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 Seven
Core Values of Catholic Social Teaching
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Reading It Right Teaching Peace and Social Justice Through Reading Classes In the Catholic School A Teacher In-Service
In a 1998 summary statement written by the
U.S. Catholic Bishops, the introduction states:
In an effort to assist Catholic schools and their staffs (most of whom are strapped for time in an already crowded curriculum) in meeting the challenge of sharing this part of the Gospel message with their students, we are offering a teacher in-service which aims to incorporate peace and social justice awareness into children's literature instruction. Libraries are full of stories written for young audiences, both classic and modern fiction, whose themes mirror some of the essential teachings of our faith. We will identify some of these literary works for students of various ages, introduce a "Catholic lens" for reading and develop comprehension/discussion questions for teachers to use in the classroom. This way, the social justice education which children should be getting in religion class can also be integrated into a reading curriculum. Psychological theorists such as Piaget and Kohlberg suggested that developing empathy is an essential step in producing the good judgment necessary for moral action. Good literature should evoke empathy for the characters depicted. Sometimes we perceive a character to be very different from ourselves; however, a skilled author can help us to see how we are really all bound together by the common human condition. It is our hope that these kinds of understandings will help children to recognize the God-given dignity of every human person. If we want to bring about the kingdom of God, our children need opportunities to learn to love one's neighbor as oneself. Fictional characters can give us broad opportunities to meet a variety of neighbors. It is the mission of every school, religious and secular, to foster literacy and a lifelong love of learning. This seminar seeks to resource teachers so that they can enable students to use their ability to read as a gift in serving God and one another. By learning how to read stories through a Catholic lens, the peace and social justice teachings which Jesus and his followers have articulated for the past 2,000 years are promoted. Dr. Madonna Wojtaszek-Healy, workshop presenter, is a mother of four children, former elementary school teacher, former college campus minister, and, currently, a teacher educator. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois. This workshop is the result of her own striving to create an educational system that integrates academic learning with the more important goal of bringing about God's kingdom of justice and peace. (A member of the Peace and Social Justice Office staff, either Elizabeth Franklin, Joyce Ruhaak or Tom Garlitz, all former primary or secondary school educators, will also participate in the presentation.) View our selected bibliography with human dignity themes. For more information or to schedule this half-day teacher in-service please call the Peace and Social Justice Ministry. 815-834-4028. This in-service meets the new requirements for Illinois teacher re-certification.
Sweatshop Free School Uniforms Catholic Schools Across the Country Join Campaign Teachers and students from Woodside Priory, St. Ignatius Preparatory, Archbishop Riordan, Mercy and Notre Dame high schools in San Francisco have embarked upon a period of research on and discernment of the uniform and athletic equipment purchasing policies. Students, faculty, and administration throughout the San Francisco Archdiocese have been invited to participate in the task force. The Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey recently wrote the first recognized anti-sweatshop uniform purchasing pledge in the U.S., and several other coalitions nationwide, including the Chicago Archdiocese and the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, are engaged in a similar process. The San Francisco task force plans to examine basic workplace standards of uniform companies (and by extension their manufacturers) with whom the Archdiocese does business, such as payment of a living wage, allowance of labor organizing and collective bargaining, and regulations against the use of child labor and forced labor. Other essential policy standards would mandate the provision of a safe work environment and a workplace free from sexual, verbal, and physical harassment. The policy would stress the need for independent monitoring of the factories where Archdiocese uniforms and equipment are manufactured. Under the proposed policy, vendors who sell their products to Archdiocesan schools would be required to disclose the names and addresses of subcontractors involved in the production of uniforms and equipment. Additional, the task force has discussed ways to incorporate the research gathered into a curriculum component on sweatshops to be presented in the schools of the Archdiocese. It is planned that the information gathering and policy writing process will last a year, during which participation by uniform vendors, parents, and members of the labor community will be absolutely vital to the success of the project. What about your school? Do you know the story behind your school uniforms? Are children somewhere in the world unable to go to school because they are making the uniforms for your school children? Take action and, with your students, look into it.
If you become involved in this Action or want to suggest another, please email us: JUSTeach@paxjoliet.org |
For
further information on the Archdiocese of San Francisco Taskforce on Sweatshop
Free School Uniforms Tom Bebb at 650 - 851-6157.
To
learn more about exploitive child labor and what students can do
about it contact Free the Children