This course considers the process of identity formation, which comes to the fore in adolescence and is refined and integrated throughout adulthood. This course examines the questions and concerns that surround that discovery and integration process, particularly attending to how identity is problematized within postmodern contexts. Participants in this course pursue the question: how might we attend ministerially to young people growing through this process? Conducted in seminar format, participants are responsible for conducting topic discussions for the class. Prior coursework in youth and young adult ministry and/or developmental theory is required for registration. Permission required.

Catholic education and catechesis are rooted in particular appropriations of the Christian faith articulated as schools of spirituality. From these appropriations emerge commitments to specific charisms and pedagogical practices. It is imperative that Catholic educational efforts continue to affirm the spiritual legacies that have sustained schools, missions, and parochial programs throughout history. In this course we read some foundational texts of major schools of spirituality and explore how they have inspired life-giving philosophies of Catholic education. The guiding principle throughout the course is that a good philosophy of Catholic education and catechesis is always sustained by a deep spirituality.

This course is designed to assist students in developing religion curriculum for adolescents, particularly within the setting of Catholic secondary schools. It considers the place of religious instruction within the larger ambit of the Catholic school’s mission, including interaction with campus ministry and service learning. It attends to frameworks of faith development within adolescence. It includes the development of learning outcomes and assessment tools; pedagogy; curricular maps; units and lesson plans. Finally, it calls participants to be self-aware of the teacher’s role through the development of a pedagogic creed.

When a school presents itself to the world as offering Catholic education, it signals, at a minimum, that it is committed to educating from and for faith. It is to educate from deep spiritual convictions that are core to Catholicism and for a Transcendent as well as an immanent perspective on life, preparing students to live well into an Ultimate Horizon – God as revealed in Jesus Christ. What does this ask of the curriculum of a Catholic school, of its faculty and administrators? We once took for granted our response to such questions, for example when 95% of faculty and staff were vowed religious and all students were decidedly Catholic. That era has passed, bringing new challenges and opportunities. Note, for example, the growing number of students from other or no faith tradition attending, likewise an often diverse faculty and staff, and many Catholic students who are more cultural than affiliated in their faith. This changed reality, coupled with the secular and postmodern culture of our time, offers new opportunity for a fresh address of what makes education Catholic.

This course will explore basic questions related to the ministry of education in the life of the Orthodox Christian parish in North America. We will use the following questions as the basic organizing principles: Why do we teach in the Church? What is the goal of education in the Church? Does the Church have a curriculum? What can we learn from Acts 2:42-47 for parishes today? Who are we teaching? What are some approaches to the education of Christians? Who is going to teach? What is the role of the teacher? Because the class also has a field component through the Field Education program, where it is assumed that the students are teaching Sunday school, presenting the Faith to OCF groups, or working in educational settings, students will have the opportunity and will be expected to apply these skills in their field setting. Finally, there will be ample opportunity throughout the semester to reflect theologically on the experience of handing forward the Orthodox Christian faith.

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