Describe and explain the nature and purpose of a Cathlic School, Essay

Describe and explain the nature and purpose of a Cathlic School, according to documents published by the Catholic Church - Essay Example Catholic schools have been developed with a different aim and have been able to provide excellent education for several decades. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the nature and purpose of Catholic education as per the documents published by the Catholic Church. In order to gain a clear perspective of the nature and the purpose of Catholic Education, a brief background and history has been discussed. Following this, a detailed discussion of nature and purpose has been presented. History of Catholic Education: Catholic schools are ‘Permeated by Faith’. In 1823, the Benevolent Irish Society opened up a school in St John’s to help poor people as a form of charity. This school was originally known as Orphan Asylum School, and went on to be used by Roman Catholics and Bishop Anthony Fleming. One of the major concerns then was the non-support from the Government to provide any form of financial support to the school (From Slate to Chalk, n.d.). Of great concern t o Bishop Fleming was the government’s refusal to help the Orphan Asylum financially, despite the fact that it was the islands largest school and other denominational schools were receiving government support (From Slate to Chalk, n.d.). ... In 1842 saw the development of a new act which was based on dividing the grant for the schools evenly between the Roman Catholics and Protestants (From Slate to Chalk, n.d.). As time passed several changes and improvements were brought about in the schooling systems and by the mid twentieth century, the focus was now on improving the overall facilities in the schools and making them more effective, in terms of provisions like electricity, water supply and convenience for the students (McBrien, 1994). However throughout the improvements that were being made, the main focus of the schools was on discipline and need for well grown individuals. The next section will detail the nature of catholic education. Nature of Catholic Education: As per the Vatican II document – Gravissimum Education, the nature of Catholic schools has been expressed as: â€Å"The Catholic school pursues cultural goals and the natural development of youth to the same degree as any other school. What makes t he Catholic school distinctive is its attempt to generate a community climate in the school that is permeated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and love. It tries to guide the adolescents in such a way that personality development goes hand in hand with the development of the 'new creature' that each one has become through baptism. It tries to relate all of human culture to the good news of salvation so that the light of faith will illumine everything that the students will gradually come to know about the world, about life, and about the human person† (Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association, 1996). Clearly, Catholic schools tend to be inclined towards spiritual development as well as intellectual development (Robinson, 1996). As per the document from

SHOULD STUDENTS AND TEACHERS BE TESTED FOR DRUG USE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS Research Paper

SHOULD STUDENTS AND TEACHERS BE TESTED FOR DRUG USE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Research Paper Example The issue of drugs has been identified as one of the major issue affecting education in both private and public schools (Muscat, 2007). However, the public schools are more affected than the private schools. According to Samaha (2011), an assistant vice principal in a public school in the state of New Jersey found a student with marijuana and rolling papers used to smoke it. This is an indication that the student was using drugs that could affect her health and the social health of other students. This case can suggest that the use of drugs might be prevalent among students in all the public schools in the United States. There are also teachers who have been identified by the school administrators of public schools to be using drugs while teaching or before teaching. The use of drugs by both students and teacher is greatly affecting education in the public schools. Therefore, any teacher of all public educational establishments, regardless of whether it is high school, elementary or kindergarten, should be tested for drug use. Moreover, all the students in the public schools, especially the adolescent and young adults, should be tested for drugs. The testing of teachers and students for drug use would help to identify whom drugs affect most. This can help both the school administration and the government to decide the measure that are required to be taken to safeguard the social life of other students, as well as the quality of education. According to Alexander & Alexander (2011), the educational profession is heavily regulated in terms of the expected codes of conduct of the professions, as well as their responsibilities towards one another and towards students. The regulations imposed on this profession are mainly aimed at improving the safety of both the teachers and the students. The regulations are also aimed at improving the quality of education and to promote learning