Anyone any advice on teaching non-Catholic children Catholicisim?

[minkymurph]

I live in Northern Ireland and I am in teacher training. My main subject is Religion and last year I was placed in a Catholic school where 75% of the children are non-Catholic. Next year, I will also be placed in a Catholic school were a high percentage of children are non-Catholic. The school I was placed in last year are children from 4-11. Next year they will be 11-18. I found the Catholic education programme meant nothing to them. Most of the children have parents who do not attend Church, don’t even believe in God yet call themselves Protestant. Well, it is Northern Ireland! Every time I mentioned sacraments or the meaning of Ash Wednesday I got th ‘I’m Protestant’ response. I tried to concentrate on the person of Jesus who has a meaning for all Christians and they all believe in the need for forgiveness of sins. I still got ‘I’m a Protestant ,’ that’s Catholic and some told me the Our Father was a Catholic prayer and did not want to say it. Maybe older children would be different but they are inclined not to talk about it at all because they are all mates and we just don’t talk about our religious differences. Anyone any suggestions?

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

Be subtle and don’t impose. That’s really the best advice I can give.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood

 

[musicality]

If you’re in a private Catholic school, I would absolutely not be subtle.

I used to have the “don’t impose” view, but you have to look at teaching these kids from a different perspective.

1. 
   *]It is your responsibility to educate them on something infinitely more important than anything.
   *]You want to instill the message of the gospel in their hearts.
   *]This may be the opportunity that some of them have to hear about Christ.
   
   So, how do we tackle these issues?
   The answer to this question will be different for everyone, but I’ll give you some examples of how I try to do this. (I’m a leader for a Christian organization that works with high schoolers.):
   -Get to know the kids. Beyond their names, beyond what you see in the classroom. The more interested and concerned you are for them, the more they will trust you and reciprocate that interest. (This is extremely important because in reality, kids really have no reason to listen to what sort of life lessons anyone has to offer them. They will be more likely to listen to you if you are amiable and caring.) [One of my religion teachers did an awesome thing in high school-- we had a “one good thing” that we would write down on a piece of paper every day, and a few students would share that one thing every class. By the end of the term we could look back at what we had written and see how awesome life is… even if sometimes our “one good thing” was just that we made it through the day.]
   
   -Set boundaries. This one should be pretty easy for you considering the fact that you are their teacher. Basically, even though you want to build a sort of relationship with these kids, you need to make sure that the relationship is characterized with you as their teacher, as an adult.
   
   -Make the subject matter apply to their lives. If you are studying a specific piece of scripture, show how it relates to our lives NOW. Share an personal anecdote or a story you heard someplace that shows how the Bible is still relevant to our modern lives.
   
   -Take something out of pop culture and relate it back to God’s message for us… (One time the the leaders of my group and I used this video mtv.com/videos/linkin-park/141944/what-ive-done.jhtml to show how the world often lives contrary to God’s message)
   
   -Remember that kids don’t have a huge attention span. There aren’t a ton of options in a classroom setting, but if you can figure out a good method of keeping kids attention, that will be vital.
   
   -Show them that being religious isn’t something bad. In other words be an example to them. Show them that religious people are joyful.
   
   Most of all remember the reason for what you are doing–Christ.
   
   If this was too much or you have any other questions, I would love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to pm me during the school year!

 

[minkymurph]

If this was too much or you have any other questions, I would love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to pm me during the school year!

Thank you for your invitation. I agree with blade and blood about not imposing, but you can be too subtle. This confuses the children as they don’t know what it is you are trying to teach.

The school is not private it is what we call here a maintained school. In short that means the state pays for lighting, heating, teachers salaries but the Church funds the Religious Education programme and Pastoral Care. Therefore, what the Church says goes in relation to what you teach because they pay for it. Last year, I emphasized the Bible a lot and we acted out Drama’s and that sort of thing. The time of year was Lent so I talked about forgiveness a lot.

I agree with you on the need to relate to their world and form a relationship. Part of the problem I had last year is I think I got too close to the kids and then discipline became a problem. I remember going back to the school to pick some of my stuff up and the kids dived on me group hug style. The Principle was most disapproving! He actually detested me and said I should reconsider becoming a teacher.

Most of the kids I was teaching had difficulties at home and I can tell you it wouldn’t take you to be a gossip; the things I heard!

 

[juliasmith]

In response to ‘I’m Protestant’, remind them they still have to learn these things to pass on to the next level. And it never hurts to know more about people and practices that are different.
That said, approach it as simply knowledge and not an attempt at conversion. They may feel threatened in that an forced conversion might be underway.
If that fails, I’d just ‘lay the law down’ so to speak. They must have this class to finish well and that’s that.

 

[Lapell]

I still got ‘I’m a Protestant ,’ that’s Catholic and some told me the Our Father was a Catholic prayer and did not want to say it.

Excuse me?
Dear minkymurph, on this one THEY are wrong! The Our Father was taught by Jesus Himself and appears in Matt 6, 9-13 and somewhere in Luke. It is not just Catholic, it’s part of the 70% (or more) of the teaching that is the SAME in Catholicism AND in Protestantism. They might rather be “always-remaining-on-the-shelves” Christians. They don’t know their tradition or worse they just plainly ignore it!

 

[Lapell]

Right here we have been having a “Proclamation” event, quite ecumenical, and at the close of it each year (except last year when it did not take place) we have a Festival of Praise where we either pray or sing the “Our Father”. Not just the Catholics

 

[Lapell]

Be subtle and don’t impose. That’s really the best advice I can give.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood

Do you mean: “Live and let live”? As for imposing, they are wrong! minkymurph is “proposing”, not “imposing”. That word “impose” is overused and wrongly quite often, when it simply means: “Shut up and leave us alone!”, a response they don’t mind… imposing to us!!!

 

[Lapell]

I agree with you on the need to relate to their world and form a relationship. Part of the problem I had last year is I think I got too close to the kids and then discipline became a problem. I remember going back to the school to pick some of my stuff up and the kids dived on me group hug style. The Principle was most disapproving! He actually detested me and said I should reconsider becoming a teacher.

I don’t know… maybe your principal might be right, if being popular with the kids take precedence over trying to impart knowledge. Of course you don’t have to be absolutely dry! If you can combine both, fine! But be careful not to appear so close to them. Do set limits, but be clear when setting them and stick to them! True, it will be tough at times, but if you are consistent I believe it will bear fruit and some of them will be grateful forever to you, although probably ten years or more later…

 

[jmcrae]

There is no way that a teacher at school can “impose” the Catholic faith, unless she is physically dragging them to Confession and Mass against their will - which I don’t consider to be very likely.

The children are required to learn a specific set of facts in their Religion class. They have to know them for the test, even if they don’t ever actually practice the Catholic religion in their lives. There is nothing in the teaching of these facts that “imposes” the Catholic faith on anyone.

When I was attending public school, we had to take Religions of the World, which meant that we had to study the belief systems of a wide variety of modern and ancient religions, including the teachings of Christianity, as well as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and many others. We had to know all of that stuff for the essay and test, but no one was actually expecting us to practice any of those religions.

Perhaps you can approach the subject matter in your religion class in a similar manner - instead of saying, “here is a prayer that we say,” when so many of the children are not among the “we”, you can say, “Catholics pray this prayer,” and then having them respond to a quiz that identifies the elements of the prayer.

 

[Contarini]

I live in Northern Ireland and I am in teacher training. My main subject is Religion and last year I was placed in a Catholic school where 75% of the children are non-Catholic. Next year, I will also be placed in a Catholic school were a high percentage of children are non-Catholic. The school I was placed in last year are children from 4-11. Next year they will be 11-18. I found the Catholic education programme meant nothing to them. Most of the children have parents who do not attend Church, don’t even believe in God yet call themselves Protestant. Well, it is Northern Ireland! Every time I mentioned sacraments or the meaning of Ash Wednesday I got th ‘I’m Protestant’ response. I tried to concentrate on the person of Jesus who has a meaning for all Christians and they all believe in the need for forgiveness of sins. I still got ‘I’m a Protestant ,’ that’s Catholic and some told me the Our Father was a Catholic prayer and did not want to say it. Maybe older children would be different but they are inclined not to talk about it at all because they are all mates and we just don’t talk about our religious differences. Anyone any suggestions?

This is interesting. I would have assumed that the schools in predominantly Protestant areas would be Protestant and vice versa. (I was just in Northern Ireland a couple of weeks ago, so this subject is of recent interest to me.) Why are so many Protestant (or nominally Protestant) children going to this school? What determines whether the school in a given area is Protestant, Catholic, or integrated?

A friend in Armagh told me that one of her teachers at a Protestant school (a quite prestigious one that was founded by Bishop Robinson, I believe, like nearly everything else in Armagh that isn’t Catholic!) used to refer to the spires of the Catholic cathedral as the “devil’s horns.” Your approach sounds much more benign

Edwin

 

[NHInsider]

Since you are working with an older group this year I think you can take a fairly straight-forward, academic approach. “This is a class, just like Maths or History, you need to know this stuff so you can sit your exams.”

At the same time, you might get some traction by taking a “comparative Christianity” approach - acknowledging that there are differences between Catholic Christianity and Reformed Christianity (and C of E Christianity). So when you teach the Lord’s Prayer, you can talk about the differences in the ways the prayer is recited in the different churches, and why. and ask them if they think the differences are important or substantial. Same for whatever other doctrinal instruction you do. (The numbering of the Ten Commandments, for example.) In this way you may perhaps head off the “that’s not for us” response and perhaps even encourage some productive conversation!

Incidentally, unless the quality of religious instruction of Catholics is far better in NI than in the US, your Catholic kids don’t know much about their faith, either . . . .

BTW, I think it’s too bad your principal disapproved of the response of the children when they saw you. It is important to maintain appropriate roles, of course, but especially with little ones, a loving and enthusiastic relationship is appropriate, in my mind.

 

[RobbyS]

If you’re in a private Catholic school, I would absolutely not be subtle.

I used to have the “don’t impose” view, but you have to look at teaching these kids from a different perspective.

1. 
   *]It is your responsibility to educate them on something infinitely more important than anything.
   *]You want to instill the message of the gospel in their hearts.
   *]This may be the opportunity that some of them have to hear about Christ.
   
   So, how do we tackle these issues?
   The answer to this question will be different for everyone, but I’ll give you some examples of how I try to do this. (I’m a leader for a Christian organization that works with high schoolers.):
   -Get to know the kids. Beyond their names, beyond what you see in the classroom. The more interested and concerned you are for them, the more they will trust you and reciprocate that interest. (This is extremely important because in reality, kids really have no reason to listen to what sort of life lessons anyone has to offer them. They will be more likely to listen to you if you are amiable and caring.) [One of my religion teachers did an awesome thing in high school-- we had a “one good thing” that we would write down on a piece of paper every day, and a few students would share that one thing every class. By the end of the term we could look back at what we had written and see how awesome life is… even if sometimes our “one good thing” was just that we made it through the day.]
   
   -Set boundaries. This one should be pretty easy for you considering the fact that you are their teacher. Basically, even though you want to build a sort of relationship with these kids, you need to make sure that the relationship is characterized with you as their teacher, as an adult.
   
   -Make the subject matter apply to their lives. If you are studying a specific piece of scripture, show how it relates to our lives NOW. Share an personal anecdote or a story you heard someplace that shows how the Bible is still relevant to our modern lives.
   
   -Take something out of pop culture and relate it back to God’s message for us… (One time the the leaders of my group and I used this video mtv.com/videos/linkin-park/141944/what-ive-done.jhtml to show how the world often lives contrary to God’s message)
   
   -Remember that kids don’t have a huge attention span. There aren’t a ton of options in a classroom setting, but if you can figure out a good method of keeping kids attention, that will be vital.
   
   -Show them that being religious isn’t something bad. In other words be an example to them. Show them that religious people are joyful.
   
   Most of all remember the reason for what you are doing–Christ.
   
   If this was too much or you have any other questions, I would love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to pm me during the school year!

1. 
   Good advise.

 

[Lead_Me_Home]

IT’s a good thing you are posting this on the internet. In the U.S. we have many Catholic schools where MANY protestants go for a good education. I was just talking to a friend who is protestant who goes to a Catholic School. My mother (protestant) went to Catholic school.

i think it would be great if you could get a Protestant preach and a Catholic priest to visit thew class for the day. I think you can find someone who is that understanding. They could just talk about the history of the Church and what they both believe with out going to a nasty who is right and who is wrong argument. I don’t think it could hurt. But I don’t know the tention between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland (Northern) now days. I’m sure its not terrible if the secular protestants are at ROMAN Catholic schools.

 

[pia]

I live in Northern Ireland and I am in teacher training. My main subject is Religion and last year I was placed in a Catholic school where 75% of the children are non-Catholic. Next year, I will also be placed in a Catholic school were a high percentage of children are non-Catholic. The school I was placed in last year are children from 4-11. Next year they will be 11-18. I found the Catholic education programme meant nothing to them. Most of the children have parents who do not attend Church, don’t even believe in God yet call themselves Protestant. Well, it is Northern Ireland! Every time I mentioned sacraments or the meaning of Ash Wednesday I got th ‘I’m Protestant’ response. I tried to concentrate on the person of Jesus who has a meaning for all Christians and they all believe in the need for forgiveness of sins. I still got ‘I’m a Protestant ,’ that’s Catholic and some told me the Our Father was a Catholic prayer and did not want to say it. Maybe older children would be different but they are inclined not to talk about it at all because they are all mates and we just don’t talk about our religious differences. Anyone any suggestions?

minkymurph i was just wondering were you born and raised in Northern Ireland. The reason i ask is i was really surprised to read that you state in some Catholic schools that 75% are non Catholic, well as someone who was born, raised and has raised four children (ages 19,18,14,7) in Catholic educated schools i cannot agree with what you say.I live on the edge of North Belfast, my three eldest children all went to different secondary/grammar schools and i know that 98% --99% of the children attending these schools are Catholic, also the three Catholic primary schools in my parish are all again 99% if not 100% Catholic.I was just wondering were in Northern Ireland do these Catholic schools with 75% non Catholic children happen to be as i have never heard of them. God bless

 

[pia]

IT’s a good thing you are posting this on the internet. In the U.S. we have many Catholic schools where MANY protestants go for a good education. I was just talking to a friend who is protestant who goes to a Catholic School. My mother (protestant) went to Catholic school.

i think it would be great if you could get a Protestant preach and a Catholic priest to visit thew class for the day. I think you can find someone who is that understanding. They could just talk about the history of the Church and what they both believe with out going to a nasty who is right and who is wrong argument. I don’t think it could hurt. But I don’t know the tention between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland (Northern) now days. I’m sure its not terrible if the secular protestants are at ROMAN Catholic schools.

Hi Lead me Home just read you’re post and thought i would respond, as someone who was born and raised a Catholic i can honestly say that Protestant ministers and Catholic Priests come together all the time here in Northern Ireland for lots of interdenominal kinds of things without being nasty or getting into arguments about who is right and who is wrong, at the end of the day we all agree on most things and Protestant ministers and Priests build on this in lots of different ways. As for tension there is no tension between the majority of ministers and priests, As an example about 9 years ago our Church was burn’t to the ground in a sectarian attack. the protestant ministers and their congregations could not have been more kind or helpful,turning up first thing that morning on hearing the news offering support and condeming what had just taken place, offering the use of their halls lending us chairs amongst other things , and later donating money that they had collected to go towards rebuilding our new Church, a while later one of the protestant Church’s was badly damaged in a fire bomb attack and the 3 local Catholic Parish Church’s all rallied round to offer help in any way and also donating money to help with the repairs, these are the good things that come out of evil, anyway I hope this post helps you to understand Northern Ireland a little bit better. God Bless

 

[pia]

IT’s a good thing you are posting this on the internet. In the U.S. we have many Catholic schools where MANY protestants go for a good education. I was just talking to a friend who is protestant who goes to a Catholic School. My mother (protestant) went to Catholic school.

i think it would be great if you could get a Protestant preach and a Catholic priest to visit thew class for the day. I think you can find someone who is that understanding. They could just talk about the history of the Church and what they both believe with out going to a nasty who is right and who is wrong argument. I don’t think it could hurt. But I don’t know the tention between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland (Northern) now days. I’m sure its not terrible if the secular protestants are at ROMAN Catholic schools.

Hi Lead me Home just thought i would reply, Protestant ministers and Catholic Priests come together all the time here in Northern Ireland for lots of interdenominal kinds of things without being nasty or getting into arguments about who is right and who is wrong, at the end of the day we all agree on most things and Protestant ministers and Priests build on this. As for tension there is no tension between the majority of ministers and priests, As an example about 9 years ago our Church was burn’t to the ground in a sectarian attack. the protestant ministers and their congregations could not have been more kind or helpful,turning up first thing that morning on hearing the news offering support and condeming what had just taken place, offering the use of their halls lending us chairs and amongst other things and later donating money that they had collected to go towards rebuilding our new Church, a while later one of the protestant Church’s was badly damaged in a fire bomb attack and the 3 local Catholic Parish Church’s all rallied round to offer help in any way and also donating money to help with the repairs, anyway I hope this post helps you to understand Northern Ireland a little bit better. God Bless