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HE success behind Catholic education is the ethos and ideology behind the teaching—and that is what’s needed throughout schools in South Africa, according to the national director of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE). With the 2012 school year approaching, the CIE will continue to support government and share education ideas to ensure the quality of education across the board is improved, said Mark Potterton, the institute’s director. Mr Potterton said the academic success of Catholic schools has been attributed to four characteristics: a common core of academic work for all students; a supportive, communal style of organisation; decentralised governance; and an inspirational ideology. “These are not hard attributes to reproduce in our schools, but they are dependent on clear leadership on all levels, beginning from the department of education and filtering down into learners via school principals, department heads and educators,” Mr Potterton said, adding that the situation could not be improved by money alone. A 2011 study conducted in the North West Province and in Botswana by Professor Martin Carnoy of Stanford University’s School of Education in California showed that despite government efforts, the situation does not seem to have improved— teachers did not teach 60% of the lessons they were scheduled to teach. “The bottom line is that in South Africa schools for African children are incredibly inefficient, at least in producing academic learning. We observed good teaching and teachers who assiduously met with their class regularly, but these were relative rarities,” Prof Carnoy reported in his study. “Even worse, on average, teachers and administrators accepted low performance levels of students and their own low levels of knowledge and low expectation as the norm—business as usual. This needs to
change and it can change if school and higher-level personnel begin taking responsibility for drastically different teacher and administrator capacity and drastically different behaviour.” Recent studies conducted by the CIE conMark Potterton firmed that leadership is key, Mr Potterton said. “When emphasis is placed on the central tasks of schools, they can perform better. Schools where education is the central task cohere around the central task,” he said, adding that schools that have strong leadership, where the principal and staff are committed to education, produce good results. The CIE director said there is a need for a clear reference point for talking about things that pertain to all children in school. From behaviour, relationships to self-worth and other everyday issues, “an inspirational ideology should be egalitarian and have relevance to all children's lives; it is not set within a specific time frame and is relevant to children of all ages, ability, social class, culture and religion”. Mr Potterton said the teaching profession must be re-professionalised to improve the status of teachers in the community. “Teachers need to be energised to make a contribution to the growth of the nation. And to make this happen, the government urgently needs to give determined, positive leadership. The country needs to know that current conditions are not acceptable and that change will come sooner rather than later,” he said. And this, he added, will not happen unless all of civil society gets behind the effort. “Unless we prioritise education, and the development of our youth, we cannot look forward to a country where the doors of learning and culture are open to all,” Mr Potterton said.
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CIE: Leadership the basis for success of Catholic education BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
Cardinal at COP17: Greed is to blame
Advent: The promise of new life
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No 4754
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32-page CHRISTMaS ISSUe OUT ON DECEMBER 21!
Zolani Mahola, lead singer of pop band Freshlyground and a past pupil of St Dominic’s Priory in Port Elizabeth, crowned the year by visiting the school. She reunited with her past principal, Sr Ann, who is still involved at the school, and with Di Crowie, the secretary at the time Ms Mahola attended St Dominic’s. The 30-year-old singer was met with great excitement as she walked into the school’s amphitheatre where the children awaited her visit. The children sang her a song that they had learnt, and Ms Mahola then performed her band’s big hit “Doo Be Doo”, with the pupils joining in for the chorus.
Pope decries ‘frenetic Advent’
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DVENT, which should be “a time of expectation and silence”, coincides instead with the “frenetic activity” of expenses and preparations. This is why religious Christmas traditions must retain all their meaning as “islands” that bring “a little bit of heaven on earth”. The pope made his comments in an address at a screening of German TV programme titled “Advent and Christmas in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps”, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. The pope also viewed a film of a “Christmas Oratorium” composed by Hans Berger and dedicated to the pope.
Pope Benedict thanked the producers from the Bavarian broadcaster BR for bringing “a piece of Bavarian traditions and lifestyle to the pope’s home”. The Bavarian-born pope acknowledged that the frenzied aspect to Advent even applies to activities in the Vatican. But he also recalled how in his home Advent is called the “silent time”. “Silence in the home becomes, for the believer, a time spent waiting for our Lord, the joy of his presence. And that is how all these melodies, all these traditions that bring a little bit of heaven to earth came about.”
Pope reported to police for not buckling up BY JOHN THAvIS
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Pope Benedict arrives at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on September 22—not wearing a seatbelt. (Photo: Fabian Bimmer, Reuters/CNS)
HE Vatican said Pope Benedict greeted with a smile the news that a German citizen had filed a complaint against him for not wearing a seat belt in his popemobile. Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ said that the complaint was not being taken seriously at the Vatican. “It continues to provoke curiosity and smiles of amusements, beginning with the pope himself,” Fr Lombardi said. The spokesman said it is well known that the popemobile does not travel long distances, moves at a very slow speed and doesn’t generally run the risk of encountering other vehicles in its path. “The pope turns continually to the right and to the left to greet and bless the faithful.
Often he gets up and takes in his arms babies to bless, to the joy of the parents and everyone present. All these gestures presume a certain freedom of movement,” he pointed out. Fr Lombardi added that the Vatican was “grateful for the affectionate concern for the pope’s safety,” but added that the complaint did not seem to reflect much flexibility in interpreting the meaning of the law. German news reports said the complaint against the pope was filed in the city of Dortmund following Pope Benedict’s September visit to his homeland. The pope travelled frequently in his popemobile during stops in Berlin, Erfurt, Etzelsbach and Freiburg. The complaint said that on all these occasions the pope had failed to use the seat belt as required by German law and that, as a
repeat offender, he should be fined the maximum of 2 500 euros (R26 800). According to the German reports, the lawyer who filed the complaint said his client, 47-year-old Uwe Hilsmann, was primarily concerned about the safety of the 84year-old pope, based on a harrowing personal experience. A spokeswoman for the city of Freiburg, were the charge was laid, said that the roads used by the popemobile where closed to traffic at the time, and the pope was therefore exempt from wearing a seatbelt. German news reports also speculated whether authorities could charge Pope Benedict, born in Bavaria as Joseph Ratzinger, as a German citizen, or whether he enjoys diplomatic immunity as a head of state on an official state visit.—CNS