What is the secret of a Catholic education?

[DigitaLVampirE]

In the world of sport, a club which regularly finished top of the league at junior and senior levels, season after season, would be a dominant force. So Catholic schools in Scotland should be in high spirits. Under new school inspection arrangements, their establishments are regularly crowned the best in the country.

In March, St Mark's Primary School in Barrhead in East Renfrewshire received 11 excellent ratings, the best ever for a Scottish school, overtaking Our Lady of the Mission, Thornliebank from the same authority.

In the secondary sector, both St Ambrose High School in Coatbridge and St Andrew's Secondary School in Carntyne, Glasgow, received five indicators of excellence. The inspectors singled out pastoral care for particular praise in each of these schools. The achievement is all the greater for the fact that several of the schools serve mixed communities, including areas of deprivation.

Catholic schools in Scotland are in a paradoxical position. At a time when individual schools are receiving glowing inspection reports and attracting large numbers of non-Catholics through their gates, their right to exist is being questioned.

The Green Party's election manifesto for the recent Scottish Parliamentary elections explicitly questioned the future of Scotland's 390 state-run Catholic schools, with the result that two Catholic head teachers wrote to parents asking them not to vote Green. Meanwhile, the president of Scotland's largest teaching union has also called for an end to the right of veto the Catholic Church has over the appointment of teachers in Catholic schools.

Earlier this month, professor John Haldane, of St Andrews University warned the Catholic Headteachers' Association of a "determined effort to purge the public space of Catholic education".

So why are Catholic schools so successful? And do they have good reason to be so anxious?

Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, believes the quality of education in Catholic schools stems in part from having a coherent and consistent ethos, which in turn builds upon a sense of kinship within the school.

He says they have a strong sense of community: "The school is working with parents, teachers and pupils and has strong links to local churches. The very strong relationships which are fostered between home and school, and school and the community build a strong ethos of working together to address the full development of children."

McGrath, who was head teacher at Our Lady's High School in Cumbernauld for seven years, believes the excellent ratings received for pastoral care within Catholic schools derive from the Christian values which underpin them. "The schools have a strong sense of shared values built around Christian values. Often pastoral care is commended in inspector's reports where the school offers support to all young people within a system of discipline and dignity."

So could a similar strong ethos exist in schools without the religious element? McGrath thinks not: "Religion is not a single thing in school that is "done" in the RE lesson, but is part of the fabric, life and culture of the school. It's a fairly intricate weave of a whole range of threads."

The forces of secularisation are quite aggressively trying to confront the place of faith


This sense of community also has a positive effect upon behaviour within the schools, he argues.

Judith Gillespie, of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council says the success of Catholic Schools can be replicated elsewhere but only by replicating their key features: "One of the most significant things about the success of Catholic schools is that parents who send their children there have made a positive choice in choosing that school, and they are quite often then quite involved," she argues. "There is a lot of evidence which shows that when parents are involved in their children's education, the children tend to do well."

Catchments are relevant too, Gillespie adds. "A non-denominational school will have a much smaller catchment area. If it is an area of deprivation then the non-denominational school will only have pupils from the deprived area whereas the Catholic school will be drawing pupils from a range of backgrounds. And deprivation is one of the most significant factors for children not doing well at school."

"I think when you look at other schools which engender a sense of community - a rural school or a school with a lot of parental involvement - these schools probably match up to what happens naturally in a Catholic school."

Eric Wilkinson is professor of education at Glasgow University, the teacher training institution for the majority of Catholic teachers in Scotland. He says Catholic schools have evolved to fit themselves for the 21st century.

He explains: "Catholic schools have changed considerably, as have all schools in the last 20 to 30 years. In the past they used to be quite authoritarian but are more humane now and are less rigid."

Wilkinson believes that the strength of ethos in Catholic schools may be due to the common identity created by being followers of the same faith. He adds that it was perhaps not the actual religious belief which creates the glue, but rather this sense of community.

However, Professor Wilkinson welcomes the debate on the future of Catholic schools, saying: "Personally, I do not accept religion has anything whatsoever to do with education, other than for historical and cultural reasons. With a new Parliament being sworn in, this seems to be an appropriate time to have a rational and reasoned debate."

Professor Haldane fundamentally disagrees with Professor Wilkinson's stance, He argues that education cannot be divorced from values and excluding religion from schools is as controversial as including it.

He says: "The context of education is value-laden. What values do you teach? The values you believe to be the truth. Education is too important not to engage with serious issues and it would be irresponsible not to draw upon one's most deeply-held convictions when educating young people."

McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, certainly believes the current Catholic school system, established in 1918, is at risk from outside secular forces.

He said: "I think the forces of secularism are quite aggressively trying to confront the place of faith in today's society."

One such challenge to the status quo was won by teacher David McNab, who successfully overturned a church veto on his right to apply for a pastoral care post in St Paul's High School in Glasgow last year, a victory confirmed on appeal in February.

Brian Napier QC, for Mr McNab, thinks the case could have important implications for teachers in Catholic schools, rendering an 1991 agreement between the church and local authorities unworkable. He says: "My view is that the McNab case itself, while very much turning on particular facts special to St Paul's school, is an important decision for the future of jobs in Catholic schools in Scotland."

"The decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal shows the argument that the agreement made between the Catholic Church and Strathclyde Council in 1991 has carved out a general exemption permitting religious discrimination in jobs, is not going to work."

Napier adds: "The Employment Appeal Tribunal also accepted that neither Glasgow City Council nor Education Department had any business having an ethos, something which makes it more difficult for them to rely on exemption from the 2003 regulations."

Peter Quigley is president of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland's largest teaching union, which has regularly called for an end to the veto awarded to Catholic education authorities over the appointment of non-Catholic teachers. He says: "How can members of any religious denomination pass judgment on members of another denomination? Why should people justify their beliefs to get employment?"

But Mr McGrath says that the argument about approval has more sinister undertones: "The criticism about approval is a flag of convenience underlying an attack on Catholic schools per se. What he Peter Quigley was really calling into question was whether Catholic schools should exist at all.

"The church has a right to ensure that the teachers who work in Catholic schools are supportive of what they are about. This is not about discrimination or trying to reserve jobs for Catholics.

"It would be a huge contradiction in terms if someone working in a Catholic school said I don't believe in God and I don't agree with Catholic schools'.

"It would be like a vegetarian working in McDonald's."

Meanwhile, Catholic schools continue to be successful in another area. As inspection reports give them the seal of approval, they continue to attract parents from other faiths and none, to the extent that, in some schools, the majority of the roll is non-Catholic.

McGrath welcomes this interest from outside the church community, he says. "The parents don't want their children to become Catholic per se but they recognise the values of respect for life, supporting your community and supporting the deprived, coupled with the importance of discipline and moderation."

By GORDON CAIRNS
May 29 2007

[kathyv]

I can't comment on Scotland's Catholic schools but I can offer a bit of info regarding both private and public schools in the States. (Public here meaning free and open to all, government funding supports it.)

Public schools in the States are floundering, academically anyway. There is so much focus on getting the government money that most students are labeled in some way with a special need because that's where the funding goes first. This special need can be anything from severely disabled to attention deficit disorder (the catch-all funding label). If you have a child who has difficulty just sitting still in their chair hey presto you can get them on meds and get your school some free money! If there is absolutely no basis for ADHD or anything disabling, you can label them TAG (Talented and Gifted) and get some different money, so the schools I've been associated with all seem to be full of resource kids (disabled money) or TAG kids. With all this comes a great deal of documentation that is required by the government or the money goes away. All this required paperwork takes time away from the children because the teacher has to do it on paid time, they will not be paid beyond their contracted time, (no overtime) to take care of paper work for the government, lesson plans, grading, preparation for class etc. This usually means that the students suffer because the goal is of course to get them in the chairs and get that money. Teaching them is almost accidental any more.

Private schools tend to have no government required forms because their money comes from private sources; a church, parents, corporations, endowments. . . . The private school I teach in has several forms of funding, none of it public. With no government paperwork to tend to we can focus all our efforts on teaching well. We also tend to have smaller populations and more parent support so our students get more adult mentorship than your average public school child. This works to build a more confident all around kind of child. They know there are adults who believe in them, will support them regardless of performance and will tell them their efforts are valuable. Also, and this is true in my case, when good teachers have had enough of pushing paperwork and not enough interaction with their students they tend to look for these private school settings where you can do the job you were trained for!

I don't know if a Catholic school is successful just because it is Catholic or because it's a fairly wealthy order? Meaning they have the funds to support a school well. I know there are some very strongly academic and sports oriented faith based schools in Oregon, Catholic, Seventh Day etc that always do well in the sports arena and in the academic setting as well.

[DigitaLVampirE]

You can browse through the Wikipedia's list of Roman Catholic schools in Singapore and read about their success. There are several government-aided Catholic schools in Singapore that rely very little support from parishes or archdioceses. What makes them more successful than other teaching institutions? Perhaps the Catholic teachers know that teaching is a vocation that will help them in ongoing formation in their own lives. They also see the opportunity to find the sacred amidst the secular environment they are in, as well as the challenges they face. After all, challenges can help us to fine tune in what we do. They can only be good. No programme will be useful if it doesn’t negotiate with the challenges on the ground. And negotiating challenges on the ground (or in heaven) is nothing new to the Catholic system of education.

I studied in a Presbyterian missionary school. However, my experience with the teachers there were horrid. They would force us to bow our heads during morning prayers (except for Muslim students). My parents, both being staunch Brahmins thought the rigid school system would be a benefit for my social and moral upbringing, despite the school's reputation for publicly condemning people of other faiths during the Friday assemblies. Some teachers (although not all) were bigots. That was where i first experienced racism and insults from the Chinese (majority) students and teachers, being the only East Indian in that school. Growing up, i had a very bad impression of Christians because of that. (I only converted to Catholicism several years after graduating from High school and that too, was outside the realms of evangelization).

The school curriculum was lousy and the principal could hardly speak a word of English. How i ever managed to graduate out of that place was due to years of endurance and patience. My family was poor and thus, we could not afford to change schools. Morever, my school then, was heavily funded by the government, and school fees were lower compared to the other schools. My friends on the other hand, those who studied in Catholic schools had very good experiences with the other students and teachers. Many coming from different faiths and backgrounds. In fact, none of my High school friends were Christians but attended Catholic or Protestant missionary schools.

[DigitaLVampirE]

Teachers yesterday warned of growing despair over a rising tide of violence in classrooms across Scotland from children as young as five.

Recent incidents included one teacher who was head-butted and another with 20 years' experience who was punched in the face.

Other concerns aired at the annual meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) in Perth centred on the growing threat from gang violence. Delegates heard one teacher's experience of pupils who routinely fought each other at weekends and evenings and then took the violence into school.

There were also stories of pupils as young as five hurling furniture around classrooms "at leisure" and where verbal abuse, defiance and non-co-operation were routine.

The meeting voted unanimously for the EIS ruling council to revise and update advice on violent incidents in schools and for local authorities to provide better support for teachers who were victims of violence once they returned to school.

Willie Hart, secretary of the Glasgow branch of the EIS, said: "One of the hardest and saddest things I have to do is deal with members at their wits' end because of the violent incidents and the violent conduct they are receiving on a daily basis.

"It's disturbing because of the frequency that incidents occur, because of the nature of some of the events and in particular the growing reports of five, six and seven-year-olds who are wholly out of control and acting in a violent manner towards their peers and their teachers.

"It is very sad because we have these children who are outwith the control of society and it is extremely sad because I am witnessing experienced professionals being destroyed on a daily basis."

Mr Hart said whole schools and classrooms could be "skewed" because of the conduct of one or two "very damaged" children. He said that in most cases the school had exhausted all the classroom strategies and support mechanisms available, but the violence continued.

"We need a new policy because violence with pupils towards their peers and towards staff is increasing and continues to increase unless we take action against it," he added.

Earlier, delegates heard an attack on the right of the Roman Catholic Church to veto the appointment of teachers in denominational schools. Peter Quigley, outgoing EIS president, said it was "iniquitous" that a skilled and qualified teacher should be denied employment by the Church in this way.

Under the 1980 Education Act, representatives of the Catholic Church can block teachers from employment or promotion in denominational schools on the grounds of religious belief and character.

The law was passed to protect the unique ethos of denominational schools, which were set up in Scotland to provide an education for Scotland's 750,000-strong population of Catholics.

However, there is concern the law conflicts with the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects people from discrimination on grounds of religion or belief.

Mr Quigley questioned any individual's right to judge another on the basis of their religious beliefs and character.

"We have a law in the statute book of Scotland which says you can make such judgments and on these grounds alone deny jobs to people in schools which they themselves are funding through their own rates and taxation," he said.

"Politicians and legislators must give account for this law's fitness to remain on the statute books of Scotland."

Delegates also voted for all remaining asbestos to be removed from schools and backed a campaign to eliminate homophobia.

ANDREW DENHOLM, Education Correspondent
June 08 2007

[DigitaLVampirE]

It is an unholy legal minefield involving two pieces of legislation, Scotland's biggest council, the Catholic Church and an atheist.

When David McNab successfully argued that his human rights had been breached after he was prevented from applying for promotion at a Catholic school, the decision was seen by some as the end of the Church's age-old right to veto staff.

Mr McNab, then a maths teacher at St Paul's High in Glasgow, went to an employment tribunal after being told he would not be considered for the post of principal teacher of pastoral care at the school because he had not been approved by the Church.

advertisementThe tribunal ruled in March last year that the post in question did not require approval, and therefore found in Mr McNab's favour.

Soon after winning his case, Mr McNab said he hoped the decision would see an end to the right of the Church to block teachers from employment or promotion on the grounds of their "religious belief and character".

However, in the weeks following the case, it became clear that other aspects of the ruling might have an entirely different impact on the employment of teachers in denominational schools.

The tribunal decided that an informal agreement drawn up between the former Strathclyde region and the Church in 1991, under which non-Catholics were excluded from certain key posts in denominational schools, such as headteacher, assistant head, and teacher of religious education, biology, or guidance, was unlawful.

The ruling stated that the 1980 Education (Scotland) Act "does not permit the Catholic Church to reserve certain posts for teachers who are Roman Catholics".

Instead, the ruling reaffirmed the Church's right to approve all teachers in its schools enshrined in the 1980 act, but never fully observed, with many councils choosing to continue to reserve specific posts after local government reorganisation.

The Scottish Catholic Education Commission (SCES) seized on the broader implications of the findings immediately, and put forward a set of proposals which would enable councils to abide by the 1980 act.

Officials from the commission said that all teachers applying for a job should provide the name of a referee to testify to their commitment to Catholic schools. In addition, teachers should agree to promote the values set out in the Charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland, which states that teachers should have a commitment to uphold the moral teaching, faith tradition, and sacramental life of the Church.

For the Church, the issue is not one of excluding non-Catholics, but of ensuring that every teacher who works in a denominational school understands the distinctive aims and values of Catholic education.

However, the suggestion that all staff would need approval was met with horror by teaching unions, who said that no qualified teacher who was registered with the General Teaching Council of Scotland and had passed a police disclosure check should be denied a job on "religious or moral grounds".

There was further concern over how the 1980 act tallied with 2003 employment regulations, which deem it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of religion or belief.

It was into this minefield that Glasgow City Council's legal experts stepped, with a view to resolving the issue to the satisfaction of all.

A confidential document seen by The Herald shows that the council is now recommending the SCES proposals are adopted, but they also acknowledge the inherent difficulties that still exist.

"There is a tension between the council's management of denominational schools as education authority and the prohibition against discriminating in employment on the grounds of religion or belief," the document states. "It may be that this tension can only be resolved by the Scottish Executive or a superior court."

Mr McNab, who is now working in a special needs school, agrees. He sees potential legal challenges on two fronts: "On the one hand, it is likely that those who are not given approval at all will challenge that decision through the courts," he said.

"Even more interesting will be a situation where someone who already has approval, but is not a Catholic, goes for a critical post such as headteacher and is refused.

"This ruling opens the door for non-Catholics to apply for promoted posts for the first time and, if they are prevented from doing so, then we are likely to see the matter brought swiftly back to the courts."

The legislation

Education (Scotland) Act 1980
A teacher appointed to any post in a denominational school requires to be approved as regards his or her religious belief and character by the Church or other denominational body.

Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of religion or belief. The only exception is where there is a general occupational requirement for a post to be held by a person of a specific religion or belief.

ANDREW DENHOLM, Education Correspondent|June 23 2007

[DigitaLVampirE]

All teachers who want to work in Catholic schools will have to seek personal approval from the Church under confidential plans drawn up by Scotland's largest local authority.

The move in Glasgow marks a significant escalation in the rights of the Catholic Church over the employment or promotion of teachers in Catholic schools on the grounds of their "religious belief and character". There has already been a furious backlash to the proposals from officials at the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland's largest teaching union, who believe it flouts employment regulations.

There have also been warnings from Glasgow City Council itself that the authority could face legal action from unsuccessful candidates unless the Scottish Executive changes the law.

advertisementThe new recommendation, contained in a confidential paper seen by The Herald, could ultimately clear the way for the Church to vet all teachers in each of Scotland's 391 Catholic primaries and secondaries.

The paper, which will be considered by the council's executive committee in August, follows an employment tribunal last year involving a teacher called David McNab which restated the Church's right to approve all teachers in its schools.

Although the right was enshrined in the 1980 Education Act, it has never been fully observed, with many councils, including Glasgow, choosing instead to reserve only specific posts, such as that of headteacher, for Catholics.

Following the McNab ruling, the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES), set up by the Church to promote the distinctive nature of denominational education, said all teachers applying for a job should provide the name of a referee to testify to their commitment to Catholic schools.

In addition, teachers should agree to promote the values set out in the Charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland, which states that teachers should have a commitment to uphold the moral teaching, faith tradition and sacramental life of the Church.

After considering the tribunal's findings, council lawyers decided that abiding by the SCES guidelines provided the "best attempt" to reconcile tensions between the Church's right and employment regulations drawn up in 2003 which make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against someone on the grounds of religion or belief.

However, officials also warned in the confidential document: "It may ultimately be that this tension can only be resolved by the Scottish Executive or a superior court."

Last night, officials from the Glasgow branch of the EIS said they intended to oppose the council plans. Willie Hart, branch secretary, said: "The EIS nationally has a policy of equality of opportunity in employment regardless of race, religious gender or sexual orientation, and this development would appear to diminish that.

However, Neil Roarty, chairman of SCES, welcomed Glasgow's move and said he hoped other local authorities would follow its example. He said: "This is not about denying people access to Catholic schools. It is about ensuring that all those who work in Catholic schools, of whatever faith, are prepared to uphold the distinctive aims and values of Catholic education."

Gordon Matheson, the council's executive member for education, said: "As a consequence of the outcome of the McNab case, the council has revised its approval policy for teachers applying for posts in Catholic schools."

ANDREW DENHOLM, Education Correspondent|June 23 2007

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