More than 700 educators from Oahu’s Catholic schools attended a day-long event of spiritual refreshment, fellowship and resource-sharing at the Annual Conference for Catholic Educators, Feb. 1.
For the second year in a row, the conference was held concurrently at two different sites. At St. Ann’s Model School in Kaneohe, faculty and staff gathered from early learning centers and elementary/middle schools. Middle/secondary educators convened at Saint Louis School in Kaimuki.
The theme of this year’s ACCE was “21st Century Learning in the Hawaii Catholic Schools.” In several “breakout” sessions, attendees explored ways to use technology and social media in the classroom. They also engaged in a live Twitter feed and Internet chat, providing comments to Hawaii Catholic Schools staff about their experience throughout the day.
It’s the first real-time social media discussion to be done at the ACCE, said Mike Rockers, Hawaii Catholic Schools superintendent.
Rockers stopped by both conference sites to give a brief talk on the state of local Catholic schools. To the high school educators at Saint Louis, the superintendent said he was “pleased with the work” that principals and teachers have been doing in collaboration with diocesan staff and Hawaii Catholic Schools board members.
They have done a lot to help students become “people of faith and integrity and scholarship,” he said.
“Quality information, truth and authentic positive relationships are all too rare,” Rockers added. “If you do anything as faculty, staff … that’s what you can give to our students, and you do it so well.”
Although the superintendent acknowledged the “extremely strong” faith foundation, comprehensive academics and high-tech advancements in Hawaii’s Catholic schools, Rockers said the institutions continue to face declining enrollment. The Islands’ 21 Catholic elementary schools, seven secondary schools and 11 early learning centers presently serve about 9,300 students.
According to Rockers, this year is the seventh straight year that student numbers have gone down.
Societal trends have brought forth new options in virtual schools, charter schools, for-profit schools and homeschooling, he said. Amid those options, Catholic schools will have to be steadfast in maintaining their brand of education.
“We must be mission-driven and not be tempted to water down who we are,” he said. “I see a bright future in our schools.”
Rockers and the Catholic schools office honored 21 educators who have served in local Catholic schools for 20, 30 or 40 years.
Bishop Larry Silva celebrated Mass at St. Ann School. Diocesan vicar general Father Gary Secor presided the liturgy at Saint Louis.
In his homily, Father Secor encouraged the educators with the biblical analogy of the mustard seed. “The seeds of God’s love, God’s truth, God’s wisdom,” he said, will flourish in students with “faith and perseverance.”
“To teach as Jesus did, to educate, is really to bring forth the truth,” he said. “As we plant these little mustard seeds, they make a big, big difference.”
Marianist Father John Thompson of Chaminade University presented data gathered from the “Information for Growth” Catholic survey, or IFG. Prior to the ACCE, about 800 educators were invited to take the survey online. More than half of them — 493 people — responded.
The IFG survey aimed to gauge how knowledgeable the educators were in six areas of the faith, and how closely their beliefs and practices aligned with these teachings. The survey categories were: “Knowledge of the faith,” “The liturgy,” “Moral formation,” “Prayer,” “Communal life,” and “Missionary spirit.”
Survey results showed that this cross-section of educators had a solid “cognitive” and “affective” grasp of Catholic teaching. In several of the categories, more than 50 percent of the respondents scored in the “high/strong” bracket.
The IFG also polled educators on which areas of Catholic teaching they would like to explore further. “Catholic Social Teaching” was the topic of most interest, chosen by 38 percent of the respondents. Thirty-five percent said they would like to know more about “Ethics in the Workplace,” and 31 percent were interested in “Current Church Issues.”
Father Thompson said technical problems with the IFG software prevented the gathering of demographic information on educators. That data, such as years of teaching experience and faith backgrounds, would have helped in creating specific recommendations for schools.
The survey results, however, gave a general idea of the strengths and areas of needed improvement in faith formation for faculty and staff.
“There’s work to be done,” Father Thompson said. “The more we keep working together, the more we can address the problems.”
