Outside In

This article first appeared in the February 2024 issue of the Catholic Herald. ________ There is certainly an irony in the fact that one issue on which both secular humanists and a certain cohort of Catholics can find common cause is the desire to close Catholic schools. From one direction,…

But then perhaps to be hopeful, you must first be humbled. Indeed, maybe you must even despair

I met an ex-student of mine a little while back. He was a great lad. Still is. He went through a tough time at school and left without any grades. And now, as he worked in menial labour for cash-in-hand and far less than minimum wage, his sole desire – to become a…

I used to think education was about social justice. Perhaps not in those terms exactly – it is a contested term after all – but at root this was the main justification for coming to the profession. Not sharing a love of subject, not wanting to spread knowledge, but addressing injustice…

For an educational context so absorbed by the pursuit and possession of knowledge, one wonders why it can be so hard to find people willing to talk about the purpose of having it. On the traditionalist side, it can sometimes feel that those advocating for ‘cultural literacy’ (or any of…

Heads are being forced to muck in – much like leaders of small schools have been doing for years