Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments are currently cooperating in the development of a series of national curriculum statements. It is therefore timely that the June 1991 joint Bishops Committee for Education/NCEC meeting agreed to the publication of a national Catholic Curriculum statement. The statement is written in broad terms to reflect the collective views of Catholic education. It is intended to help focus attention on the unique characteristics of Catholic education philosophy. Each Catholic school/system/diocese will continue to have more detailed vision/curriculum statements.
Curriculum in a Catholic School begins with the vision of the human person in the Christian tradition as proclaimed by the Catholic Church. From this flows the nature and purpose of education. The curriculum in a Catholic School should be based on the following convictions:
- that each human being is a unique creation made in God’s image and therefore possessed of inherent dignity;
- that education is about learning what it means to be human and that in Jesus Christ we have a model of what it means to be truly human;
- that education is a means of discovering meaning in life, of developing human potential and liberating and empowering individuals to be responsible for their lives and to contribute to the society in which they live;
- that education, shaped by the continuing search for truth serves the true and enduring needs of our society; and
- that education enables an integration of faith, life and culture.
Curriculum in a Catholic School must therefore:
- give a central place to education in faith and acknowledge the relevance to all areas of learning of a Christian view of life as interpreted in the Catholic tradition;
- give opportunities to develop the full potential of the human person;
- acknowledge and cater for the diversity of ways in which people learn;
- encourage independent thinking and critical skills and the continuing search for truth;
- foster the development of a conscience formed within the Catholic tradition;
- encourage understanding and appreciation of different creeds and cultures;
- encourage a critical participation in our society based on a commitment to human dignity, justice, peace and the integrity of creation;
- focus on attainable and challenging goals and affirm achievement;
- support and encourage students to develop skills of co-operation and teamwork.
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