CEIST Middle Leadership Keynote

Dr. Gareth Byrne, Director of the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic education provided the keynote on Tuesday August 13, 2019, at the annual CEIST Middle Leadership Conference which was taking place at the Emmaus Centre, Swords, Co. Dublin.

The topic addressed was: ‘Share the Good News and the mission of the Catholic school in Ireland today’. The middle leaders from CEIST schools all over the country were given the opportunity to reflect on what Catholic ethos means today, what the mission statement of the Catholic school seeks to achieve, and how such schools reach out to all students, whatever their religious or culture background. The keynote introduced participants to Share the Good News: National Directory for Catechesis in Ireland, and its understanding of the Catholic school as openly Catholic while at the same time welcoming all and ‘characterised by respect, generosity, justice, hospitality, and critical reflection’ (SGN 148).

Dr. Byrne provided those present with material form Share the Good News as the basis for working in groups. This was with a view to these middle leaders being back in their schools participating in discussion with other teachers. Lively discussions took place in all the groups.

Back in the plenary afterwards, teachers had the opportunity to voice the issues and concerns, and the positive experiences in this regard, they had been chatting about. For many of them this was the first time they could remember being offered the opportunity to really grapple with the mission of the Catholic school, the variety of issues it gives rise to, the material that is there to support such a conversation in school, and the value of engaging around this topic for themselves, for the school and for their pupils.