The Problem of Catholic School Teachers Deferring to the Home on Controversial Religious Issues
Abstract
This paper observes that an ironic tension occurs in the discussion of controversial issues in some Catholic schools. One technique that teachers use in response to student disagreement with the official Church view on a controversial issue like contraception, homosexuality, or female ordination is to present Church teaching but then suggest that students follow up at home with their parents for further information. While this technique is promising to some degree, it sits uneasily against the remarks that some Catholic education commentators make regarding deficiencies in the home regarding student formation and socialization in the faith. The discussion acknowledges some advantages in this technique, but ultimately concludes that it is flawed because it sidesteps the school’s responsibility to promote higher-order religious thinking and undermines the home-school-Church partnership by placing the responsibilities of families and parishes into schools.Downloads
Published
2010-03-01
How to Cite
McDonough, G. P. (2010). The Problem of Catholic School Teachers Deferring to the Home on Controversial Religious Issues. Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, 13(3). Retrieved from https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/cej/article/view/1051
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).