BCE Dialogue Schools Project
e-Update - Term 1, 2017
A New Year and a New Name
Welcome to 2017, we hope that you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and that you had a restful and relaxing summer break.
We are very excited for the year ahead as we continue to work with you and your communities to support your engagement with this project. A significant change for 2017 is the change of name for this project. As of Term 1, the project will be titled BCE Dialogue Schools. This is a significant and meaningful change and more holistically embraces the vision of Leuven research and our own BCE Strategic Plan to develop authentic Catholic schools that engage and dialogue with the diversity and plurality that exists in our modern world. We undertake this research in partnership with the Catholic University of Leuven and our fellow Queensland dioceses.
Another important change is the structure of the team here at Dutton Park. As you would have read last year in an email from Doug Ashleigh, the Professional Learning, Formation and Leadership team has been devolved into two separate teams; Mission & Identity, under the leadership of Jill Gowdie and Workforce Capability, under the leadership of Steve Dunne. These two teams will continue to work closely together but the day to day coordination and leadership of this project will reside with the Mission & Identity team. We also continue to work closely with the Religious Education Services team and Area Supervisors and are committed to providing schools with the best support possible. The Mission & Identity team also looks after the Catching Fire formation programs, Master Class series and school based staff formation.
In this edition of the e-Update are a number of news items and resources that we would like to share with you.
Some of the key topics is this issue are:
Welcome to the 2017 cohort of schools and Orientation workshop
Visit by Professor Pollefeyt
2016 cohort of schools - individual school visits
- 2017 MasterClass series
- ACU study intensive- Introducing the Enhancing Catholic Schools Identity Project (BCE Dialogue Schools Project)
- New resources to support Catholic school identity
For further information about these key initiatives please read on in this e-Update.
If you would like more information on any of these areas please contact The Mission & Identity Team on 3033 7620 or MissionIdentity@bne.catholic.edu.au .
Welcome to the 2017 Cohort
We extend a warm welcome to the 2017 cohort of schools who have joined the BCE Dialogue Schools Project. This year we welcome 15 schools on board and we wish them well as they begin the survey period at the end of Term 1.
We welcome:
- St Stephen's, Algester
- Trinity College, Beenleigh
- St Mary Mackillop Primary, Birkdale
- Marist College, Ashgrove
- All Saints, Albany Creek
- St John Fisher College, Bracken Ridge
- St Kieran's, Brighton
- St Agatha's, Clayfield
- St Rita's College, Clayfield
- St Kevin's, Geebung
- Mt Alvernia College, Kedron
- Holy Family, Indooroopilly
- Mary Mackillop College, Nundah
- St Thomas More, Sunshine Beach
- Holy Cross, Wooloowin
We look forward to gathering with these schools when they come together for the Orientation Workshop on March 20th at the O'Shea Centre.
2017 BCE Dialogue Schools Project- Orientation
For all schools who have joined the BCE Dialogue Schools Project in 2017 we invite you to an Orientation Workshop on Monday March 20th at the O'Shea Centre, Wilston. At this day you will be introduced to the key elements of this project as well as given a timeline for your engagement with the project. Information will also be given about access to the survey as well as the timeline and resources to support this process. The Principal, APRE and any staff who are leading this project are required at this workshop. We would strongly recommend that 2-3 representatives from each school attend this workshop.
Please register via iLearn prior to March 6th.
For any enquiries regarding this workshop please contact Simon Mahaffy on 3033 7378 or smahaffy@bne.catholic.edu.au or Joe Cryle on 3033 7616 or jcryle@bne.catholic.edu.au.
BCE Dialogue Schools - Orientation Workshop
This workshop is for our 2017 cohort of schools to be introduced to the BCE Dialogue Schools Project. At this half day workshop schools will explore the key aims and goals of this project as well as be given the key events and milestones for the project.
We invite each school to send their Leadership Team to this event as well as any other key staff who will be supporting this project. Registration for this event is via iLearn. Please ensure you have enrolled by the 6th March, 2017.
If you have special dietary requirements please contact Elizabeth McConnell or Enza Maloney on 3033 7620 or MissionIdentity@bne.catholic.edu.au .
Monday, Mar 20, 2017, 09:30 AM
Father Bernard O'Shea Inservice Centre, Lovedale Street, Wilston, Queensland, Australia
DATE CLAIMER- Professor Didier Pollefeyt
In August 2017 we are very fortunate to be hosting Professor Didier Pollefeyt and Drs Jan Bouwens for 3 days as part of their Australian tour. Professor Pollefeyt is the Vice Rector for Educational Policy at KU Leuven and is the lead professor in the Catholic Dialogue Schools Project work. He last visited in 2014, and this visit will be a great opportunity to deepen our understanding and engagement in the work around Catholic school identity.
While the final schedule of events for Brisbane has not yet been finalised there will be a number of significant workshops, Masterclasses, lectures and sharing sessions that will be on offer during his visit. This visit will be part of a larger gathering about enhancing Catholic school identity which will be hosted during that week.
Professor Pollefeyt will be in Brisbane from the 8 - 11th of August. Once final details are arranged we will communicate these to you. We can also expect visitors from our colleagues in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and Toowoomba as we gather to learn and share best practice.
We would encourage you to put a date claimer in your calendars now so that you can be part of this important visit.
If you have any queries please contact the Mission & Identity Team at MissionIdentity@bne.catholic.edu.au .
Catholic Identity Masterclass Series
Following on from the very successful Master Class series In 2016, we are pleased to announce that we will be hosting three distinguished guests for our 2017 series. Please see below for further details.
Timothy Radcliffe Tuesday 9 May
Topics
The Catholic Principal from Manager to Faith Leader
AND
The Imagination : Revelation, Conversation and Catholic Identity
Fr Timothy is a Dominican friar of the English Province, and former Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992-2001. He is the only member of the English Province of the Dominicans to have held the office since the Order's foundation in 1216.
Timothy Radcliffe entered the Dominican Order in 1965 and was ordained a priest in 1971. During the mid-1970s Fr Timothy was based at the West London Catholic Chaplaincy at More House, Cromwell Road, London. Fr Timothy taught Holy Scripture at Oxford University at Blackfriars, and was elected provincial of England in 1988. In 1992 he was elected Master of the Dominican Order and held that office until 2001. During his tenure as Master, he was ex officio Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome.
In 2001, after the expiration of his nine-year mandate as Master of the Dominican order, Fr Timothy took a sabbatical year. Starting in 2002, he became again a simple member of the Dominican community of Oxford. He is now a highly sought after speaker, teaching and preaching in many countries.
Registration for this event is via iLearn.
Amy-Jill Levine 15th & 16th June
Amy-Jill Levine is a university Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies. Professor Levine has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. She has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. Professor Levine combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor.
Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (HarperOne), the edited collection,The Historical Jesus in Context (Princeton), and the thirteen-volume edited series, Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings (Continuum). With Marc Brettler of Brandeis University, she edited the Jewish Annotated New Testament (Oxford). She has written, with her Vanderbilt colleague Douglas Knight, The Meaning of the Bible: What The Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach us (HarperOne); with Warren Carter of Brite Divinity School, she published in 2013 The New Testament: Methods and Meanings (Abingdon). Her most recent book is Short Stories by Jesus: the Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi (HarperOne).
Topics
15th June: Understanding the historical Jesus in the Jewish context.
Amy Jill will also explore the concept of dialogue, through looking at how Jews and Christians read scripture differently.
16th June: Women in scripture. Amy-Jill will look at some of the key women in scripture, with a particular emphasis on the Book of Ruth. She will also spend time with the women who walked with Jesus and the messages that their stories have for us all today.
Registration for this event is via iLearn.
Ronald Rolheiser
Date and topics: TBA
Ron Rolheiser was born in Macklin, Saskatchewan, in 1947, into a large family, to George and Matilda (Gartner) Rolheiser.
Following his school years, Ron entered the novitiate of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and professed his First Vows in September 1966. Ordained to the priesthood in 1972, Ron continued his education, receiving a B.A. (University of Ottawa, 1969), B.Th. (Newman Theological College, 1973), M.A. (University of San Francisco, 1974), M.R.Sc. (University of Louvain, 1982) and Ph.D/STD (University of Louvain, 1983). During and after his own studies, he taught theology and philosophy at Newman Theological College, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
His first book, The Loneliness Factor (Dimension Books, Denville NJ) was published in 1979. It was followed by Spirituality for a Restless Culture (Twenty Third Publications, Mystic CN 1991), The Shattered Lantern (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1994, and Crossroads, New York, 1995), Against an Infinite Horizon (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1995 and Crossroads, New York), The Holy Longing, (Doubleday, New York, 1999), The Restless Heart (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1998, Doubleday, New York, 2004), Forgotten among the Lilies (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1990, Doubleday, New York, 2005), Our One Great Act of Fidelity: Waiting for Christ in the Eucharist (Doubleday Religion, New York, 2011, Secularity and the Gospel: Being Missionary to our own Children (Crossroads, New York, 2006), and Prayer: Our Deepest Longing (Franciscan Media, Cincinnatti, 2013). Fr. Ron’s book Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity (Image Books, Random House, New York, 2014) won Book of the Year, Catholic Book Awards, 2015, and Best Book in Spirituality, Catholic Book awards 2015. The Passion and the Cross (Franciscan Media, Cincinnati, 2015) is Ron’s latest book.
Fr. Ron is in demand and well known as speaker. Keeping an active speaking schedule, his retreats and workshops have inspired many. Along with his academic knowledge in systematic theology and philosophy, he has become a popular speaker in the areas of contemporary spirituality and religion and the secular world. Oblate Communications and Franciscan Communications has produced fifteen DVDs of his retreats that are well loved for both individual and group use.
In 1991, while on sabbatical, Fr. Ron was asked by his religious community to serve as the Provincial Superior of his home province. He served two terms as Provincial of St. Mary’s Province (Canada). In 1998, Fr. Ron was elected Regional Councilor for Canada, serving on the General Administration of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, in Rome, for six years. In August 2005, Fr. Ron became the President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio Texas, a position he maintains to this day.
Registration is not yet open for this event.
Masterclass Resources
For access to the PowerPoints and video recordings from the 2016 Masterclass series please click here.
Catholic Identity Planning for 2017
Planning for 2017?
Need some help setting your Catholic Identity goals and interpreting your recomendations?
Members of the Mission & Identity Team are available to help support you with developing your goals and actions with regard to Catholic identity and your report recommendations.
We are able to come to you or can connect with you at your cluster gatherings in Term 1. Please contact us to book a time or to invite us to your cluster gathering.
For the 2016 cohort of schools, we will be arranging individual school visit times in Term 1 and Term 2 to assist you with unpacking your report and recommendations. An email will be sent to principals in the next few weeks to arrange a time.
Simon Mahaffy- smahaffy@bne.catholic.edu.au or 3033 7378
Joe Cryle - jcryle@bne.catholic.edu.au or 3033 7616
Catholic School Identity Study Opportunity
In August 2017 there will be an opportunity to engage in some professional learning and study around Catholic school identity and in particular the theology of the Leuven research. This is a joint project between ACU and the Catholic University of Leuven.
This is a live-in, week long course (held at ACU Banyo) which will explore contemporary theology in the area of Catholic school identity and will focus on the theology, methodology and pedagogy of the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (BCE Dialogue Schools Project) as developed by KU Leuven. This course can be undertaken as part of a Masters Degree at ACU or may be completed as an interest based professional learning activity.
Dates: Sunday August 6th - Friday August 11th 2017
Please see the email sent by Doug Ashleigh for further details. To access the application form please click on the link below.
ACU Enhancing Catholic School Identity Intensive Application Form
For further information please refer to the attached flyer.
If you have any questions please contact Jill Gowdie or Simon Mahaffy from the Mission & Identity Team on 3033 7620 or MissionIdentity@bne.catholicedu.au .
CATHOLIC IDENTITY RESOURCES
To assist school with helping staff to understand each of the three key Leuven scales, we have created a series of three posters that summaries the Post Critical Belief Scale, Melbourne Scale and Victoria Scale. The dimensions of each poster is 45cm X 100cm.
If you would to order a set of these posters please contact Simon Mahaffy or Joe Cryle from the Mission & Identity Team.
Some of the common recommendations that schools often receive in their Leuven report are around the developing a vibrant prayer life and understanding the mission of Catholic education. BCE has recently developed some resources that will support schools as they address these recommendation areas.
CREATING A SACRED SPACE
Creating sacred spaces around the school or in your classroom is an important way to engage students, staff and parents in the prayer life of your school. It is not always in easy task to design and set up a meaningful and Recontextualising sacred space. Resource Link has recently created a recourse that provides you with some tips and guidelines as well as connects you to some useful support materials.
Click below to access the Sway resource.
UNDERSTANDING THE MISSION OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION
There is a lot of reading and materials around the mission of Catholic Education. With so many publications available it can be difficult to know which ones are credible and it can take a large amount of time to read through these.
In collaboration with Resource Link we have identified some key resources which would be useful to school and office teams and are developing a series of infographics that provide a summary of the publication. The first two of these infographics are now available for use.
1) Instrumentum Laboris- Educating Today and Tomorrow : A Renewing Passion
2) What Makes a School Catholic by Thomas Groome
Please click on the links to access these infographics.
VIDEOS EXPLAINING THE THREE KEY SCALES
The Catholic University of Leuven has developed three short videos that explain each of the three key scales in the Leuven Project.
1. THE POST-CRITICAL BELIEF (PCB) SCALE
2. THE MELBOURNE SCALE
3. THE VICTORIA SCALE
These short videos would be a useful resource when working with staff in developing their understanding about these three key scales. They are also helpful in refreshing your own understanding of the scales in a visual way.
You can view the videos below or by clicking on the link below.
CATHOLIC IDENTITY WEBSITE
The Catholic Identity portal site is designed to support schools who are engaging in the BCE Leuven Project. This website can be accessed by clicking on the 'Strengthen Catholic Identity' link on K-Web or via the link below. It is housed as part of the Professional Learning, Formation and Leadership team site.
On this website there are two main sections:
1) Strengthen Catholic Identity Strategy
This site will have information regarding the BCE position paper and implementation strategy. This will be updated as the strategy progresses.
2) The BCE Leuven Project
This site will house resources that will be useful to school who are engaging directly with the Leuven research. This includes resources about the project process, how to complete the surveys and how to unpack the data. There is also a resource section that contains videos, fact sheets, articles, Power Points and other key documents that will be useful to schools.
Please find a link to this site below.
Helpful Resources
Resource Link
Resource Link has begun to curate resources that they have which will support schools engaging in the area of Catholic identity. You will be able to search for these resources by entering the key words 'Catholic identity' or for more specific resources you can search under the four priority areas:
- Catholic Identity and Mission
- Catholic Identity and Formation
- Catholic Identity and Learning and Teaching
- Catholic Identity and Culture
Click here to access the Resource Link collection.
STRENGTHENING CATHOLIC IDENTITY SHAPE PAPER AND POSITION STATEMENT
An updated version of the BCE Shape Paper for the Strengthening Catholic Identity Strategy is now available for download. This document outlines the purpose, vision and scope of this key BCE strategy. Please click HERE to download a copy from K-Web.
The Position Statement is also available for download and can be accessed by clicking HERE.
THE LEUVEN SCALES FOR DUMMIES
These documents have been written by the Catholic University of Leuven to help explain the PCB Scale, Melbourne Scale and Victoria Scale. Please click HERE to access the articles.
VIDEOS OF PROFESSOR POLLEFEYT'S VISIT TO BRISBANE IN 2014
These video excerpts were taken at the 2014 Leadership Conference, where Professor Pollefeyt was the key note speaker. This series of videos give an overview of the Leuven Project and explore the PCB, Melbourne and Victoria Scales. Please click on the link below to access the videos.
LINKS TO PREVIOUS ISSUES
For access to the previous issues of the BCE Leuven Project e-Update please click on the links below.
2016
Term 1, 2016 https://www.smore.com/seg3s
Term 2, 2016 https://www.smore.com/50a0u
Term 3, 2016 https://www.smore.com/tjhm9
Term 4, 2016 https://www.smore.com/cn2nr
2015
Term 1, 2015 https://www.smore.com/qgzfv
Term 2, 2015 https://www.smore.com/v8nrp
Term 3, 2015 https://www.smore.com/fhtxe
Term 4, 2015 https://www.smore.com/3evyk
Want to Talk to Someone about the BCE Leuven Project?
Email: MissionIdentity@bne.catholic.edu.au
Website: http://www.bne.catholic.edu.au/formationandleadership/identity/Pages/default.aspx
Location: 243 Gladstone Road, Dutton Park, Queensland, Australia
Phone: (07) 3033 7620
If you have any queries or questions about the BCE Leuven Project please direct them to Simon Mahaffy or contact the team on 3033 7620