Schools superintendent is encouraged by the role of Catholic education in Hawaii
Interviewed by Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Hawaii Catholic Herald spoke with Michael Rockers, superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools, July 31 in his office at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. This interview has been condensed and edited.
On Hawaii Catholic schools today
Hawaii Catholic schools are doing a great job of providing the education and the support so that students in this new century have all the technology and the skills that are needed to succeed in the society. We have now provided that through some great pedagogy and through the integration of technology in other ways. But they’re still really centered on being Christ-centered and not losing the main reason why they exist. We’re very fortunate here with the quality of the administrators that lead the schools, we really are. I’ve been in a lot of other parts of the country and hear from a lot of superintendents about the dearth of quality applicants for leadership in Catholic schools. We’re fortunate with the leadership that we have there.
On millennials and Catholic education
A 2014 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate study showed that “those who attended a Catholic school attend Mass more frequently than those who did not attend a Catholic school in each generation,” particularly post-Vatican II and millennial Catholics.
There’s a huge amount of difference relative to those that never attended a Catholic school. So if we want our Catholic Church to thrive we’ve got to have Catholic school attendance and active Catholics. And along with that you want leaders in your church who know their faith and have both a “heart” knowledge through the power of the Holy Spirit, but also a “head” knowledge of what their faith is about. And our schools do a great job of providing opportunities for the students to not only learn about their faith and live it out but to go beyond their school and work through community service projects and other things so that they get those opportunities for leadership and service. Those are the leaders of the church for tomorrow.
I think it reflects a correlation between having a national Catholic worldview and having their faith as integral to who they are. And this recent research shows that the Catholic schools really support that. I think that’s good news for Catholic schools.
On new advances in education
I think the schools are trying to continue to be really cutting edge on education. That is needed and is so different than what was needed for a quality education 25 years ago. And they’re doing it with fewer resources than the bigger private schools or the public schools. I don’t know how the teachers do it, to keep up with trends and the technology and the pedagogy that’s really needed now and changing their role from the “sage on the stage” to coaching and supporting students as they learn and providing a model of faith. It’s impressive (using) small groups and all those different things where kids can be engaged.
I think that maybe that’s the key thing that I’ve seen over the last three or four years. Teachers have recognized that student engagement is critical to real learning and that they’ve done the work with curriculum mapping and with new pedagogies to move in that direction.
We have a new religion curriculum that was developed by a large group headed by (diocesan religious education director) Jayne Mondoy. We have a new math and English language arts curriculum that has been initiated this year. So all those things are keeping the schools where they need to be academic-wise.
On visiting Catholic schools
I’m really fortunate that I can go to these schools and attend the Masses that they have. I mean they are powerful, the music, the kids responding back to Father, I love that part of it. I am fortunate to have been in classrooms and have seen that the teachers are so student-centered and the students are really pro-teacher. They love their teacher. They’re working together and that leads to such a positive learning environment. Especially those smaller parochial schools; they really are like families. They’re educational institutions but they have a family feel to them, an ohana, that is hard to find in other schools.
On the new math and English language arts curriculums
It’s not mandatory but so many of the schools have been asking for it and are looking forward to implementing it. It provides a real construct for teachers to use a lot of different ways of teaching to get those standards to be experienced.
For example, the understanding of math and not just math computation is critical. Understanding of the concepts is more critical.
On back-to-school programs for teachers
The Mass of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the year Mass, on Aug. 18, will highlight the 175th anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. And we received a Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation grant to have Jonathan Doyle come and speak after the Mass on “Tools and Fuels: How Catholic Teachers can Become Saints, Beat Burnout and Save the World.” He’s an internationally known author and speaker, especially in Catholic education.
After that, the principals and pastors will dialogue about how we evangelize within Catholic schools. That’s exciting.
On evangelizing within Catholic schools
We’ve had some good experiences with some of the schools bringing in new families, new students into the Catholic faith and a deeper relationship with Christ, not just their students. There is a call for our schools to be agents of evangelism and we as the Catholic schools office really take that seriously, and hopefully serve and support them in doing that.
Schools can be agents of evangelism with those students who are not Catholic, who are just marginal Catholics, and their families. Because our church interrelates with them every day, and whom can you better evangelize and model and show that gift of faith to more than those people that you interrelate with every day?
At St. Joseph’s in Waipahu, their pre-school teachers at the beginning of the year orientation brought in all the parents and talked with them about what they’re going to teach their children and highlighted that God’s love for them is unconditional … and the Gospel was going to be part of their curriculum. Teachers and previous parents actually witnessed about their faith and how their child, being part of their preschool, enhanced their faith life.
When parents see other parents witnessing their faith, it’s very powerful. I gave that information out to all the schools just as an example of the type of thing that can be done to practically and easily step into that evangelism role. It isn’t so much a big, huge program, it’s doing what you’re doing already but having a focus of, “Here are opportunities for us to witness,” whether it’s PTA meetings, the sacramental preparation with the new original order of the sacraments, etc. At St. Michael’s, Waialua, they had 25 students and parents enter the church this spring. Just think if every school had that.