Schools adopt standard religion curriculum across the archdiocese
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Back to School, A Special Supplement Published August 24, 2007
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Principal Ruth Meiring of St. Patrick School in Carleton reads the Bible with fifth-grader Kayla Durbin. This year, grade schools across the archdiocese have a standard religion curriculum on which to base their lessons by grade. |
Carleton John and Laurie Durbin know what they want from their children's Catholic school. They both were raised at Catholic schools. Now, they're sending their two daughters, fifth-grader Kayla and first-grader Rachel, to St. Patrick.
"The Gospel life obviously is the origin of the Catholic Church," says John Durbin. "What we teach at home, we want to make sure that's reinforced at the school."
The goal of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit has long been to assist a child's primary educators the parents in teaching the academics, attitudes and actions of Christian life. But this year, religion teachers in every grade school across the archdiocese have a new tool to make sure that each child learns specific aspects about the Catholic faith at certain grade levels.
"The principals thought it was time that we were more unified," says Susan Leslie, associate superintendent in charge of curriculum for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Leslie has worked with teams of teachers and administrators throughout the archdiocese to draft a common lesson plan for religion classes to be used across all Catholic schools in metro Detroit. The plan is based on pre-existing guidelines established by the archdiocese's Office of Faith Formation, and every lesson taught to children is linked directly to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
"When you can take it right back to the documents of the Catholic Church, you're pretty safe to say it's OK to teach this, and your child is going to hear the truth," says Leslie.
Learning the faith
The standard religion curriculum, implemented by all schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit
ties each subject of study back to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
makes sure students transferring from one school to another are up-to-speed on learning about the faith.
stresses the importance not only of knowing the faith, but of practicing it through prayer and works of charity.
is the first step in creating a standard curriculum in various other subjects, such as English, math and social studies. | For example, in each of the first three grades, students learn to the extent of their understanding about baptism, angels and the corporal works of mercy.
In grades four, five and six, they delve into different levels of understanding about the Paschal Mystery, the Holy Spirit and what makes Catholics different from other Christians.
In junior high school, they learn the intricacies of the Blessed Mother and the saints, and learn how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
The standard religion curriculum is meant to ensure uniformity across schools for children who switch, year to year, from one school to another. It ensures that, regardless of the textbook a school uses, teachers have a common standard.
Leslie says the guidelines which are given to teachers in a checklist format isn't extremely detailed, but is designed to focus the general content of religion class. Depending on the teacher and school, educators often go well beyond what's required.
"Most of them do more than this," Leslie says. "This is just the basic, general guideline."
Beth Fleck, principal of St. Genevieve School in Livonia, says she's looking forward to adopting the curriculum as a cornerstone to religious education at the school. She and her teachers will add to it, she says but to have a foundation is important.
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
The Durbin family, parents John and Laurie (in back), and children Kayla (left) and Rachel, get ready for another year at St. Patrick School in Carleton, with principal Ruth Meiring (background). | "It's absolutely necessary that you always have a guideline in whatever you do," says Fleck. "Especially when you teach your faith, because you wouldn't want to miss teaching an important tenent of the faith to the children."
Across the archdiocese, at St. Mary School in St. Clair, principal Marylyn Pavlov says the standard religion curriculum which they enacted in the second semester of the 2006-07 school year has been a great help.
"For us, the most useful thing is just having it in place to begin with, because we didn't before," Pavlov says. "It gives us guidelines, instead of everybody doing what they think is best. There's some coherence there. And the thought of having it across the board (at all Catholic schools in the archdiocese) is very useful."
The standardized religious curriculum, which was put in place at many schools during the second half of the previous school year, is the first step in a comprehensive curriculum for Catholic schools in metro Detroit.
Building off of guidelines set for public schools and improving on them Leslie is working with educators throughout the archdiocese to draft common lesson plans for math and English. Within a few years, the idea is to have uniformity in the lessons and standards of all of the archdiocese's Catholic schools.
Leslie says the Catholic school standards need to be higher than those at public schools. In math, for example, the State of Michigan dictates that a child needs to count up to 100 in the first grade. In Catholic schools, however, the expectation is that a child can count up to 500 in the first grade.
"Teachers and parents are not used to 'average,'" she says. "They want a higher standard.
For sure, it will be more intense. It will be more difficult than state standards."
Being a Christ-centered collection of schools, however, the religion curriculum seemed the natural starting point. And, already, educators seem pleased with it.
Back at St. Patrick, principal Ruth Meiring says it's making a difference.
"The knowledge of our faith is going to be increased because of this," Meiring says.
And her school parents apparently agree.
"If they're learning something in school, and we know what part of the Catholic Catechism that refers to, it makes (the education) just that more complete," says Laurie Durbin.
"Our kids ask questions," she adds. "I don't know about other kids, but ours do."
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