CATHOLIC EDUCATION

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

We are called to teach all that is true and all that is good, all that tends to render human beings more enlightened and better.

According to Louis Bautain, a good teacher is the best teaching method of all.  St. Louis Teachers will never say, “I know enough!”  Woe to those, who though they carry out their appointed duties, have given up reading and study!  They will soon grow rusty, stuck in soul-less routine and out-of-date methods.  They will resist innovation or progress which they find both useless and upsetting because they do not understand it.  (‘La Belle Saison a la Campagne’, 1858 AD).

We will have made progress if we succeed in giving our pupils a taste for serious study and if we encourage them to have wide interests which will enable them to see things as a whole, the interests of humankind, all parts of the world and the wonderful world of Nature.  This will widen their horizons, raise them above themselves and interest them in all that is human, because they themselves are human (l. Bautain, Prizegiving Day, Institute de la Toussaint, Headmaster’s Report, 1837).

We believe that this noble capacity of the human soul to love all that is good, to recognize all that is true, and to admire all that is beautiful, can and must be developed in the children from the very earliest age.  This is brought about first of all, by the Divine Word of the Gospel which carries within itself the seed of all goodness and all truth.  And knowledge, when it is united to God’s Word and illuminated by its Light, contributes powerfully to raising mankind to the perfection of which it is capable, by developing the pupils’ intelligence and character (Head Teacher’s Report, 1837).

AIMS OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION

• All people of whatever race, condition or age, in virtue of their dignity as human persons, have an unalienable right  to education.
• This education should be suitable to the particular destiny of the individuals, adopted to their ability, sex, and  national cultural traditions.
• At the same time, this education should pave the way to brotherly (sisterly) association with other peoples, so thatgenuine peace and unity on earth may be promoted.
• True Education aims to give people a formation, which is directed towards their final end and simultaneously towards  the good of those societies to which   they belong and in which, as adults, they willl have their share of duties to perform
• As a consequence, with the help of advances in psychology and in the art and science of teaching, children and young people should be helped to develop     harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual endowments.
• Surmounting hardships with a gallant and steady heart, they should be helped to acquire gradually, and through constant effort, a more mature sense of       responsibility  towards the proper development of their own lives, and towards pursuing  authentic freedom. 

  {Excerpts from 'The Declaration of Christian Education:Vatican 11'}

 

SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Students/pupils should be led to become active members of various groups that make up the total human community, and taught to channel their innate restlessness and tremendous power for good.

 

Sint Unum in Cours Bautain, Juilly

Cours Bautain is committed to the educational values and spirituality of the founder Louis Bautain, his vision is of a world wounded, unified and transformed through the wisdom of Christ.  The mission is borne out in the development and flowering of the personality of each child.