CSF January 2023: Catholic social teaching

Teachers explore Catholic social teaching in catechetical workshops

Every Catholic elementary school teacher in the Archdiocese attended one of four catechetical workshops on Catholic social teaching this past fall presented by the Sophia Institute for Teachers.

The daylong event held at St. Hilary Church in Tiburon, St. Anne of the Sunset and St. Pius Churches in San Francisco and Our Lady of Mercy Church in Daly City was made possible through the gift of a local donor who wished to fund the continuing catechetical education of archdiocesan teachers.

The Sophia Institute for Teachers was founded in 2013 by Catholic teachers who wanted to help renew and rebuild Catholic culture through Catholic education.

The institute offers professional development programs, curriculum and teaching tools and an online resource library.

Catholic school teachers must be certified in the faith at the time of hire, according to Carol Grewal, associate superintendent of faith formation and leadership. She said teachers are recertified every three years on nine Catholic topics, including prayer and liturgy, pedagogy, Scripture, Catholic social teaching, Christology, Church, morality and sacraments.

The 2022 workshop on Catholic social teaching included two speakers at each location who provided a theological overview of the topic and practical and engaging application strategies for teaching it.

Grewal had teachers complete a survey after the workshop, and 86% said they learned new content, 88% gained new teaching strategies and 83% said they felt more confident teaching the faith after the program.