Leader In Me

You may have heard that our school and the entire Fort McMurray Catholic School District has adopted a Leader in Me philosophy. I have attached a few links below to provide you information. At the beginning of January we will begin an at home activity program from our classroom to your home.

Please stay tuned for more information.

http://www.theleaderinme.org/

http://fmcschools.ca/leader-in-me

FMCSD Catholicity

The Three Contributions of Leader in Me

FMCSD Catholicity—A Universal Spirit

In the book, Educating for Life, Thomas Groome locates the roots for “catholic” in the Greek words kata holos. They mean “pertaining to the whole.” The more Catholic education is rooted in Christ, the more it “pertains to the whole,” the more it reaches out to the universe, the more it embraces all that is true, good, and beautiful.

Our fourth core value, learning, embraces this Catholic Spirit: “We value learning…God is Truth and Wisdom; the Spirit of Christ leads us into all truth. We lead our students into a wisdom and knowledge of God and the world…Whatever is true, good, and beautiful is permeated by Christ’s Spirit. All pedagogical, educational, and discipline methods that lead our students into truth are embraced.”

It is in this Spirit that we are embracing what is of value in the Leader in Me program. We find it contributes to our Catholicity in three ways: (1) helping us recover our sense of personal mission; (2) reconnecting our practice of virtues to carrying out our mission; (3) offering effective methods of valuing persons, community, responsibility, and learning—our four core values.

The Three Contributions of Leader in Me

The Leader in Me program is based on Steven Covey’s philosophy of habits or virtues that make us effective persons or leaders. From there it extends into building effective schools. As mentioned, it makes three contributions to our Catholicity.

(1) Recovering Our Sense of Personal Mission Covey’s system of virtues acts in service of carrying out one’s mission. In fact, personal reflection on one’s mission is the foundation for all the rest of the program. From the start, he encourages each to scan their life story, talents, interests, passions, and surrounding needs to get a sense of how they are called to serve.

A sense of personal vocation or mission is also at the heart of the Christian experience. Christ’s call to the apostles speaks to each of us. Initiation into our personal mission is one of the eight disciplines of catechesis of children. Unfortunately, this personal sense of mission is neglected in our day. Leader in Me can help make it front and center for students and staff again.

(2) Reconnecting Virtues to Mission Catholicism’s practice of recognizing Christ’s Spirit in whatever is true, good, and beautiful has led it to embrace various virtue systems, e.g. the Greco-Roman virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.

Covey’s system of virtues has the advantage of helping to effectively carry out one's mission. Indeed, Christ wants us not just to practice virtue, but to actually bear fruit (eg John 15). Covey’s approach has this kind of practical orientation. For example, he encourages setting smart goals, beginning with the end in mind, and putting first things first. These ensure that our efforts bear fruit. Indeed, one of the comments one hears about Leader in Me in our schools is “it works.”

(3) Effective Ways to Value Persons, Community, Responsibility, and Learning

Covey’s virtues combine self-mastery with mastery of social virtues. These two types of mastery support our four core values.

Covey holds that internal mastery consists of being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, and putting first things first. [Jesus would speak about actively investing our talents (Matthew 25), selling everything for the treasure found in the field (Matthew 13) and pruning what is not necessary (John 15).]

These personal mastery virtues support our core values. For example, putting first things first is a powerful exercise of responsibility, enables effective learning, and respects the importance of meeting community expectations.

Covey's second set of virtues (social virtues) are like Paul’s description of collaboration and love in Christ’s Body ( eg 1 Corinthians 12+13). These are “thinking win-win, seeking first to understand then be understood, and synergizing.” Again, these social habits support our core values. For example, thinking win-win helps one solve conflicts in community. Teachers say, "it works."

Finally, Covey insists on the habit of “sharpening the saw”— practices of personal and spiritual well-being. This supports the efforts of our schools to integrate prayer and spirituality into our lives.

Conclusion

To be Catholic, our approach to education welcomes the Spirit of Christ in everything true, good, and beautiful. We welcome these qualities in Covey’s seven habits. His private and public virtues help us effectively live our core values. Ultimately, they reinforce us in our sense of mission. If we keep ourselves rooted solidly in Christ, Covey’s contribution can help our efforts bear fruit.