School of Community and Faith
Fr Alan Scerri
Transmitting Values in Roman Catholic Education: comparative case studies of Roman Catholic Schools in Malta and England
This case study research addresses the nature of Catholic schools in promoting values through their daily commitments and lifestyles. Within a liberal and secularised society, where education is meant to be free of any denominational values, the passing on to students of values that concern ethics and morals can be interpreted as indoctrination leading towards intolerance. With the advent of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the sense of enquiry even into matters regarding the faith took over rote learning and the imposition of doctrine of the Catholic Church. It is indicative of this study that this approach brought within these schools a novel way in passing on values through continuous discovery, enquiry, fraternal dialogue, analysis and interpretation. Consequently, this study points out that cultural attachment, especially at a tender age, needs to be maintained within these schools. To provide rich pictures of the four schools, qualitative methodology was used; observations, schools’ literature and interviews with teachers, parents and students in all the schools and also with governors in the English schools. Malta provided a highly Catholic context and England, a secular one. Irrespective of these differences, the data showed that cultural differences within the two countries, like patterns of worship, sense of social justice, inclusion and sense of community, their vision of the common good and leadership emerge. Four aspects of Catholic schooling transpired: these are Worship, Inclusion, Community and Service. It is mainly through these four channels that values, inspired by the teachings of Jesus and of the Catholic Church, are transmitted to the school community.
Catholic Education Project 