

Catholic Mission/Identity

In All Subjects

Assistant Principal of Curriculum at St.

Charles Catholic High School

Contributing Writer and Consultant to

Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division

Loyola University New Orleans

Adjunct Faculty

Essential Question/Big Idea

How can math help you get to Heaven? / Your

school’s Catholic identity can improve the

rigor of each course in your school’s

curriculum.

Presentation Objective

You will be able to apply Catholic

Curriculum Design upon returning to

your school in order to improve your

school’s Catholic identity while

improving your school’s curriculum

rigor.

Part I:

Introducing Catholic Curriculum Design

We are an evangelizing Church!

Having a sense of the sacred would

help my students because….

Why is Catholic Curriculum Design Important?

Our Present Design?

Six Secular Classes Vs. One Religion Class

What if all courses embraced

their sacred dimension?

Defining Characteristics of a Catholic School

1. Centered in the Person of Jesus Christ

2. Contributing to the Evangelizing Mission of the Church

3. Distinguished by Excellence

4. Committed to Educating the Whole Child

5. Steeped in the Catholic Worldview

6. Sustained by Gospel Witness

7. Shaped by Communion and Community

8. Accessible to All Students

9. Established by the Expressed Authority of the Bishop

Benchmark 2.5

Faculty use the lenses of scripture

and the Catholic intellectual tradition

in all subjects to help students think

critically and ethically about the

world around them.

Benchmark 7.2

Standards are adopted across the

curriculum, and include integration

of the religious, spiritual, moral, and

ethical dimensions of learning in all

subjects.

What do you see?

What does it mean to do Catholic Curriculum Design?

Understanding your role as a teacher in a Catholic school can be as subtle and at the same time be as significant as the difference that you see in the picture.

Doing Catholic Curriculum Design is an old way of thinking that has come back in a new way.

It’s important to see the “both/and” instead of the “either/or.”

Catholic Curriculum Design … is designing a learning experience

in light of the Gospel

that invites discovery,

challenges assumptions of learners,

and motivates action

as it applies to the revelation

of God’s creation.

Catholic Curriculum Design

Catholicity of Essential

Questions / Big Ideas

Academic Standards

Content (Nouns)

Skills (Verbs)

Catholicity of Assessment

Part II

Understanding the Curriculum as SACRED

(Sacred Secular)

The word that describes my mission as a

teacher/administrator is….

The Story of Ego and Spirit

Catholic Curriculum Design

Invites you to

approach education from

Spirit

not ego.

Does creation reveal God’s love to you? CCC 288

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be. (John 1: 1 & 3)

All of creation is the curriculum of human inquiry.

Did you know that the theory for the

Big Bang was first proposed by a

Fr. George Lemaitra, a Catholic priest

and a professor of physics?

…the whole universe together participates in the divine

goodness more perfectly, and represents it better than any

single creature whatever. Summa Theologica Question 47 Article 1

PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE creation comes into being through Christ.

Christ is the principle of creation and redemption. CCC 792

Catholic education understands that the mystery of

God is being revealed in its curriculum.

We come to know the artist through the art.

As Catholic educators we are invited to help our students see…

their relationship with the world,

their relationship with others,

and their purpose in life as

sacred endeavors.

Part III

Creating Catholic Curriculum Design:

Helping Students to See with Their Spirit

Does this mean I have to add teaching

religion to my curriculum?

Goal: To use our Catholicity to teach your curriculum.

Step 1: Teachers and students are called to reflect on the sacred dimension of

their curriculum.

Use reflections on exams, tests, or

bell-ringers to start or end class.

Step 2: Go deeper. Develop essential

questions and big ideas for lesson design and

assessment.

Develop Essential Questions and Big Ideas That:

Are thought provoking

Focus instruction and organize student learning

Push students to higher levels of thinking.

Help students make connections beyond the content being studied.

Teaching the Essential Question and Big Ideas

Teach students the essential questions and big idea before you begin the unit.

“Mental Velcro”

Why Essential Questions?

FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT

Multiplication

Catholicity:

What would happen if God

did not create multiplication?

Essential:

How is multiplication used

in our daily life?

Without Essential Questions…

FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT

Multiplication

Step 3: Use your curriculum to

develop service learning projects.

Help students see that they are not

the passengers of life but its crew.

Three Categories of Catholic Curriculum

Word

Works

Worship

Word – beliefs

Sacred Word Questions Word type questions have to do with beliefs.

Who is God?

What is creation?

Why did God create us?

What is the meaning and purpose of life?

Works – Moral teachings

Sacred Works Questions Works type questions have to do with how someone or societies

act or live.

Is an action right or wrong?

What value does this action hold?

How will an action benefit or hurt others or other parts of God’s creation?

How does the curriculum lend itself to the Gospel’s call to justice?

Worship - prayers, rituals, or

liturgical celebrations

Sacred Worship Questions Worship type questions have to do with prayers, rituals, and

liturgical celebrations.

What are we asking of God?

How do we show gratitude to God and for all creation?

How do we remember and celebrate those experiences that shape our world?

How do we signify our passages into a new life and into a new world?

Questions to Encourage Do ask questions that encourage students to go deeper into the

content of their curriculum.

Do ask…

How is learning math like learning to pray?

How is a character of a story supporting or breaking God’s commandments?

What affect does science have on your relationship with God?

Questions to Avoid

Do not ask questions that are meant specifically for religion/theology class.

Don’t ask…

Can you recite a prayer?

Can you list the 10 commandments?

What is your relationship with God?

The “Spirit” of Language Arts Created "in the image of God," man also expresses the truth of

his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. CCC 2501

The “Spirit” of Math “…there can never be any

real discrepancy between faith and reason. CCC 159

Math is one expression of our human gift in the art of reasoning.

Math holds one of the primary keys to understanding the order of God’s universe.

Math

It’s the one class that we can’t fall back on memorization.

It calls us to think and problem solve.

The “Spirit” of Science “The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is

being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.” CCC 159

“God did not throw the dice to create the universe.” Einstein

The “Spirit” of Science

Post-modern science rejects the modernist notion of “survival of the fittest.”

Instead, it embraces the Gospel concept of “survival of the most loving.”

The “Spirit” of Social Studies

"The Church. . . believes that the key, the center and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master.“ CCC 450

The “Spirit” of Social Studies

If God is master of history, there is always a sacred lesson in the story of the world. We should no more neglect the stories of our planet any more than we should neglect our stories of faith.

Characteristic of free societies is to take the study of history and social systems very seriously.

Sample Questions

Sample questions are meant to prime the pump.

Use your expertise in your curriculum to create good questions for discussion.

Language Arts “Word” Questions (Grammar) Why are the rules of grammar an important part of

God’s creation?

(Literature) How is this novel describing the human condition? What are we as Christians called to do about it?

Language Arts “Works” Questions (Grammar) How would you relate the rules for grammar to the 10

commandments?

(Literature) Compare and contrast a character in literature to the ideal Christian life.

Language Arts “Worship” Questions How can the self-expression of journalism be important to spiritual

development?

Where can you find the paschal mystery, life-death-resurrection, expressed in literature?

Math “Word” Questions What concept in math describes how or why God created the

world?

What concept or principle in math helps describe who God is to you?

Math “Works” Questions Think of a math equation that has rules, procedures, or concepts

that can be applied to living our life?

Where would survival on the planet be today without our human ability to do math?

Math “Worship” Questions How can doing math be considered a form of prayer?

What is a key formula or principle of math that should be celebrated because of the creative opportunities that it has provided?

Science Word Question How has science contributed to your understanding of what place

humans hold in the universe?

How do you see God working through science?

Science Works Questions Describe something you have learned from science that if more

people knew or understood would help to make a better world.

What would be some moral and immoral uses of science?

Science Worship Question

There have been significant discoveries made in science. Which one do you think has made the greatest impact on our lives in a positive way? Write a prayer that celebrates that discovery.

• We use basic elements to create and signify important moments in our faith, such as, water, oil, bread, wine, etc. What are some of the basic elements God used to create our world and what significant part do they play in making new life?

Social Studies Word Questions Do you believe God acts in history in some way? Why or why not?

What do specific events tell us about our human condition?

Social Studies Works Questions Why is the knowledge and understanding of social studies

important to the Christian mission?

Take a significant event in history and relate it to the Gospel message.

Social Studies Worship Questions What event in history, outside of Church and Scripture, should we

be most thankful?

What current event do you think most deserves our prayers?

Check out a school system that has a well-developed

Catholic curriculum - Saskatchewan Catholic Curriculum

Online.

http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/cco/

Contact Information Triche.douglas@stcharlescatholic.org

985-653-3809 ex 120

Blog: religiousedacrosscurriculum.wordpress.com

The End