Like many others during the COVID-19 isolation in the spring of 2020, I passed the time by binge-watching television series on streaming services. Specifically, I found myself drawn to medical dramas. I enjoyed shows like ER, House, St. Elsewhere, and one great show from the 1970s - Quincy, M.E. In that show, Dr. Quincy, played by Jack Klugman, was a forensic pathologist in the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office who assisted the police with homicide investigations. The hook was that Dr. Quincy was a doctor of the deceased. As I watched the show, I learned that a deceased body can reveal a lot. For example, I learned about rigor mortis, a process by which a deceased body will stiffen over a period of time due to chemical changes in the muscles. The progression of this stiffening process can indicate to medical examiners when a person died. Indeed, Dr. Quincy had many tricks up his sleeve!
What does any of this have to do with curriculum and instruction in a Jesuit institution? To understand the answer to this question, we need only to turn to stories of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits. In his conversion, St. Ignatius discerned how the movements of the Holy Spirit stirred in him a desire to serve others, impelling him to go where that service was needed most. In our schools and on our campuses, we often see statues of St. Ignatius leaning forward with one foot raised, which reflects what he wrote about being “ready to hasten from one place to another, in accordance with our vocation and our Institute” (Jesuit Social Services, 2022). The Jesuits embodied this ideal, establishing themselves in parts of the world where the need was greatest. Put another way, it was the need that motivated the Jesuits to be flexible in their ministry, not the strict adherence to some arbitrary, Earthly plan.
Like the Jesuits of generations past, educators in Jesuit schools carry on that tradition today by discerning the needs of the moment and responding in kind. Those needs are often emergent and dynamic, constantly changing as the societal winds blow. This is a global reality, but it can also be a reality of a school’s local community, or of a diverse group of students sitting in front of a teacher and eagerly awaiting instruction. To meet the emergent needs of students, teachers need to teach with one foot raised. It is a flexible, dynamic approach to curriculum planning and instruction, one that is inspired by and grounded in the school’s Catholic and Jesuit identity, yet flexible enough to account for the specific needs of the students in the classroom.
To meet the emergent needs of students, teachers need to teach with one foot raised.
Many Jesuit institutions use the word rigor to describe their approach to academics. In preparing to write this article, I reviewed the websites and mission statements of many Jesuit secondary schools in the United States. I saw terms like “rigorous academics,” “a rigorous curriculum,” and “rigorous study” (the names of the institutions are left out to protect the well-intentioned). Even my institution (Creighton University) uses the word “rigor” on its website to describe its approach to Jesuit education. Yet, the term rigor is derived from the Latin word rigorem, meaning “numbness, stiffness, hardness, firmness” (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2024). It is the same root of the term rigor mortis, which, to me, calls to mind images of those cold, stiff, dead bodies awaiting medical examination on Dr. Quincy’s examination table. “Cold,” “stiff,” “and “dead” are not great words to describe any school’s academic plan.
…the time has come for Jesuit schools, leaders, and educators to reconsider using the word rigorous to describe the academic program in their schools.
I propose that the time has come for Jesuit schools, leaders, and educators to reconsider using the word rigorous to describe the academic program in their schools. After all, Jesuit school graduate profile statements prioritize concepts like “variety of pedagogical approaches,” “stretching” one’s mind, “habits of inquiry,” and learning “in a variety of settings.” Even with the recent revision of the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools (NCEA NAC, 2023) the term “rigorous academic program” was changed to “exemplary academic program” in the section on Mission and Catholic Identity. Perhaps words like inspired, excellent, and exemplary represent more appropriate ideals and a higher bar regarding the quality of the academic program that a Jesuit school aspires to offer.
Perhaps words like inspired, excellent, and exemplary represent more appropriate ideals and a higher bar regarding the quality of the academic program that a Jesuit school aspires to offer.
So, what makes for an exemplary Jesuit school academic program that is flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of its students? To answer that question, I propose three dimensions that are worthy of consideration. First, we need to know what inspires the academic program in a Jesuit school. This will lead to an intentional approach to planning the academic program, one that reflects that inspiration and prioritizes concepts like adaptability and flexibility. Finally, a collaborative process of planning will reveal rich connections between subject areas, demonstrating to students how the content that they are learning is interconnected and reflective of its Ignatian inspiration.
What inspires your school’s academic program? Ideally, it should be the school’s Catholic and Jesuit identity. This inspiration shatters utilitarian notions that schools should exist primarily to make students “college- and career-ready.” This is not to say that we do not want our students to be productive members of society. Rather, it means that we don’t stop there, as the goal of Jesuit education is to encourage students to put their knowledge to use by being people for and with others, advancing faith in the promotion of justice (Jesuits, 2024). If we expect students to be people for and with others, then so too must teachers be for and with others. That requires an academic program that, for teachers, prioritizes concepts like discernment, adaptability, and flexibility in how the diverse needs of students in the classroom are met.
Of the Catholic school leadership classes that I teach at Creighton University, I get to teach one on curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In that class, my students’ first assignment is to submit a sample of their school’s curriculum plan. I have taught this class for many years, and have seen hundreds of samples from Catholic schools across the United States. I have learned that in some schools, there are highly-structured “pacing guides” that require specific instruction on specific days of the year with no accounting for the needs of the students. When I ask about this, the response is that these are qualities of a “rigorous” or “traditional” academic program. In other settings, there is no curriculum plan at all, which leaves teachers on their own, guessing at what should be taught in the classroom. For a curriculum plan in a Catholic school to be truly exemplary, it requires just enough intentional planning to set the framework for instruction, but also enough flexibility to allow teachers to respond to the diverse needs of students. It is in this sweet spot that a school’s academic program can become truly Ignatian.
Finally, an effective academic program is guided by a planning process that embraces the concept of collaboration. In this sense, the curriculum plan not only serves to identify essential content that should be taught, but it is also a scaffold for a collaborative process that brings teachers together to understand how that content is interconnected, advancing the school’s Catholic and Jesuit mission. When teachers navigate the professional tensions that come with that, and when they negotiate appropriate solutions regarding what should be taught, then it can be assured that students will encounter the kind of instruction that will advance the intellectual ideals noted in our schools’ graduate profiles.
…a Jesuit school is a place where the academic program should be vibrant and alive.
So, as you take time to consider the qualities of your school’s curriculum and instruction, remember that a Jesuit school is a place where the academic program should be vibrant and alive. Teachers are not medical examiners conducting autopsies! By teaching with “one foot raised,” teachers in Jesuit schools can embrace that diversity present in the classroom with an exemplary academic program along with effective, adaptable instruction that inspires students to grow and develop into the human beings that God intended.
Jesuits. (2024). Education: Men and women for and with others.https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/education/
Jesuit Social Services. (2022). Education. https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/education/
Online Etymology Dictionary. (2024). Rigor. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=rigor
NCEA National Advisory Council for the NSBECS. (2023). Mission and Catholic identity. https://ncea.org/NSBECS/NSBECS/Standards/Mission_and_Catholic_Identity.aspx?hkey=a2e11a75-29bd-4635-a6a1-f72e58a51bfa
