Be Good & Teach Naturally: Forming a Community in Goodness

Be Good & Teach Naturally: Forming a Community in Goodness by Thaddeus Kozinski at The Imaginative Conservative. The ultimate job of the teacher is to help orient students to and deepen their intimacy with reality itself. And the indispensable condition for a teacher being able to do this is not expertise, experience, knowledge, or pedagogical technique, however important these are, but literally being in love with the good. Read

Pope Calls for Renewal of Catholic Education Amid Challenges of Modern Society, Technology by Hannah Brockhaus at Catholic News Agency. In “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” Pope Leo XIV reflects on the role of a Catholic education 60 years after the Oct. 28, 1965, proclamation of Gravissimum Educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Christian education. “The Church celebrates a fruitful educational history but also faces the imperative to update its proposals in light of the signs of the times,” the pope writes in the letter. Read

Classical Education Holds the Keys to America’s Future by Kevin Roberts at Modern Age. Today, classical education is no longer something to simply be defended—it is ascendant, popular, and on the verge of becoming mainstream. According to multiple reports, America’s service academies are poised to announce any day now that they will begin accepting the classic learning test (CLT) this admissions cycle. Read

Meet 10 Patron Saints of Catholic Education, Students, and Teachers by Francesca Pollio Fenton at Catholic World Report. Pope Leo XIV will name St. John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education in a document to be published on Oct. 28 for the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Christian education…Newman will join a list of several other Catholic saints considered patrons of other aspects of education. Read

Getting Screens Out of Schools by Chloe Lawrence and Clare Morell at Ethics and Public Policy Center. Despite the push over the last decade to get every child a laptop or tablet, student math and reading scores have been declining in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly contributed significantly to the large drops in scores seen in the most recent 2022 assessment, but the numbers have been on the decline since 2012.1 In 2022, “the math scores for the lowest performing students hit levels last seen in the 1970s, while their reading scores were actually lower than the first year the data was collected, in 1971.” Read

The Stricter the Cellphone Policy, the Happier the Teacher, Research Finds by Emily Tate Sullivan at EdSurge. A massive experiment has been underway in recent years, as an increasing number of schools — and entire states — have changed their device policies to reflect a growing concern around how this technology interferes with student focus and learning. Now, preliminary findings from a national survey of more than 20,000 public school educators offer insights into the effect of these guardrails. It turns out, stricter cellphone policies lead to happier teachers and, according to those teachers, more engaged students. Read

Poetry as Prayer, and Prayer as Poetry by Auguste Meyrat at The Catholic Thing. Catholic poet and former nurse Sally Read put together a delightful poetry collection 100 Great Catholic Poems. As she notes in her introduction, “No other literary genre is so concerned with truth – not only in the sense of writing about true things. . . but in the scalpel-precise rendering of things that humans cannot otherwise articulate.” Though poetry offers a means for knowing God and His Creation more intimately, Catholics rarely consult their own poetic tradition and likely wouldn’t even know where to start. Read

Living ‘Memento Mori’: Family-Friendly Ways to Bring meaning to All Hallows’ Eve by Jessica Nardi at Refine. As the leaves turn and the air cools, families often start prepping for pumpkins, costumes, and candy. Beyond the fun of Halloween celebrations, this season also offers an invitation to pause and remember what this time was originally meant to teach us: that all things in this world pass away, and that life — because it ends — is sacred and beautiful. Read

Texas Voters to Decide on Parental Rights Amendment in November by Amira Abuzeid at Catholic News Agency. Texas voters will head to the polls next week to consider Proposition 15, the Parental Rights Amendment, a constitutional amendment aimed at enshrining parents’ rights in the state constitution. The measure, if approved, would add language to the Texas Constitution affirming that parents have the right “to exercise care, custody, and control of the parent’s child, including the right to make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing” and the responsibility “to nurture and protect the parent’s child.” Read

Rebuilding the Church Through the Trades featuring Kent Lasnoski at Anchored by the Classical Learning Test. On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Dr. Kent Lasnoski, President of San Damiano College for the Trades, a new Catholic trades college in Illinois. Dr. Lasnoski shares his journey from professor and dean at Wyoming Catholic College to founding a Catholic Trade School. They discuss the importance of integrating intellectual and practical skills in education, the impact of AI on the trades, and the significance of fostering a community and entrepreneurial mindset among students. Dr. Lasnoski also describes the unique educational model at San Damiano, which prepares students for a fulfilling life in both mind and the trades. Listen

Featured: School Spotlight Event at St. John Bosco Schools in East Rochester, NY. What is the best way to really know what is meant by Catholic liberal education? Take the opportunity to become a student again and witness for yourself the living reality of a Catholic liberal arts community, as ICLE opens the doors to a flagship school at our School Spotlight (formerly known as School Leaders Forum). Observe classes, speak with faculty and students, and participate in seminars and workshops in this powerful first-hand experience of Catholic liberal arts education, gaining deep insights as an essential step in transitioning to, launching, and running a Catholic liberal arts school. The program size is limited. Learn More

Throwback Thursday

Teaching History When Starting from Behind by Andrew J. Zwerneman at Cana Academy on July 20, 2021. It is fairly common in the classical education movement that humanities teachers, while well-versed in literature, know little history. More dire yet is when a teacher charged with leading students in the study of history is starting from behind. What exactly should a teacher do in that case? If you are in this familiar spot, do not be overwhelmed. There are some tried and true practical things you can do to get out ahead of this challenge. Here are 3 tips to give your history teaching a jump start. Read