Biography
Anne Kelleher, CEIST Anne Kelleher was appointed CEO of CEIST ( Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust) when the Trust was established in 2007. CEIST is the new organisational framework for 112 Catholic Voluntary Secondary schools in Ireland and is the largest Trustee body in the country. Anne spent most of her teaching career with the De La Salle Brothers in Kildare, and was selected the Department of Education & Science, together with forty five teachers nationwide, to facilitate the introduction of the RSE in-service education programme. In 1997, Anne was appointed the first Director of Kildare Education Support Centre, a Statutory body with responsibility for provision of Continuing Professional Development to Educators in the east coast of Ireland, (approx. 5,000 educators). Anne graduated with an M.St. Hons, (Educational Leadership & Management) from Trinity College, Dublin in 1997, where she continues to lecture part-time in the Masters Programme.
The Presentation
“ Teaching to Transform; A Sacramental Consciousness.”
Love of God & love of neighbour are inextricably bound together in the Christian vision. Our Catholic schools espouse a vision of community informed by the teachings & example of Jesus Christ & centred on the promotion of the common good in a variety of social contexts: home, school, nation & church. Together, we share the many challenges and rewards of being educators & leaders in such a context.
As leaders within the Catholic school sector, we are called to grow together, to support one another and to challenge each other as we develop & grow personally, professionally & spiritually. Ultimately – and paradoxically perhaps – we are called to serve our country’s most valuable asset: its children.
To carry out its core teaching mission, a Catholic school paints a picture of the world for a young person. It is a picture for a young person which says “You are a child of God, called to something larger than drink, drugs & the excesses of today”. There is a tremendous safety in being a child of God. It means that one is loved. How comforting & profound can you get? Cardinal Heneghan, when asked “What is the most challenging dogma of the Church for you to believe?” replied “…That I am loved by God, unconditionally”.
The communication of this message to our young people is a shared responsibility, with each of us called to transformation, whether we are a regular class-room teacher or whether we are the Principal/Director of the school.
The message challenges us to reflect on & continuously strive to understand & be aware of the cognitive, affective & missionary impacts of our work. How do you understand the Catholic school & all that it stands for in terms of meaning, spirituality, community, excellence? How does it touch us to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Catholic schools & the impact on our decision making? What is it that we do on a daily basis? Do we act differently arising out of our understanding of ourselves within the Catholic sector? Are we aware of our roles?
Simone Weil says “We live our lives by the quality of awareness”. How do we operate out of that awareness? Do we encourage each other & how do we encourage an awareness of each other?
Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, former Prior Provincial of the Order of Preachers in England, often states that the greatest challenge for educational leaders today is to be beacons of Hope. In the midst of anarchy & economic down-turn throughout the world, an even greater challenge is to build & sustain a spiritual vision for our educators, our schools and our parishes. Because such a vision can inspire each one to reach for their best selves as educators, we become as Daniel 12:3 says “stars of heaven”.
In teaching to transform, we ask – what it is that we are striving for? Apart from the functional cares such as funding, staffing allocations, repairs to buildings etc. etc, let us put down the markers to aspire for a positive outlook; a sacramental consciousness; a commitment to relationship & community; an appreciation for tradition & an excitement for the new; a commitment to social justice & a heightened awareness of how we each fulfil our vocation in life.
Catholic Education Project 