The Lasallian Teacher
Gerard Rummery, FSC
Keynote Address
Huether Workshop
Chicago, Illinois
November 19-22, 1987
Part Two
The Challenges of Being a Lasallian Teacher today
Are there children, young people who have not really come to know God and so are far from
salvation? Are there also children, young people, who are left to themselves, not really
cared for by their parents, or family or society? These are the two basic questions which
challenged De La Salle and his first Brothers. I think they challenge each one of us in
different ways today, and I wish to explore some ways in which the foundation principles
already invoked in this presentation can help us to develop a more profound sense of being
Lasallian teachers.
First, are we prepared to associate ourselves with others in order to be
sisters and brothers to them, and older sisters and brothers to the young people
whom we meet. That is the cornerstone of being Lasallian, and both dimensions are
important. I make no distinction here between those who are professed Christian Brothers
and those who are not, because both are challenged to form the community of the staff.
Notice that I have said 'community' and not 'team' because a team is called to work
together in a common action whereas a community can be formed only by persons who
choose freely to breathe life into something which is essentially in the order of being
rather than of doing. Community is respectful of individual difference, finds beauty in
diverse people and variegated experiences, recognizes fullness in both one liter and two
liter containers without demanding that the quantities be equal, for community, choosing
to be associated is about quality, not quantity.
Community can be built, developed, and sustained only by those who are willing to
contribute themselves generously to the task. Thinking and acting as "sisters"
and "brothers" is the necessary condition.
De La Salle wrote much about what he saw as the only way of achieving this permanent
attitude of seeing "Jesus under the rags of the poor children you teach."
He called it a spirit of faith, a way of looking at things, of judging and of
acting "with the eyes of faith," looking beyond the immediate appearances
to how it would look as part of God's abiding presence in the world. The person who could
so look could then allow his deeper understanding to overflow in zeal, in love for
other people. It is a vision of Matthew's Gospel Chapter 25, of the hungry being fed,
of prisoners and sick being visited, of thirsty people being given to drink. Seeing with
faith; acting with zeal or love, because as John of the Cross said: "In the
evening of life we shall be asked only if we have loved enough."
Secondly, for De La Salle and his Brothers, "the school must go well."
"See that your school functions well," he often writes. This is the sense
in The Management of Schools when the preface indicates that this was a work of De
La Salle, along with the oldest and most experienced Brothers. "Nothing has been
written down," continues the preface of 1705, "which has not been well
planned and well tried, the advantages and disadvantages of which have not been put
forward, and concerning which mistakes and unfortunate consequences have not been foreseen."
This seems to be the practical application of the sense of community expressed in "together
and by association." This is a well-structured school, based firmly on
consultation and shared responsibility. In such a school, correction and discipline are
seen to be indispensable in helping to create the necessary conditions for good teaching
and good learning, for mutual respect and for learning through study.
Thirdly, Lasallian teachers are those prepared to try to see their work as an
educational ministry. They teach young people, not simply their subject matters.
The only condition for a good school, when all is said and done, is that there be good
teachers. Michael Oakeshott, musing on what he calls "this transaction between
generations," offers some words to indicate the richness of teaching which may
include "hinting, suggesting, urging, coaxing, encouraging, guiding, pointing out,
conversing, instructing, informing, narrating, lecturing, demonstrating, exercising,
testing, examining, criticizing, tutoring, drilling and so on - anything which does not
belie the engagement to impart an understanding. And learning (he continues) may be
looking, listening, overhearing, reading, receiving suggestions, submitting to guidance,
committing to memory, asking questions, discussing experimenting, practicing, taking
notes, recording, re-expressing and so on - anything which does not belie the engagement
to think and to understand" (M. Oakeshott, Education: The Engagement and Its
Frustration).
The ministry of education is all of the above. In a Lasallian sense it includes the
willingness not to allow all of the above to remain at a functional level, but to witness
to religious and moral values. By witness, I do not mean some artificial strutting or
posturing, but rather the quality of respectful relationship where values are caught more
than taught. In a religious sense, it is De La Salle reminding us that part of our prayer
should be the bringing to mind of those students with whom we have most difficulty in
order to commend them to God. It is De La Salle reminding us that one of our duties is to
touch the hearts of those we teach, that we are called to show others the way to salvation
by our actions as well as by our words.
I would hope that the sharing of the Lasallian heritage would encourage the Brothers to
share with their colleagues some traditional means which may have fallen into abeyance. I
am thinking particularly of the importance of the Reflection, a short inspirational
"reflection" as the title suggests, spoken "from the heart to the
heart," a reflection on the profound truths of life and death, the meaning of
life, often couched in a true story, no more than some three to four minutes long. Within
the tradition, the reflection was to be in a particular way the overflowing of the
meditation which the Brother is called to practice each morning and evening. The Reflection
is risky because it calls you to share something of yourself. It does not have the
security of the math formula, the chemistry equation, nor the exact syntax of a sentence.
It leaves you asking with Yeats that others walk softly lest they tread on your dreams!
But it also elevates the formal relationship beyond the polite and the objective to the
very personal level where value and aesthetic and faith meet. For, no matter what is our
own religious commitment, it is to this level of calling forth, of deep calling unto deep
that the notion of ministry extends. Those who are far from understanding or making sense
of life are entitled to know, indeed need to know, how others begin to make
sense of it all. This is indeed the "holy ground" of the other person and
we must stand away from conditioning and indoctrination. But we must also consider whether
we are not ourselves culpable if we indoctrinate as it were by default - by remaining
enigmatic dispensers of knowledge. For De La Salle it was clear: "Your duty is to
touch hearts."
Fourthly, I would like to return to the foundation principle of gratuity as
I see the extraordinary effort which private schools must make in this country to maintain
themselves. I am filled with admiration for what Catholic schools have done and continue
to do. I know that needy pupils are discreetly aided and that tuition is kept as low as is
possible. I have come to know in the last two months in this country just how many
teachers receive less than they could command in the public sector. There is a deep sense
of gratuity in this because the very sacrifices you make are not widely known in the
community at large.
Having acknowledged this generosity, I would like to offer a further reflection on the
profound sense of Lasallian gratuity. The value it enshrined was that all pupils had an
equal right to education. In our acquisitive, competitive, materialistic society with its
dominant business ethic, I would make a plea for all those values which cannot be bought
with money. I would look at the impression made on many generations by Lasallian teachers
who saw the value of silence in a noisy, talk-dominated world. I would reinforce your
efforts to offer young people times of quiet retreat where "still small voices may
be heard." I would commend you for all those young people whom I have met in your
schools, who have come to know of others less fortunate in our society through your
outreach programs. This is real gratuity because it draws a response from others, a giving
without counting the cost, a giving with no hope of reward. But, as we have all
discovered, it is in such giving that we receive most fully, and that we ourselves are
enriched by our gratuitous service.
Conclusion
We have ranged over some 300 years of history as we have inspected the profile of the
Lasallian teacher. Some conclusions suggest themselves.
First, as we have dwelt on Lasallian origins and subsequent development, it is important
to note how creative and diverse the different currents of the tradition have been.
Tradition and heritage will be life giving provided we do not fall into an ideology of
slogans and unthinking repetition. The obvious remedy to this will be good critical study
of foundation texts and creative application to new situations. The U.S. Region is heavily
committed through the Buttimer Institute to this development. If this is not done, you
will fall again into the mire of the Latin question.
Second, the richness of the concept of the Lasallian teacher is already evident in the
complementary roles of Christian Brothers and colleagues where they work together in
parity. Development of the tradition requires both groups to continue to form their
educational communities. The Brothers' colleagues are important in their own right as
competent, dedicated teachers, and not simply to the extent that they are seen as "mini-
Brothers"!
Third, I would like to offer you a vision of the Lasallian teacher as it was formulated in
1705 in the last page of The Management of Schools. There we find listed the Twelve
Virtues of a Good Master. In 1787, Brother Agathon, Superior General, developed these
twelve virtues in a small book, printed just before the French Revolution and there is a
subsequent history which is outside my topic. Listen to the virtues of a Lasallian
teacher:
Seriousness, Silence, Humility, Prudence, Wisdom, Patience, Restraint, Gentleness, Zeal,
Watchfulness, Piety, Generosity.
Which virtues had the most pages allotted to them? Patience and Gentleness!
Thank you patient and gentle Lasallian Teachers.
 
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