Faith in Action

Below, it is outlined how we used the See, Judge, Act model. We used this model to assist us in teaching the children in our hub about Laudato Si and we were able to link it to our Science PBL about Renewable Energy.

SEE - The issue that we saw in our school was the disregard for the environment. My colleagues and I had noticed rubbish in the playground, lots of plastic and unnecessary packaging in lunch boxes. The students were not intentionally harming their surrounding, but we felt that their eyes needed to be opened to what they were doing. In light of learning about Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and Social Justice, we decided to address these issues with the students. We wanted to teach them how to be stewards of the land - being responsible guardians looking after and caring for God’s gifts.

JUDGE - I believe there are many reasons why this situation exists in our world today. If I am to look at this issue in regards to my students, then I feel that there is a general lack of knowledge surrounding this issue. Yes, they know that they should look after our earth but they perhaps do not understand the impact that modern society is having on it and it is this idea that we needed to address. I also feel that the amount of rubbish and lunchbox waste is to do with convenience - living in such a busy, fast paced society, it is easier for many parents to buy pre-packaged food. Also apathy on behalf of society around care for our common home - there is more emphasis placed on the individual that the group. Looking at the theological analysis, The Church tells us that we are called to look after God’s creation through its teachings. A most recent example of this is the encyclical Laudato Si and Care for the earth, “Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” and “The notion of the common good also extends to future generations. We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity.” We wanted to highlight this idea to our students showing them that they have a part to play. The principle of stewardship and the words of Pope Francis were a perfect starting point for the children's journey.

ACT - as mentioned above, the focus for Term 2 was science. We decided to teach the children about sustainable solutions and link this to the teachings of Pope Francis in Laudato Si. All in all, the children in our hub were fully immersed in the principle of stewardship via Science and the Religious Education programme. The children learnt about renewable energy, pollution, waterways and green infrastructure. We wanted them to understand that these sustainable solutions have a positive impact on our environment and link it back to the message from Laudato Si. We wanted to open their eyes to the impact that they have on their environment and how every choice that they make has a repercussion. We informed the parents and wider school community about Laudato Si and about CST, in particular, Stewardship, via our hub blog. We had many comments back from parents about the learning that had been taking place at school and the children were taking their new found knowledge home. For example, we heard from many parents that the children wanted to have all their food put in reusable containers and parents were told not to use chemicals and sprays in their homes! Each home-base developed an action plan and personalised it. Examples of these were turning off the lights when leaving a room, only using one paper towel to dry your hands and using only water, not chemicals, to clean our school desks. At the end of the term, the children all wrote letters to Pope Francis outlining the learning that had taken place and the steps they had taken to look after their common home.

Term 2 was authentic, engaging, achievable, fun and most of all memorable and powerful. The children were fully immersed in the message from Laudato Si. We have a social action plan in place to help add more greenery at the school. This term, the children from our hub have already planted native grasses and strawberries and next term will see a vegetable garden planted, with the idea of the produce being given to the parents of the school. Catholic Social Teachings allowed the students to not only learn about their world, but also their place in it and the things they can do to look after it. This term was truely ‘faith in action’ and I have no doubt that the learning that took place will stay with the students for a very long time.