Why We Reformed Our School: The Vision of Catholic Liberal Education | Mary Pat Donoghue

Описание: "Do not be afraid to draw into the deep." — Pope St. John Paul II

In this presentation, Mary Pat Donahue, the former principal of St. Jerome Academy and current Executive Director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education at the USCCB, shares the story of the school's conversion to a classical liberal arts curriculum.

Introduced by SJA Director of Advancement Chris Currie, Mary Pat explores the "Educational Plan of St. Jerome Academy"—a document that has inspired dozens of schools across the nation to move away from the factory-model of education (inspired by Rousseau and Dewey) and return to the Church’s own tradition of forming the human person in wisdom and virtue.

*In this talk:*
*The Turnaround:* How St. Jerome went from near-closure to a national model for Catholic education.
*The Philosophy:* Why modern "student-centered" education often fails to introduce children to Reality.
*The Curriculum:* How the Trivium (Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric) and Salvation History align with the natural development of the child.
*The Vision:* Preparing students not just for the workforce, but for their dual citizenship in this world and the next.

*Chapters:*
0:00 Introduction by Chris Currie
3:12 Mary Pat Donahue Begins: The Importance of Formation
5:05 Mary Pat's Personal History with SJA
6:43 "Duc In Altum": Casting into the Deep
8:05 The Crisis of 2009 & The Turnaround
11:28 Beginning with the End in Mind (The Blueprint)
15:00 The Flaws of Rousseau (Child-Centered Education)
17:13 The Flaws of Dewey (Factory-Model Education)
22:37 The Catholic Blueprint: Forming the Human Person
25:26 The Trivium: Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric
27:27 The Importance of Story & Imagination (Narnia vs. Harry Potter)
28:43 Salvation History: The Family Story
30:15 Addressing Gender Theory & Anthropology
31:51 STEM in a Classical Curriculum
34:28 Conclusion: Preparing Students for Eternity

🙌 Support our mission: https://stjeromeacademy.org/donate


*Learn more about the Educational Plan:* https://stjeromeacademy.org/classical
*Institute for Catholic Liberal Education:* https://catholicliberaleducation.org/

#CatholicEducation #ClassicalEducation #StJeromeAcademy #MaryPatDonahue #LiberalArts #educationreform


Recorded in January 2021