It was interesting to read the letters comparing today’s public school system with the parochial experience. I had the advantage of attending Catholic school in the ’50s and teaching in public school for 25 years. It would be ludicrous to compare the two.
We had strong family support, but at the same time, our parents never questioned the methods used to keep 55 kids in their place, without hearing a pin drop, even when those methods were sometimes very abusive.
Yes we learned–out of fear and helplessness. Learning was not nurtured. It was ordered. Some of the methods used then would cause a teacher to lose her certification today.
Let’s also not forget that the Catholic schools in the ’40s and ’50s could focus almost totally on subject matter. Teachers are now responsible for the “whole child,” especially since some children have home lives that we could never imagine. What a tremendous burden this is. I know there are a lot of problems in the system today, but I’m sure glad that my kids enjoyed learning and consider it a lifelong process rather than a robotic effort to please a scary nun.
