Leading Irish theologian and scholar Professor Eamonn Conway is currently in Western Australia and will be hosting a series of lectures during his two-month period at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. Photo: UNDA.
Leading Irish theologian and scholar Professor Eamonn Conway is currently in Western Australia and has been hosting a series of lectures during his two-month period at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle.
In an interview with The eRecord, Prof Conway discussed his recent workshop organised for Catholic Education leaders on the Challenges of Catholic Education Today which was held on the 7 and 8 August at James Nestor Hall in West Leederville.
The two-day workshop saw some 26 leaders from various schools and members of the Religious Education Directorate attend, with many finding the workshop informative as well as educational.
During the two days, Prof Conway engaged and highlighted the importance of holding on to what is distinctive about Catholic Education.
He stressed that Catholic schools need to be deliberate in cultivating a sense of the sacred and in inviting young people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Noting that he is very impressed with the high calibre of the lay people, particularly those in leadership within the Catholic Church in WA, Prof Conway said that the great strength of the Australian Church as he has experienced it is the large number of competent, engaged and intelligent people he has met right across the board.
“From what I can see is that Catholic education is extremely well-resourced and organised and cohesive,” he said.
While day one was split into five cultural snapshots and their implications for Catholic educators; leadership in school and parish-becoming contemplatives & missionaries, day two reflected on Jesus as both human and divine.
Professor Eamonn Conway delivering a lecture at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle on 11 July 2017. Photo: Sourced.
Candid about his limited insight into Catholic education in Australia, especially in WA, Prof Conway said that the workshop touched upon certain challenges Catholic educators faced because of a changing culture of context in which they are trying to be as educators.
“Many of these challenges are common to all educators, not just Catholic. My suggestion was that we have unique resources in the Catholic educational approach to address these challenges.
“To be concrete, because at the heart of Catholic education is the Christian vision of the human person where we see the person not just as an economic subject, not somebody who is just at the service of the marketplace, but actually someone uniquely loved and we seek to bring that person to human flourishing in all his or her dimensions.
“Increasingly in the secular context, we find an educational system to be put more and more in the service of the market, and I think Catholic education need to stand against this, and are able to stand against this, as they are anchored in a very different anthropology,” Prof Conway said.
The discussions, noted Prof Conway, delved more into religion being seen as a commodity now, the modification of religion and how it may present particular challenges for religious educators.
Prof Conway also said they looked at the impact of technology, which of course is a tremendous force for good and can be a source of great power in a good sense, “but it can also be a challenge and can limit human interaction, so we were looking at the appropriate use of technologies in education,” he added.
In concluding, Prof Conway encouraged Catholic educators in WA to continue with a great sense of confidence that as Catholic educators we have something unique to offer.
“Catholic schools need to be upfront about Catholic ethos and identity.
“All policies and school evaluation tools need to include an ethos audit. Great care needs to be taken with recruitment, induction, probation and promotion of staff,” he said.