In my many years as a sociologist and researcher, I have had the opportunity to talk to so many different groups of people, asking them questions that get to the root of their lived experience. My job is to better understand those groups and their behaviors and use what I learn to help lead change through action and information. I’m rarely surprised by human behavior at this point, since my whole lens of the world is guided by the patterns and trends of human behavior, but there is still one group that both moves me and surprises me constantly.
Young people are a wonder. They are deeply insightful and reflective, especially when given a listening ear and a compassionate heart. My approach when speaking to young people is based in social science research, and though I am committed to being objective, I hope to offer a space for them to be safe and heard. I don’t always have the luxury of emoting or expressing the feelings of wonder that I experience when I speak to them.
My previous role allowed me access to the voices of young people on a regular basis, and I know the value of that access. When I came to NCEA in January, it was evident to me that they are committed to continuing that work and recognize that we cannot truly understand the impact of Catholic schools on our young people without hearing about it directly,. We collectively decided that it was time to start centering young people in the conversations about their experiences, even if it just started with one feature at Convention. Because of that commitment, I had the privilege of experiencing and expressing my feelings of wonder as I spoke to an absolutely incredible group of young people from various schools in the Diocese of Dallas during NCEA 2023.
Before we put them in a panel, on a stage, in front of an audience at Convention, Dr. Veronica Alonzo, interim superintendent for the Diocese of Dallas, and I took Alex, Charlotte, Chloe, Christian, Elise, and Robert out for pizza. We wanted to build trust and hear their stories, so that when we did get on stage, they would feel like they were talking to trusted adults. That pizza dinner in Dallas, on a warm March evening, was awe-inspiring. It’s true that this group of students is accomplished and have resumes that rival mine as a middle-aged professional, but that’s not what was so inspiring. It was clear that they are not outliers in their spaces. They are leaders and high achievers, but their peers are just as committed to their Catholic school communities as this group is, and they spoke with deep reverence about their collective experiences.
It was particularly noteworthy that this group of young people initiated the conversation about how the adults in their lives made them feel connected to something bigger than themselves, and that their Catholic school communities fostered belonging by design. We didn’t even have to ask my set of prompting questions about belonging, well-being, and trusted adults … they wanted to talk about it.
These young people blew my mind, but more than that, their regard for their overall Catholic school experience was more than I expected. They were able to very clearly articulate the benefits of their experience — even when compared against their peers and friends who may not be beneficiaries of Catholic school. They understand the value of service as their core and could talk about faith as an integral part of their lived experience, even if they were not rigorously practicing Catholics. Their panel effectively served as a testimony to the work that Catholic school educators are doing every day. It was a public “thank you” to the teacher who takes time to tell students the truth about something difficult, who shares something about their own lives to be empathetic and relatable, and who takes one minute out of their day to ask how a young person is doing.
One primary theme from the panel was clear: Catholic schools’ commitment to excellence shows in these young people, but the impact to them comes from unexpected places. Young people expect and respond to small things by our measure, and those small things have enormous, rippling effects. This panel of young people shared examples of how seemingly nominal gestures from trusted adults made a difference in their days, and ultimately in their lives. Consistent, small, intentional connections had a deep and meaningful impact and that behavior is at the root of the Catholic school experience.
NCEA will continue to center the voices of young people in our deeper understanding of the impact of the Catholic schools experience to provide services and resources that are informed by meaningful, robust data. While the panel wasn’t research, it certainly did lead to more questions that we will continue to ask to gather information that empowers educators further. We owe this direction to the amazing young people in our Catholic schools and their consistent ability to awe and inspire us.
Megan Bissell is NCEA Vice President of Research and Data.
Megan Bissellmegan@ncea.org