Why a values based education for your daughter matters
We’re in an age when technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace. To keep abreast of the resultant technology driven job market, STEM related disciplines are now deemed necessary to study. Concomitant with this, specialization in STEM related fields is more prevalent than ever. What is being lost in this environment are the arts and humanities, which teach us to pause and ask ethically driven questions about ourselves, such as “should we do this?”, instead of STEM driven questions, such as “can we do this?” Religion and faith are the oldest humanities and are predicated on ethically driven questions. At HNMCS the Catholic religion and faith are embedded in everything that we do so that our girls’ ethical development advances at the same pace as their technical development.
So when you think about your daughter, what do you want for her beyond skill training? Long term - what really matters in her life beyond STEM?
Moral education influences the social thinking of the individual and makes her distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Moral education is important as it teaches diversity, tolerance, mutual respect and pluralistic values. Moral values express ideas about the good life. As such, concern for the moral virtues, such as honesty, responsibility, and respect for others, is the domain of moral education. At HNMCS we are guided by 4 core values: respect, justice, empathy and transformation.
After a session with the National Coalition of Girls Schools on Building Inclusive, Anti-Racist School Communities, where we were exploring the use of the circle on Restorative Justice practices, I realized that our school is on the right track around justice, respect and empathy. The concept of the circle allows for the creation of a safe space, where our students are authentic, vulnerable, courageous, they listen deeply, seek to understand, and take responsibility to examine what we think we know about others. The girls with the adult facilitators in the room, co-create a space vast enough to hold everything and anything -it is where we realise that we all carry scars, have all caused wounds, and then commit to not causing further harm. The circle shows each participant that how we respond matters -that we are both warrior and healer and need to respond as such to have meaningful change. The environment shares truth, love, compassion, and healing - and in each session we will get as far as we get and will reconvene as needed. The sessions acknowledge that we will not be perfect, that the space will not be perfect; however, we work together side by side.
Our commitment to the girls at HNMCS is that we will continue to talk openly and honestly and that we will keep asking, what should we do?
At HNMCS the Catholic religion and faith are embedded in everything that we do so that our girls’ ethical development advances at the same pace as their technical development.