Abstract
In this chapter, the modern questioning of faith in the academic context is first resituated within the current trends of a late modern reading of culture, through reflection on qualitative data gained in research with Catholic school leaders in England and Wales. The question is raised: how might a distinctively Catholic pedagogy be drawn from a theology of the person? In response to this question the argument turns to the Thomas Aquinas’ account of Christian pedagogy, which demonstrates a deeply theological and anthropological reading of faith and intellect from which late modern educators can learn. The chapter thus seeks to articulate for our own time a theology of the ‘faith-full intellect’ as a fundamental quality of personhood of deep significance to teaching and learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The papers and reports referred to in what follows can be found at Theologyandactionresearch (2016).
- 2.
- 3.
This tendency towards an instrumentalised view of education has been widely recognised, as has its tension with Christian traditions around teaching and learning. See McKinney and Sullivan (2013), esp. chaps. 13 and 14, and Whittle (2015), which draws attention to the notion of ‘unsolvable mystery’ as central to Catholic pedagogy. The position of church schools in relating to both church and wider society/state is thoughtfully explored in Sullivan (2011), pp.101–116, whilst Philip J. O’Connor offers a more personal reflection on the same questions in O’Connor (2015). Our research participants’ account of this can be seen in Heythrop Institute and Catholic Education Service (2014b).
- 4.
For example, see Catechism of the Catholic Church 356–7; 1694–5.
- 5.
That sense of ‘unsolvable mystery’ identified in Whittle (2015).
- 6.
- 7.
This conviction that practices embody theologies is foundational to theological action research projects. See Cameron et al. (2010), pp.51–53.
- 8.
It is notable that this resonates strongly with much contemporary academic writing in Catholic pedagogy: for example, McLaughlin (2008).
- 9.
Again, the theology embodied by teachers here strongly reflects Catholic traditions around education. See Watkins 2013.
- 10.
Vatican II , Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae 3: ‘Truth, however, is to be sought after in a manner proper to the dignity of the human person and his social nature. The inquiry is to be free, carried on with the aid of teaching or instruction, communication and dialogue , in the course of which men explain to one another the truth they have discovered, or think they have discovered, in order thus to assist one another in the quest for truth . Moreover, as the truth is discovered, it is by a personal assent that men are to adhere to it.’
- 11.
Aquinas’ profound account of people with what we would call ‘intellectual impairment’ or ‘learning disability’ is a good remedy against any misunderstanding of his position concerning the ‘intellectual’ nature of all human beings. See Berkman (2013).
- 12.
A similar question opens de Magistro, and is discussed in de Veritate Q. 11.
- 13.
Aquinas references Psalm 70: 15–16, with a gloss from the Interlinear of Peter Lombard. Whilst this is not hugely convincing to the contemporary reader, it is an argument with which we are nonetheless familiar, and into which scripture is often drawn, albeit sometimes in rather naïve ways.
References
Aquinas, T. (1952). Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from http://dhspriory.org/thomas/QDdeVer.htm
Aquinas, T. (2006). Summa Theologiae (Blackfriars Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Berkman, J. (2013). Are Persons with Profound Intellectual Disabilities Sacramental Icons of Heavenly Life? Aquinas on Impairment. Studies in Christian Ethics, 26(1), 83–96.
Cameron, H., Bhatti, D., & Duce, C. (2010). Talking About God in Practice. Theological Action Research and Practical Theology. Norwich: SCM Press.
Gravissimum Educationis. (1965). [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_gravissimum-educationis_en.html
Heythrop Institute and Catholic Education Service. (2014a). Thematic Paper 1: School Leadership as a Vocation [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://theologyandactionresearch.net/visions-for-educational-leadership/
Heythrop Institute and Catholic Education Service. (2014b). Thematic Paper 2: The Relationship of Leaders’ Experiences to Existing Normative and Policy Positions [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://theologyandactionresearch.net/visions-for-educational-leadership/
Heythrop Institute and Catholic Education Service. (2014c). Thematic Paper 3: Schools and the Church [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://theologyandactionresearch.net/visions-for-educational-leadership/
Heythrop Institute and Catholic Education Service. (2014d). Thematic Paper 5: The Evangelisation of Culture [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://theologyandactionresearch.net/visions-for-educational-leadership/
Heythrop Institute and Catholic Education Service. (2014e). Visions for Educational Leadership: Report of Conference [online]. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from http://www.heythrop.ac.uk/visions-educational-leadership-conference-report
McKinney, S., & Sullivan, J. (Eds.). (2013). Education in a Catholic Perspective. Farnham: Ashgate.
McLaughlin, T. H. (2008). Philosophy, Values and Schooling: Principles and Predicaments of Teacher Example. In D. Carr, J. Haldane, & R. Pring (Eds.), Liberation, Education and Schooling: Essays by TH McLaughlin (pp. 222–238). Exeter: Imprint Academic.
Mooney, T. B., & Nowacki, M. (Eds.). (2011). Understanding Teaching and Learning: Classic Texts on Education by Augustine, Aquinas, Newman and Mill. Exeter: Imprint Academic.
O’Connor, P. J. (2015). The Sustaining of a Christian Teacher’s Career in a Secularizing Context. In H. Bryan & H. Worsley (Eds.), Being Christian in Education. Reflecting on Christian Professional Practice in a Secular World (pp. 71–88). Norwich: Canterbury Press.
Sullivan, J. (2011). Text and Context: Mediating the Mission in Church Schools. In J. Sullivan (Ed.), Communicating Faith (pp. 101–116). Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
Sweeney, J. (2010). Practical Theological Research: a case study. In J. Sweeney, G. Simmonds, & D. Lonsdale (Eds.), Keeping Faith in Practice (pp. 273–286). Norwich: SCM Press.
Theologyandactionresearch. (2016). Theology and Action Research Network [online]. Theologyandactionresearch. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://theologyandactionresearch.net/visions-for-educational-leadership/
Watkins, C. (2012). Practical Ecclesiology: What Counts as Theology in Studying the Church? In P. Ward (Ed.), Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography (pp. 167–181). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Watkins, C. (2013). Education, Formation and Conscience. In S. McKinney & J. Sullivan (Eds.), Education in a Catholic Perspective (pp. 123–135). Farnham: Ashgate.
Watkins, C. (2014). Living Marriage, Learning Discipleship, Teaching Church: The Practices of Married Life as Embodied Theology for Today’s Mission. INTAMS Review, 20(2), 236–248.
Watkins, C. (2015). Practising Ecclesiology: From Product to Process. Developing Ecclesiology as a Non-Correlative Process and Practice Through the Theological Action Research Framework of Theology in Four Voices. Ecclesial Practices, 2(1), 23–39.
Watkins, C., & Cameron, H. (2012). Epiphanic Sacramentality: An Example of Practical Ecclesiology Revisioning Theological Understanding. In C. B. Scharen (Ed.), Explorations in Ecclesiology and Ethnography (pp. 71–91). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Watkins, C., & Shepherd, B. (2013). The Challenge of ‘Fresh Expression’ to Ecclesiology: Reflections from the Practice of Messy Church. Ecclesial Practices, 1(1), 92–110.
White, V. (1958). Holy Teaching: The Idea of Theology According to Thomas Aquinas. Oxford: Blackfriars.
Whittle, S. (2015). A Theory of Catholic Education. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Watkins, C. (2018). The Faith-Full Intellect: Catholic Traditions and Instincts About the Human Person and Their Significance for Teaching and Learning. In: Stuart-Buttle, R., Shortt, J. (eds) Christian Faith, Formation and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62803-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62803-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62802-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62803-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)