Permeation of Catholic identity: Some challenges for Canadian Catholic schools (part 1)

Catholic schools seek to provide an educational vision where the religious dimension is given prominence not just in formal religious education classes but throughout the curriculum and in the wider life of schools. One way of expressing this idea is to argue that Catholic identity should permeate all that is done in the school. This paper, the first in a two part series, argues that while permeation may be a worthwhile goal for Catholic schools to strive for this must be undertaken within the context of a number of significant challenges. These include, most notably, the changing demographics of schools where many parents, students and teachers no longer exhibit high levels of religious commitment. This results in a loss of the critical mass needed for effective collaborative action.