A new book by educationalist Fr David Tuohy SJ, which seeks to widen
and deepen the debate around denominational education in Ireland, will
be launched on Wednesday 17 September in Milltown Park in Dublin.
Jesuit Provincial, Fr Tom Layden will launch the book which is
titled, ‘Denominational Education and Politics: Ireland in a European
Context’.
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Rt Rev Dr Michael Jackson and RTE’s Roisin Duffy will speak at the event.
Fr David Tuohy believes the current debate in Ireland about Church
patronage of schools can be unsatisfactory and inadequate and often is
narrow-minded and ill-informed.
The Jesuit is a lecturer and educationalist. He was the academic
advisor to the School Development Planning Initiative and has lectured
in UCD and NUI Galway and worked in the US, Australia and East Africa.
He is a former project director of Le Chéile, a trust set up by thirteen religious congregations for their schools.
One of his aims is to clarify the terminology used in the debate and
draw attention to the way in which confusion in the use of language
often leads to a breakdown in communication.
According to Fr Tuohy, there is not even a shared understanding of what is meant by ‘Catholic education’.
“When some people speak of ‘Catholic education’ they have a notion
that relates to the 1950s or 60s. Their experience may relate back to
pre-Vatican II schooling and philosophy and they may have no further
insight into the profound changes that have taken place since then in
the theory and practice of catholic education,” he said ahead of the
launch.
Other concepts like ‘rights’ and the ‘common good’ often suffer a
similar fate in the heated debates that take place around denominational
education in Ireland. The author seeks to clarify these issues also.
Speaking to Pat Coyle of the Jesuit Communications Centre, Fr Tuohy
said the use of the term ‘the common good’ often meant different things
to different groups.
“The use of the term common good has changed quite a bit over time
and often people say they are working towards the common good, sometimes
there is nothing that is common at all in terms of a shared vision, it
is a way of just keeping the lowest common denominator moving,” he said.
In an effort to broaden and deepen the debate in Ireland, he draws on
the political context of Europe to examine issues such as the
separation of church and state and religious freedom and education.
One of his findings, for example, is that many European countries, in
spite of their secular ethos, are almost as vigorous in their support
of denominational education as of state education.
“They endorse the right of parents to educate their children in
accordance with their world view, be it religious or secular, and they
have a strong commitment to the notion of religious freedom.”
The book looks back at the history of Irish education, and shows a complex interplay between the state and the church.
One of the things that surprised the Jesuit author was the level of
philanthropy in the setting up of Irish schools before the establishment
of the state system.