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The Educational Philosophy of Mariamante Academy
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Mariamante Academy uses the Ignatian methods and objectives of education as its guiding instruments.
The following statement represents the fundamental principles of Mariamante Academy in all its manifest applications:
• concerning the pupil as an individual and in his social relations to family, state and Church;
• concerning the curriculum and the instructor, which are the instrumentalities aiding the pupil in achieving his education; and,
• concerning the techniques and methods which the instructor applies to the curricular material to assist the pupil in his educational development.
Finally, it states the objectives which the pupil should strive to achieve.
I. The Pupil
The pupil, we assume, is endowed with intellect and will, and has other spiritual as well as physical capacities and needs, which it is the function of education, in cooperation with the pupil, to actuate and fulfill.
A. CAPACITIES
Considered from the viewpoint of education, the chief capacities of the pupil are those for:
1. Religious truth and for active participation in the supernatural order of grace.
2. Intellectual, emotional, and imaginative appreciation and creation of literature and other forms of art.
3. Logical reasoning, discrimination and philosophical reasoning.
4. Scientific knowledge and the scientific attitude of mind.
5. Historical realization, i.e., a deeper understanding of human nature, ethical ideals, social continuity, and the manifestations of God’s Providence in the world.
6. Individual and social development and discipline, under objective law and sanction.
7. Physical development in harmony with other phases of the educational process.
B. LIMITATIONS
1. His fallen nature, i.e., the selfish desire of all these faculties to satisfy themselves contrary to the present total good and the final destiny of this individual.
2. His immaturity.
3. The physical, mental, moral and religious conflicts accompanying adolescence.
C. DIFFERENCES
Differences exist among students as a result of differences in:
1. Natural capabilities, or gifts of nature.
2. The present stage of development of their natural and supernatural capacities.
3. The environment in which they have been reared and that in which they now live.
D. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
1. In view of the pupil’s capacities, it is the duty of the school:
a. To develop the memory through practice (language study, facts of history, nature, etc.).
b. To assist him in awakening and control of sense observation (through descriptive writing, audiovisual aids, study of inflected languages, reading, etc.).
c. To aid him in the development and discipline of the imaginative faculty.
d. To help him master the mechanics and techniques of expression.
e. To further the development of his power to think grammatically, i.e., the development of natural logic through analytic/synthetic operation of language study.
f. To promote his character and will training through:
i. Persevering application to study and progressive mastery of the academic subject matter.
ii. Submission to intellectual and moral discipline.
iii. Cultivation of the spirit of respect and of gratitude for the educational opportunity provided by the home and by the school.
iv. Living that is motivated by moral and supernatural principles of conduct rather than by impulses from within or circumstances from without.
2. In view, however, of the pupil’s limitations and individual differences, it is the duty of the parent or instructor to assist the pupil with religious, educational, and social guidance.
II. The Pupil -- In Relation to Society
“There are three necessary societies, distinct from one another and yet harmoniously combined by God, into which man is born: two, namely, the family and civil society, belong to the natura; order; the third, the Church, to the supernatural order. Education, which is concerned with man as a whole, individually and socially, in the order of nature and in the order of grace, necessarily belongs to all three of these societies, in due proportion, corresponding, according to the dispositions of Divine Providence, to the coordination of their respective ends.”
Encyclical letter of Pius XI, Christian Education of Youth
A. THE FAMILY
1. The first right and duty in education belongs to the parents.
2. The teacher is the delegate of the parents.
3. The pupil is primarily a member of the family.
B. THE STATE
1. American government is of, by, and for the people.
2. The State exists for the individual and not vice versa; and the individual has “inalienable rights” which the State does not give and cannot take away.
3. The authority inherent in properly constituted officers of government descends from God and, within its proper limits, must be obeyed.
4. The purpose of the State is to promote the common temporal welfare by providing, maintaining, and safeguarding those materials and temporal advantages which the individual could less readily or not at all provide for himself.
5. The State has definite rights and duties in education, among which are these:
a. To protect in its legislation the prior rights of family as regards the education of its offspring, and also to respect the supernatural rights of the Church in the realm of Christian education.
b. To protect the rights of the child itself when the parents are found wanting either physically or morally in this respect, whether by default, incapacity or misconduct.
c. To promote, according to the rules of right reason and faith, the moral and religious education and instruction of youth.
d. To take measure to secure that all its citizens have the necessary knowledge of their civic and political duties, and a certain degree of physical, intellectual and moral culture, which, considering the conditions of our times, is really necessary for the common good.
C. THE CHURCH
As a society instituted for the spiritual welfare of its members, she has the right and duty to:
1. Instruct her children in religious truth and practice.
2. Train her children in religious conduct.
3. Provide means for their spiritual growth.
4. Uphold divinely revealed truth and the dictates of right reason.
5. Safeguard her members from immoral doctrines, principles and practices.
D. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
In view of the foregoing principles:
1. The school has the duty of educating the pupil according to the reasonable desire and rights of parents and the Church.
2. Training the pupil in domestic virtues, so that he will appreciate his present status, and prepare himself for his potential role as head of a Christian family.
3. Because American republicanism is a government of the people, the citizens must be educated to understand their rights and their obligations.
4. Because American republicanism is a government by the people, the citizens must be trained to take an intelligent part in the functions of government.
5. Because American republicanism is a government for the people, citizens must be educated to cooperate in promoting the general welfare.
6. The church school has the duty to permeate its whole teaching with religious atmosphere, doctrine and practice.
III. The Curriculum
A. The curriculum must be suited to the full development of the pupil according to his needs and capacities.
B. A hierarchy of values should be recognized in the choice of subjects and experiences; i.e., certain subjects have more intrinsic value, and contribute more directly than others to the attainment of educational aims of the school.
C. The curriculum should provide for the progressive mastery of materials which constantly challenge the developing capacities of the pupil.
D. The curriculum should be integrated by coordination with several subjects and activities, and by a common philosophy permeating the whole.
E. Educational implications:
1. Subjects and experiences should be chosen which provide for the development of the pupil’s religious and moral as well as intellectual, physical and social nature.
2. The curriculum should stress formational more than informational subjects, i.e., religion, English, classics, mathematics, etc.
3. A sustained program of basic subject matter should be prescribed.
4. Electivism should be carefully restricted.
5. A curriculum so conceived is eminently worthwhile no less to the pupil who terminates his education with high school than to the pupil who continues it in college.
IV. The Staff
The staff of Mariamante Academy embodies and adheres to the following tenets:
A. The staff implements successfully the aims and objectives of the school.
B. The staff’s obligation is to realize the distinctive Ignatian educational ideal.
C. The staff is conversant with the philosophy of the school and with all the implications involved in that philosophy.
D. The staff, in its contact with the pupil, inspires him religiously, intellectually, and culturally.
E. Educational implications:
1. The staff should be Catholic, reflecting Catholic philosophy of life and conduct.
2. The administration and staff should, wherever possible, be under the spiritual and intellectual direction of a Jesuit priest.
3. It is the duty of the administration to acquaint the members of the staff with the school’s philosophy and objectives.
4. The staff is competent academically and professionally, and should have a sympathetic understanding of youth and a love of the teaching vocation.
V. The Method
The methods instituted at Mariamante Academy are based upon these principles:
A. The method employed will be such as long experience and experiment have shown will effectively realize the Ignatian educational ideal.
B. It should be in accord with pupil psychology; i.e., it should awaken his interest, offer proper motivation, and give needed direction.
C. Specifically, the method should:
1. Give sufficient orientation.
2. Provide definite assignments.
3. Locate major difficulties which will be encountered.
4. Suggest problems for independent investigation.
D. Educational implications:
1. The textbook for the instructor should be the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum.
2. The emphasis in methodology should be on the mastery formula centering about the preview or prelection. The prelection is the preview, with teacher and pupil cooperating, of every study assignment. The purpose is to awaken the pupil’s curiosity regarding a particular assignment; to orient him; to indicate areas of emphasis; and to suggest problems for investigation; in a word, to put the students in contact with the essential features of every assignment and to set their human capacities to work on it.
3. Complementary techniques should be such as the following:
a. Memory work.
b. Class recitation.
c. Class discussion.
d. Repetition.
e. Emulation.
VI. Objectives
We shall consider the objectives of the Ignatian school: first, as a Junior High and secondary school; second, as an American school; third, as a Catholic school; and fourth, as an Ignatian school.
A. As a Junior High and secondary school, the Ignatian school has the following objectives:
1. To teach children how to think intelligently and wisely.
2. Further objectives are:
a. To promote character education.
b. To promote an intelligent appreciation of beauty.
c. To promote physical health.
d. To promote proper social attitudes and habits.
B. As an American School:
1. In general, to develop a knowledge and appreciation of our American heritage of a republican form of government, and to foster loyalty to American ideals.
2. In particular, to seek to develop pupils:
a. Who insist that the American government exists for the benefit of the individual citizens, and not the citizens for the benefit of the state.
b. Who appreciate that the American way of life is based on the sound principle that man has received from God inalienable rights, which the State has not given and cannot take away.
c. Who will participate actively and conscientiously in the government of our country whether as voters or officials.
d. Who will, in a democratic spirit of tolerance and cooperation, contribute to the formation of wise public policies and to the solution of public problems.
C. As a Catholic School:
As a Catholic School, Mariamante Academy strives to “cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian.” To go further into detail, it seeks to develop Catholic young men and women:
1. Who have a reasonably through understanding of Catholic doctrine and practice.
2. Who realize that Catholicism is a way of life based upon eternal truths and immutable principles must affect their attitude toward every problem of life whether personal or social, which may arise in our changing civilization.
3. Who personalize truth, especially moral and religious truth, by applying it to their own conduct.
4. Who habitually act on Christian principle rather than from mere instinct, feeling, passion, or caprice.
5. Who find in the life of Our Lord and in the examples of Our Lady and the saints models of the Catholic way of living.
6. Who participate generously, according to ability and opportunity, in the work of the Catholic hierarchy.
7. Who display refinement in manners, speech, and dress in accordance with Christian ideals, and who, in accordance with their Christian heritage select and promote only what is good and wholesome in art, music, drama, and other forms of entertainment.
8. Who have a fine Christian respect for the human body as a partner of man’s immortal soul.
9. Who have given serious and prayerful thought to their future life-work, and have taken proper counsel regarding it.
10. Who are aware of the solidarity of human society and of the effect of their actions upon the lives of others for better or for worse.
11. Who are scrupulously just in their respect for the rights of others, whether individuals or groups, regardless of position, race, nation, or creed.
12. Who “love their neighbors as themselves” and so are sensitive to the claims of Christian charity, beyond the demands of strict justice.
D. As an Ignatian School:
As an Ignatian School, to develop in the pupil:
1. An intense loyalty and devotion
to the Holy See.
2. Leadership, particularly in religious activities.
3. An intelligent obedience to all duly constituted authority.
4. Respect for the significant contributions of the past.
5. The humanistic* habit of mind, emphasizing the classic literatures as the best means to this end.
6. Habits of orderly thinking through the medium of analytic/synthetic study of languages, particularly the classical languages.
7. Competency in the art of expression.
*Humanism - this term is used not in the context of the false belief and error of Humanism but in the broader and more proper use of the term as it applies to the ideas of “Christian humanism.”
Mariamante Academy
PO Box 8453
Fredericksburg,
VA 22404
Tel: (540) 845-4279
info@mariamante.org