Written by Paula Thelen ’12, Catholic Studies, Theology, and Secondary Education
This title of a 1972 National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now USCCB) document has truly become my educational philosophy over the years. It may seem a rather simple pedagogy in theory – the fact that Christ taught through stories that were relevant to His listeners, built community among His students, and courageously practiced what He preached – yet is not quite so easy to put into practice.
Yet last fall I gave myself over to early mornings (often as early as 5:20 am) and busy weekends grading papers in order to co-teach 90 freshmen girls Faith and Morality and 100 7th and 8th graders Church History and Language Arts. My school placements, both Catholic because religion is my subject area, were Convent of the Visitation in Mendota Heights and Epiphany in Coon Rapids, respectively. The co-teaching model is a good way to work with my mentor teachers and break down the class size with station teaching (students rotate to get different material) or parallel teaching (same material taught at same time to smaller groups). I must say that hearing “Ms. Thelen!” resound in the hallway definitely took some getting used to, as did seeing students apart from school (that’s what I get for going to a trendy hangout like Chipotle I guess!).
Over the course of that intense semester I learned more than how to write a good exam, use an online grading program, or discipline students for cheating. I learned that the five minutes of passing time might just be the most important part of the school day, if that means having conversations and building trusting relationships with students, or that losing a couple hours of lesson prep is worth it if it means seeing your students excel outside of the classroom in a choir concert or basketball game. I learned to be a vessel, an instrument of the Lord, and to get on my knees every morning and night to pray for my students.
Yes, I have learned a lot the past few years from my Catholic Studies coursework and my prior field experiences in schools, but during Clinical Practice I was truly humbled by the greatness of the task before me. As a teacher of the Faith I am called, like St. John Baptist de la Salle said, to cooperate with Christ in the salvation of souls! This is no small order! I found myself constantly relying on the Teacher (with a capital “T”) for His guidance and looking towards His ultimate lesson – the Cross – as an example.
