by Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
“What greater work is there than training the mind and forming the habits of the young?” (St John Chrysostom).
As I prepare my paper to participate in a panel discussion during the Ministry of Education’s National Consultation on the Primary School Curriculum (Apr 5-6), I ponder over the way in which God works. The topic that I shall address is: “Addressing the need for morals, ethics, virtues and values in society”.
On Apr 1 and 2, CCSJ held a two-day workshop at the Centre of Excellence to train teachers of Post-SEA students who are now delivering the Values and Virtues Formation Programme (V&VFP) in our RC Primary Schools. The four modules in the V&VFP are: Self-Awareness, Relationships, Being Responsible, Balance and Wholeness.
Our work on this programme, and Msgr Jason Gordon’s excellent presentation on “A Christian Moral Framework” (see CCSJ’s website), will assist me in preparing for the Ministry of Education’s panel discussion.
You may have read the headline in Newsday (March 28): “Separate morality from public duty”. The journalist was quoting a human rights lawyer who was on a panel with me during the recent UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Consultation on Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support. Msgr Jason rightly told teachers at the V&VFP Workshop: “Morality is not only about the actions we do. It is about the whole disposition and orientation of our life.”
We must not leave our morality home when we go to work, to shop etc. Public duty must be underpinned by the highest standards of moral behaviour. As my great-niece, Cherisse, would say: “Too many people are confused today.” And this confusion stems from the fact that we live in a highly secular society/world in which many believe that there is no objective truth; that morality is subjective; and that one is free to do and say whatever one wishes.
When we banish God from our lives; when we lose a sense of sin – of right and wrong, we fail to honour our inherent dignity. We have come to this juncture in our societies because the concept of development is not people-centred and is not based on authentic integral human development.
Our students need to know that among the many so-called “moral truths” bombarding their minds, there are objective moral truths/norms that are valid at all times and everywhere. As Catholics, we believe that God is the source of all moral truth and that He imprinted a moral order in our hearts and minds. Parents, teachers, and indeed the entire Catholic community, must embrace this teaching if we are to form the consciences and build the characters of our youths.
In his Foreword to the Students Workbook for the V&VFP, Archbishop Gilbert says that we need to “form young people of the Archdiocese and Nation so they can choose truth and authentic values for their lives…the young must find ways to enable themselves to live a full and productive life which embraces the common good…Virtues inform values and values influence behaviour.”
The task of educators is to instil in the hearts and minds of those in their care, morals, values and virtues that will help them to stand firm when they are buffeted by the gale force winds of secularism, individualism, materialism, selfishness, and relativism. Give them the tools that will help them to reject aspects of our culture that are contrary to our beliefs and to live holy, virtuous lives. Our teachers’ guide for the V&VFP (see CCSJ’s website) says, teachers must “create values/virtues-driven classrooms/schools. Values and virtues formation should permeate every aspect of the life of a school…
“We all recognise that the moral compass of each student will be shaped by a number of factors such as family, peer-group, community/society, the media, and from their own experiences as they journey through life. The challenge for teachers is to give students life-skills; to offer them a sound foundation…students should be given the opportunity to practise the values and virtues that teachers are seeking to instil in them.”
Let us pray for our teachers as they seek to live their vocation and to work as partners with parents in developing all dimensions of our children and of every child.
