Pupils at Catholic schools are teaching their parents about their faith rather than the other way round, according to the surprising findings published this week of a research paper on evangelisation in England and Wales.
The paper, written by RE teacher and researcher Dr Ann Casson for the evangelisation department of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales evangelisation department, looked at the experience and practice of parents with children in Catholic primary schools.
Many of the parents interviewed said they were gaining knowledge, understanding and experience of their faith through their children, including discovering or re-discovering Bible stories, or talking about aspects of church teaching their children had been studying at school.
The paper notes that the majority of parents in the majority of Catholic schools are not regular Mass-goers, and suggests the Church should work harder to engage them.
“Many baptised Catholic parents choose a Catholic primary school, but do not regularly attend Mass or participate in the local parish community. Many Catholic parents seek out the Catholic school for reasons other religious belief; indeed moral values and academic success are often a greater priority,” says the paper.
It also found that many Catholic parents choose a Catholic education because they want the faith to be transmitted to their child; furthermore, all the parents interviewed in the course of the study (39 in a detailed face-to-face chat and 107 in a written questionnaire) had a positive view of their primary school, and a strong loyalty to it.
“It was in the Catholic primary school that they experienced a Catholic community,” the paper says.
But a Catholic school is not a substitute for the Catholic community and parish life, says the report, concluding that schools must be encouraged to foster partnerships with local parishes. Dr Casson recommends that ways of strengthening the relationship between parish communities and school communities are explored.
Loading ...
