Photos courtesy of Overbrook Catholic School
As a junior in high school, Emily was confronted with decisions about her future. She was reserved in nature and consistently had a “worried” look on her face. She had perfectionistic tendencies and often submitted her work late or incomplete. When encountering a difficult concept or problem, she would easily give up. Upon receiving a graded assignment towards the end of the year, she burst into tears. I sat quietly beside Emily and, in a calm, quiet voice, invited her to take a few deep breaths. Once she was in a calmer state, Emily acknowledged that she was both disappointed by her grade and afraid of her parents’ reaction. She was afraid that she would never get into college and that if she did, she would fail and never be good enough. She wanted to be the best she could be and to help others. But she was afraid of being a failure. She asked me, “Is it really possible to do something great with my life?”
Like Emily, many of the students in our classrooms have the desire to live a meaningful life. They are beginning to ponder questions about the real purpose of life. However, many of them are faced with unstable homes, filled with anxiety and overburdened with demands and pressures to perform. We may ask ourselves: Is this desire for meaning even attainable? If so, how?
As Catholic school educators, how do we help our students to live a good and flourishing life? This article demonstrates that human flourishing in the classroom begins when students become aware that they are infinitely loved by God and are called to a unique purpose in life. I offer practical examples of how teachers may help students in virtue development so that they can freely give themselves to others and receive the gift of others.
The human person holds a unique place in creation, both corporeal and spiritual. Being created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 27), each human person has inherent dignity and goodness (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 2000, §357). God, who is all-knowing and all-loving, made us in His Image and gave us an intellect by which we can know the truth and a will by which we can love what is good. Ultimate flourishing is knowing and loving God Himself. How do we as teachers convey to students their inherent dignity?
Students are formed in part by their environment. When the learning space is orderly, clean, and beautiful, it reminds the students of the respect and dignity they deserve as human persons. Natural and artistic beauty can awaken within us a longing for the infinite, for the source of all beauty. Having natural lighting and freshly cut flowers, and plants in a room helps students feel at home. We can also more specifically integrate Catholic culture and tradition by displaying Catholic artwork of Jesus, Mary, and the saints, and having sacred spaces for prayer. These are all important means for stirring the heart, elevating the soul, and inspiring a desire for a relationship with the Divine.
Attentive presence communicates to students, “You are worthy of my time.” Both as a high school teacher and as a professor for preservice teachers, I often feel pressured with teaching time, covering standards and content, checking emails, and the list goes on. However, I have noticed the significance of first being available and present to students to form a trusting relationship with them. Greeting students by name before the lesson, asking them about significant events in their lives, meeting with them for individual check-ins, and becoming familiar with their cultural backgrounds and traditions help to establish a trusting relationship. It can be easy to be dismissive of students who are defiant, angry, or overly needy. However, when I have shown unconditional charity, warmth, and care by an open posture, eye contact, active listening, and speaking in gentle and kind words, the student’s response has changed. This communicates to students their inherent goodness, thereby providing an openness to work through their behavioral or emotional struggles.
Unfortunately, our ability to know what is true, to make good choices, and to live in loving relationships with others has been weakened by original sin and our own personal sins. Through the acquisition of the virtues—a firm and stable quality to act well—we learn to choose and do what is good (CCC, 2000, §1803). By forming virtues, we can live in communion with God and with others. Learning virtue is a process, and over time, making repeated free good choices can create habitual dispositions to act well and to become a better human person.
As part of the morning routine, or during bell work at the beginning of a middle school or high school class, I have found that it is important to discuss what the specific virtue ‘looks like’ and ‘sounds like.’ We brainstorm concrete ways in which we can cultivate the specific virtue. A bulletin board that displays the name and definition of the virtue and concrete examples serves as a powerful reminder throughout the week.
Virtuous acts perfect, correct, and change us. Virtuous acts create stable and hidden dispositions shaping who we are becoming. By practicing virtue repeatedly, it eventually changes the person we are becoming. We can encourage our students to set specific goals for how they will practice the virtue of the week. In silent prayer, students may be able to reflect on the areas in which they have grown in virtue as well as those areas that they might need to grow. Class community is strengthened when we all recognize and celebrate each other’s practice of and growth in virtue.
You might be asking yourself, Is this attainable? As Catholic school educators, we can look to countless role models—the saints. Take, for example, Saint Jerome, who had a fiery and sharp tongue, or Saint Teresa of Avila, who was prone to anxiety or sadness. Through God’s grace, they learned how to integrate their strong emotions to live a strong, virtuous life. It is not a question of practicing virtue perfectly every moment, but as a class community learning how to strive for charity so that one day we may be able to get to heaven.
Sister Elena Marie Piteo, OP, Ph.D.is an assistant professor of psychology, School of Education, Aquinas College, Diocese of Nashville.sremarie@aquinascollege.edu