The cross draped with a piece of purple cloth is placed in the centre of the college. It stands as a reminder that we are in the Season of Lent. In the background is another cross, one of four such structures, representing the four corners of the earth and symbolising aspects of the Summit on Human Dignity, an annual event, that the school is engaged in.
The 2013 Summit is about "The Opportunity Gap." The College Office of Faith and Justice (OFJ) has published the following aim for the Summit: "Through this Summit, we hope to create a forum in which the Brophy community, and in particular our students, will consider education, health care, wealth, access to resources, and the realities faced by individuals and families of various income levels, as well as the Catholic tradition’s perspective on how to navigate these arenas, so as to guide our personal and communal response."
I came here to find out about campus ministry, particularly the involvement of student leaders in ministry. I also hoped to find out about the teaching of RE and the integration of technology in curriculum, particularly RE.
As with the other schools I have visited, I was not disappointed. I was made to feel welcome and was given some insights into how Catholic education is conducted in Arizona.
Campus ministry is well-developed in the school with an Office of Faith and Justice being the powerhouse for the integration of faith and culture and life. They don't have a Student Ministry Team, but they do have an elective called Contemplatives in Action, which provides opportunities for students to become involved in giving service in the areas of prayer and liturgy.
Christian service is part of college life as is immersion.
Religious education is called "Theology" in American Catholic schools. There are core units and electives. The core units address Scripture, Sacraments and Ethics. Chris, one of the RE teachers I spoke with and observed in full flight in class, had planned a unit on Judaism with the help of a colleague with an interest in and knowledge of the area.
Watching Chris teach his Freshman Scripture class was enlightening and inspirational. He commenced the lesson with a review of what they had learned about the reasons behind the writing of St Matthew's Gospel. That had been part of their last topic. They had been tested on the work and Chris told them that their marks were available online. He also used the review to introduce the topic for the lesson, which was St Mark's Gospel. He was keen to establish the reasons why St Matthew's Gospel was placed prior to St Mark's Gospel, even though the latter had been written before the former.
I was impressed not only by the technology, but also by his teaching style. Clear, direct statements, moving forward by means of question and answer - Socrates would have been proud of him - and skilful use of technology: these were valuable lessons for me. The students used iPads. What Chris projected on the screen, which he addressed from around the room, was also available to the students on their own machines. Chris had converted his PowerPoint to a PDF and the made it available to his students via Blackboard. He reviewed the lesson material about Mark's Gospel with part of a YouTube clip, not the whole clip, but just enough to reiterate what he had addressed through the PDF and through his questioning. Really neat!
It is a pity that we cannot embed videos in PDFs. It would have been so much easier for him had it been seamless, like the ePubs I have been creating, or the web apps. Chris made use of two videos in the 50 minutes he had. The second one was projected from the laptop that sat on his desk. He used it as a back up to his iPad - not yet ready to trust mobile technology completely.
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