Things have a way of piling up, like the pink and blue rosary beads sitting in the basket at the feet of the Virgin Mary. Every classroom at Saint Dominic’s Catholic School has one. Each two-foot statue rests on a table in the corner. Her arms are open at hip level, palms out. I find myself staring at her. I wonder if perhaps she has some answers to our difficulties in educating children. Do private schools make a difference? Does teaching religion build character? For families who can afford the thousands of dollars a year in tuition, the answers to these questions are clear. For me, they aren’t.
It’s hard to tell if the Virgin is actually a model for courage and faith, or if she is more or less ignored because she is a required element on a list of classroom must haves: cursive alphabet line – check, colorful bulletin boards for student work – check, gray statue of the Virgin – check. I wish she had a light bulb to illuminate her from within. Maybe I might see something I haven’t seen before.
Based on conversations with teachers and my classroom observations, it doesn’t appear that private schools do a better job of educating children than their public school counterparts. Sure, the emphasis on tests is missing, which is great, yet teachers at many of these campuses get paid a lot less than public school teachers. They are interrupted just as often with special projects and schedule changes – a food drive, grandparent’s day, letters to veterans, and a constant flow of emails to and from parents, who sometimes believe they have a say in how classrooms should run since they pay tuition. Some administrators let the parents become too involved and do not support limits on their requests and classroom visits. Church services are also part of the weekly schedule and can change depending upon the time of year and what celebrations are associated with the religious calendar. In addition, students are out of the classroom every day for two hours to balance instruction in core subjects with art, music, Spanish, library, computer, and PE. All of this is good on one level, but it significantly limits time in the classroom for in depth study, thinking and creativity. The curriculum is mostly skills driven, with children filling out correct answers in workbooks.
It would be tempting to think that private schools also offer the benefit of smaller class sizes. Not always. I know of a school where each class has between 24 and 26 students in the elementary grades. And of course, there’s the question of diversity. One parent said to me, “I took my daughter out of private school because the only children she interacted with were white. That’s not the real world.”
I’m also not sure how the schools deal with discipline issues or with students who have special needs (either because of a learning difficulty, or because a child is gifted and talented.) I have observed behavior problems among gifted students who actually just seemed bored. Filling out workbook pages isn’t difficult for them. Yet when given time and the opportunity to use imagination and creativity, both gifted students and struggling ones are totally engaged in performing, writing, and drawing. Behavior isn’t a problem. Janice, a third grader said, “I’m so glad when you come. It’s my favorite time of the week.”
And so, I’m back again to the Virgin Mary. Can the Mary statues be used to teach that learning is sacred, that creativity and imagination and effort are an important part of a soulful, authentic life? Or, is Mary simply there, but not actually seen because she’s always in the corner, like the calendar is always by the door.
It seems important to ask, to step inside the dark of winter and watch for the rebirth of the light.
