The Marist Approach to Education
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Our style of educating is based on a vision that is truly holistic, and that consciously seeks to communicate values. While we share such a vision with many, especially in Church circles, we use a distinctive pedagogical approach which Marcellin and the first Marists initiated and which was innovative in many of its aspects.
We share their intuition that “to bring up children properly, we must love them, and love them all equally”. From this principle flow the particular characteristics of the Marist style of educating: presence, simplicity, family spirit, love of work, and following the way of Mary (A Vision for Marist Education, 1998, #97 & 98). These five qualities inform how we carry out our mission.
PRESENCE
Caring for each other, seeking relationships founded on love, being attentive and welcoming with a sense of openness.
SIMPLICITY
Being straightforward and genuine, humble and modest, ‘doing good quietly’.
FAMILY SPIRIT
We relate to each other as members of a loving family, building community, offering the warmth of welcoming, acceptance and belonging, sharing our successes and failures, setting clear standards of honesty, mutual respect, and tolerance.
LOVE FOR WORK
Being generous of heart, constant, and persevering in our daily work, confident, visionary, decisive in meeting the needs of our community and encouraging each other to discover the dignity of our work with young people and with each other. Marists view work as a way to bring purpose and meaning to life. Hence, we encourage hard work and shun laziness.
IN THE WAY OF MARY
Seeing Mary as a perfect model of being Marist, tender, strong, constant in faith, open to God’s calling us to our own journey of discipleship. Mary for Marists is an exemplar of the Christian life, as mother, as one who praised God. She is a woman on a journey of faith, who had ‘dust on her feet’.
