The Catholic Understanding of Reality
The new framework for the inspection of Catholic schools in England and Wales has set before us an intriguing challenge. In order to be judged as an Outstanding Catholic school, there must be evidence that, among other things, “The whole of the taught curriculum, with religious education at its core, is a coherent and compelling expression of the Catholic understanding of reality” (CLM 3.7). Like any inspection framework, the criteria describe the telos, the end point, but does not tell us how to get there. Therein lies the challenge and opportunity for Catholic schools and writers of textbooks.
The expectation of a Catholic understanding of reality pervading the curriculum is not a new idea. The Church has been prompting us in this direction for a number of years. The 1977 document from the Vatican’s Congregation of Catholic Education, The Catholic School, states that the school is guided in its critical transmission of culture and the total formation of the person “by its Christian vision of reality” (#36). Later in the document, it says that the formation of teachers needs to be guided by that same vision so that they can grow in “the art of teaching in accordance with the principles of the Gospel” (#78).
Almost fifty years ago, the Church was urging Catholic educators to be guided by a Christian vision of reality and to work on a style of teaching and a curriculum which was, so to speak, marinated in Gospel values. Without doubt over the years, Catholic educators have taken up this challenge in some schools, religious orders and dioceses. Others, perhaps the majority, were not even aware of the challenge. In England and Wales, with the introduction of a common inspection framework – and therefore a shared understanding of what an outstanding Catholic education looks like – we are now, finally, in a position to make this a reality in all our schools and colleges. The big question, of course, is how? Catholic schools all over the country are exploring the best way to achieve this, in their own context. Catholic multi academy trusts of increasing scale have the additional benefit of exploring how to do this across many schools and by pooling educational talent for strategy and delivery.
Before looking at some of the ways in which a school might make its taught curriculum a coherent and compelling expression of the Catholic understanding of reality, let’s take some time to explore what that vision, or understanding of reality, looks like. You could say that a Catholic vision of reality is God’s vision of reality, or God’s story, an idea which I explore at some length in my new book, God’s Story: the Vision, Values and Mission of a Catholic School in the 21st Century (Redemptorist Publications, 2025). In this story, reality, or creation, is seen not as some kind of accident or random outcome of chemistry, but the gift, the communication, of a loving God, ex nihilo, from nothing. God is the source, the secure foundation of all things; as St Thomas Aquinas said, being itself (Ipsum esse).
In this creation, men and women were made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27). In the image of God means in the image of the Trinity, in other words in the image of a community of love and mission. Human beings are relational, with an inner gravitational pull towards God, our origin and destiny. The abundance of creation was intended by God for the enjoyment and sustenance of all, without privilege or exception. God’s original plan for human beings was for us to live in justice and communion with him, looking after the earth, our common home. Creation – in all its beauty and diversity - is “charged with the grandeur of God” (Gerard Manley Hopkins). This is sometimes called the Catholic imagination, a sacramental imagination. We see presence, where others see absence.
Sin is our turning away from this vision, our ‘grasping’ what we should not grasp. Genesis describes how the world was overrun with violence and rivalry, with unjust relations between people and unnecessary suffering. God did not give up on his people, but stirred up a vocation in prophets to denounce injustice and oppression and to signal the coming of a saviour. In Jesus Christ, God “became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). Jesus taught us the ways of God, a renewed vision for living in peace and reconciliation, summed up in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12) and the great vision of Matthew 25: 40, that whatever we did to the least and the lost, we did it to God himself. This is what we now call a preferential option for the poor. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, the sin of the world was forgiven and Jesus breathed out his Spirit of peace and forgiveness. The mission of the Church is to be ambassadors for this reconciliation, to serve humanity and to build up the Kingdom of God. We are sustained in this mission by the bread of life “from the one table of God’s word and Christ’s body” (Dei Verbum, 21).
This is a Catholic understanding of realty. A story about a God who creates us (Father), recreates us after our fall from grace (Son) and calls us to grow in holiness and justice (Holy Spirit). There are other understandings of reality competing for the attention and loyalty of our young people. One of the most dominant is that nature is there to be exploited for our profit and pleasure; that human beings are essentially motivated by self-interest; and the markers of success in this life are power, possessions and prestige, with little regard for the vulnerable or creation.
We are telling a different story, and it should be evident in every aspect of a Catholic school, including what goes on in lessons. When I started teaching in Catholic education thirty-five years ago, there was no explicit link between what I was doing in the classroom and the mission of the school. That was looked after in assemblies, RE lessons and charity outreach. That has changed. The expectation now is that there is a clear link between governance, mission, prayer, social outreach and the curriculum. Our schools are mostly teaching the Natonal Curriculum, which is a ‘secular’ programme. That is not going to be re-written for Catholic schools. What we need to do is teach the National Curriculum from a Catholic perspective, informed by God’s story. That is the expectation of the new framework and that is what is now happening in our schools.
It's worth mentioning as an aside that the aim is not to embed Catholic Social Teaching in the curriculum, but a Catholic understanding of reality. CST is very much part of this, but it’s a bigger picture. There’s a danger here – and I’ve fallen for it myself – that we only focus on getting links to social justice into the curriculum. Important as this is, if that’s the only aim then the pupils could be going home at the end of the day feeling weary about the injustice in the world. We can’t look away from this, but we also need to pay attention to the good news, to the social projects for the common good, to the beauty and wonder and abundance of creation; that is very much part of the Catholic imagination.
As we noted at the beginning, an inspection framework provides you with a destination, but not a road map. How schools get to Outstanding will have to be discerned by the school, or preferably by groups of schools working together with support and capacity from the CMAT and diocese. The following are some suggestions, based on my own experience in Catholic school leadership and my recent freelance work with many schools and CMATs, for working towards this new vision of a curriculum which is a compelling and coherent expression of a Catholic understanding of reality:
Staff and pupils will need to have their own formation and training in Catholic Social Teaching and the Catholic understanding of reality (God’s story). This should be built into lessons and INSET days.
We understand the curriculum as more than just acquiring knowledge, it is part of the formation of young people as fully human beings, as understood in the Catholic tradition. A formation – or re-formation – involving head, heart and hands. Knowledge, yes, but for service and mission in the world.
The atmosphere in the classroom itself and the pedagogy is part of the expression of a Catholic understanding of reality: a preferential option for the poor is evident, the dignity of all is promoted, questions, imagination and critical thinking are encouraged.
The content of the taught curriculum can be brought into conversation with the Catholic worldview, which includes Catholic Social Teaching, by signposting where the topic stimulates a discussion about a principle, eg human dignity or solidarity. This could eventually be mapped across the curriculum.
A topic or module can be framed with an overarching inquiry question related to Catholic Social Teaching, such as, “What does it mean to lead a truly human life?” or “What’s the point of sharing?”
In any topic, the examples chosen to make the teaching concrete can link explicitly to Catholic Social Teaching eg, the maths lesson on percentages that uses the example of someone on a zero hours contract who has to borrow £100 from a payday loan company to feed their family. Payday loans are known for their high Annual Percentage Rates (there’s the maths). If the daily interest rate is capped at 0.8%, what would they be paying back after 30 days? Is this just? For more information, visit the Step Change Debt Charity: https://www.stepchange.org/
The choices of texts, incidents in history, or key figures – when these choices are possible – illustrate Catholic contributions to culture. Part of the Catholic story.
Find opportunities to celebrate the wonder and beauty of creation and the hope of popular movements and gestures of kindness. This is part of a Catholic understanding of reality, which sees God’s presence in creation, God’s Spirit at work in the world.
Find ways to collaborate between subjects on topics which are directly related to Catholic Social Teaching, or the Catholic worldview, such as movements for social change, the environmental crisis, or key concepts such as inequality, rights and responsibilities.
At a school level, chose a principle of Catholic Social Teaching per term, linked to the liturgical calendar and other key events. Make this a focus of assemblies and form times – with progression across the age range – and refer to this in lessons when appropriate.
This is a work in progress for all our Catholic schools. What I’ve noticed in my work with many Catholic schools is how varied the approach is, depending on the context, leadership and capacity.