‘Hope is the soul of education’ graduates told

Br Sir Patrick Lynch, FSC, speaks at the graduation ceremony.

Too often, people’s lives are mired in blame and fruitless negativity — but the role of the Catholic educator or minister or leader is to provide them with hope that gives life.

That was one of the comments addressed to graduates at Te Kupenga — Catholic Theological College’s inaugural graduation ceremony on June 11 by Br Sir Patrick Lynch, FSC.

Br Patrick, a former chief executive of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office, told the audience at St Columba Centre in Ponsonby that “our Catholic heritage is strongly built on the combination of intellect and hope”.

“Christian hope directed to our loving God is never hope for me alone; it is always hope for others. Such hope unites us in goodness, provides meaning and trust in life, and stimulates us to educate one another in truth and love,” Br Lynch said.

This is vitally important, because “inspiring hope in other people is today’s major challenge”.

“Hope is the soul of education, and the dynamo of life.”

Calling for boldness in realising the fullness of a Catholic Christian vision in education, Br Patrick discussed a variety of essential personal development priorities for educators and students, and added that “it is helpful to expose students to foundational philosophy and to the wisdom from the world’s great civilisations”.

“If this is done, we have a better chance of graduating well-educated young people into the adult world, as well as broadening the horizons of the adults we interact with.”

Br Patrick also mentioned that one of “the fashionable traps in today’s education practice — and I specifically address the teachers present, which too many schools fall into, is to de-emphasise the value of knowledge, as against personal skills in the learning process”

“Despite huge amounts of knowledge [being] readily available via technology, if students are going to make the world a better place, they need to build up a deep knowledge in their chosen subject areas, as well as having a broad general  knowledge. Much of this can only be acquired through structured, systematic learning . . . .”

The theme of Br Patrick’s talk was “Making a difference for good in our world through faith and inspiration”. He described the graduates as  “navigators of hope”.

Among the themes he touched on were embracing the theology and philosophy of “disruption”, with particular reference to new technology, in order to change the world, as well as the importance of authentic leadership, having a personal life mission bigger than ourselves, being prepared to take risks and to think strategically, being committed to the common good and to striving for
excellence, and to having a prayer basis for action.

He added that much of what is now well-accepted 21st century education and teaching good  practice is strongly co-related with sound human and Christian values.

“Māori, Pakeha and Pasifika students thrive and achieve well when they perceive they are trusted by their teachers and ministers, while being respectfully treated as sacred individuals. Trust and hope are so fundamental in any learning relationship, if human flourishing and achievement are to occur,” he said.

Br Patrick also stressed the importance of exposing people in the formation and education process to the concept of “Emotional Intelligence”, or “EQ — Emotional Quotient”. A person might be very intelligent, but if their EQ is underdeveloped, their capacity is diminished in many ways.

“We are complex beings that flourish when we nourish our spirit, our body and our intellect,” Br Patrick said. He referenced his current involvement with a project under development by Sir John Kirwan’s foundation to enhance EQ in schools by embedding mental health education in teaching and learning.

The graduation ceremony saw Fr Peter McAfee, SM, admitted to the degree of Licentiate of Sacred Theology. Altogether, there were some 73 degrees, diplomas and certificates conferred.

The Valedictorian for 2021, Emily Maguire, gave an address at the ceremony.

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