John Baptist de La Salle:
The Educator and Visionary

Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the declaration that John Baptist de La Salle is the Patron of All Teachers of Youth

People of Influence

De La Salle's Written Works

The Gardens, Vaugirard,
Map of Schools at De La Salle's Death

Examples of De La Salle's Writing

 

 

Education in De La Salle's World

To appreciate him properly we need to know a little about the educational environment in which he worked. We might assume that a holy man who provides education for the poor would be welcome in any society. But in a class-conscious, and highly regulated society like that of 17th-century France such a man may step on many toes. De La Salle, as he went about creating a type of schooling for boys from the neglected poor and working class that had not been seen before, crossed social boundaries, upset established educational groups, and affronted certain conventions, both within the church and within society. He was neither a loud and vocal revolutionary nor a reformer with an abstract program of his own devising. He was an unassuming, quiet French upper-class gentleman, a cultivated priest and doctor of theology, who found God moving him to care in concrete ways for the education and salvation of the underclass, the working poor, and the ones whom Jesus had called "the least of these." Gradually he became, step by step, and somewhat to his own surprise, an educational pioneer.

Educational opportunities in 17th-century France were not lacking – for the right people. Those who could pay and who were socially connected could find educational opportunities, beginning with tutors and moving on to apprenticeships or further schooling opportunities. And those who provided education carefully guarded their domains, often amid lawsuits that decided who could teach what to whom. Though the age of science and commerce was beginning to dawn, higher education still had a medieval shape and flavor to it: university instruction was wholly in Latin, and the curricula of the lower schools were largely literary and Latin-based – hardly appropriate for the needs of artisans and laborers and the working poor. The bureaucracies overseeing all this were intricate and formidable, with crown, church, city, and guilds overlapping and sometimes competing with one another with regard to their rights, regulations and requirements.

The education of those who could afford to pay nothing was to be covered by individual parishes – with some private schoolmasters (in theory) taking on poor students out of a sense of social responsibility. Each parish had its Poor Register, and parishes were urged to maintain "charity schools" for the children of the families on that register. But the very name "charity school" shows that, for the poor, education was a matter of charity, not a matter of course, and certainly not a right. The necessity of being registered also meant that the poor were officially segregated in their schooling. The chronic poverty of this clientele was another major handicap, even with the best educational opportunity. The minor fees required for writing materials and the like were beyond the reach of many families, and if a child could work and bring the family any income at all, school attendance was likely to take second place, with a typical pupil being able to squeeze in a couple of years of attendance. Finally, by its nature, a parish charity school was only as effective as the zeal of the parish and the skill of the pastor could make it, as pastors came and went and charity waxed and waned.

But the most chronic problem was the lack of competent and stable teachers for these parish schools. A person who could read and write and do arithmetic well enough to be an effective teacher was also qualified to "do something better". In general, the profession of schoolmaster was seen neither as a profession nor as a vocation; it was neither well-paid nor well-respected. In the parishes, the schoolmaster was also likely to be either an assistant to the pastor who took care of the practical details of parish life and had a minimal amount of schooling, or a tradesman who could read and write, but who put the children to work making salable items to reduce the cost to the parish of the school and to increase his own income. There might be a little catechism, a little reading or counting, and a little manual labor, with discipline scant and truancy high.

The picture above shows a typical school setting of the 17th century, with one student reciting his lesson while another awaits his turn and the rest of the students amuse themselves. The picture below is a depiction of an organized classroom in the 19th century that follows the guidelines of De La Salle's Conduct of Schools.

None of this was De La Salle's concern. He was not a teacher, not a school administrator, and not a parish priest. He held a prestigious office as a canon of the cathedral at Reims, and was administrator of his family's wealth and guardian of his orphaned siblings. How did he get involved in education of the poor? In response to a request in a friend's will, he helped a new congregation of teaching Sisters to establish itself in Reims. Then, out of simple charity, he gave advice and help to a man from out of town who had come to Reims to establish a charity school for boys. Soon a second school for boys was started, and De La Salle, finding that the provided funds were not sufficient to maintain the teachers, contributed some of his own money to their upkeep. When the teachers grew too numerous for the parish house where they lived, De La Salle rented a house for them near his own.

From his occasional visits and increasing involvement with them, he could see that this handful of hastily gathered men was far from satisfactory as a group of schoolmasters. In addition to defects in competence and training, they lacked cohesion as a group and insight into the nature of their task, and the schools suffered as a result. De La Salle began to advise the teachers and to instruct them. He found new recruits to take the place of those who left. He gave them retreats. He even began, to the dismay of his relations, to have them take their meals with him at his dining table. Finally – in a step hardly imaginable for a man of his class – he took them into his home to live with him. A year later, he involved himself even more deeply with them as they became increasingly committed teachers. He left his family home and went to live with his new Brothers – who were becoming a community of religious and dedicated teachers – in a very simple rented house at an undistinguished address in a decidedly poor part of town.

Within five years of this move, the community had adopted a title (Brothers of the Christian Schools) and distinctive clothing (neither "secular" nor "clerical" in style), and vowed obedience to the community. They staffed a number of charity schools, found more young people interested in joining them in this work, and ran a training center for lay teachers sent to them from rural parishes. They were also being asked to come to other cities, including Paris.

What Made These Schools so Unusual and Desirable?

Order and focus.
The Brothers brought discipline, order, and focus where there was slackness or chaos. Many a charity school that the Brothers took over had no fixed class schedule, variable school hours, students coming and going at will, no regular prayer or uniform religious instruction, scanty discipline, and excessive attention to manual arts. The Brothers brought a fixed class schedule, daily catechism, regular prayer, fixed arrival and departure times, daily attendance at Mass, and effective instruction in reading and arithmetic.

Appropriate curriculum.
They devised a curriculum appropriate to the needs of these particular students. De La Salle saw that what was needed was a curriculum that would provide the most benefit to the poor during the short time they were able to spend in school. They received effective training in basic academic skills (reading, writing, and arithmetic), social skills (politeness, leadership, and cooperation), and instruction and involvement in the Catholic faith (catechism, daily prayer schedule, and regular Mass attendance).

A community of stable and competent teachers.
Most importantly, the Brothers answered the crying need for stable and competent teachers who were trained to their task and dedicated to their students. The job of charity school teacher was not more prestigious or better paid than it had been some years earlier. However, in the Brothers' schools the teaching was done by men who worked as a community and in association, neither for prestige nor for pay but for the glory of God, the salvation of the poor, and the fulfillment of their vocation as part of a community. The presence of such devoted teachers was just what had been lacking to make effective education for the poor and working class a genuine possibility.

Gospel values.
De La Salle advised the teachers: "Since you have been called to teach the poor, strive to find Christ in the faces of the poor children you teach. The more you love them, the more will Christ work for you." The perennially surprising truth, which De La Salle and the Brothers embodied anew, is that Gospel values, when truly lived, reverse the accepted values of society. Thus, De La Salle's directive to the Brothers: "Regard your students as the children of God himself. Have much more care for their education and for their instruction than you would have for the children of a king."

The success of the schools, however, brought challenges and difficulties. Because the Brothers' schools were well-run and effective, they quickly became popular outside the rolls of the "certified poor." De La Salle established an innovative policy on admissions, no one would be denied admission and education in the "Christian Schools" would be free to all. This novel openness led the syndicates of schoolteachers and guilds of writing masters to see the Brothers as competitors depriving them of fee-paying clientele. There were lawsuits, complaints to ecclesiastical and civil authorities, harassment, even vandalism. A significant amount of De La Salle's energy for twenty years was taken up defending the work of the Brothers – not always successfully – against well-connected opponents. He also had to defend the work against powerful and well-meaning "friends," many of them in the Church: bishops who wished to make the Institute an agency of the diocese, pastors who wanted the Brothers under parochial control, various clerics who wished to meddle not only with the Brothers' educational work but also with their governance, their rule, and even their way of dressing. Although ever reluctant to become involved in lawsuits and public controversies, De La Salle was untiring in defending the Brothers' autonomy as a community.

Love For Students.
Perhaps De La Salle's most fundamental contribution to education is his conviction that at the root of true teaching must lie an authentic love for the students and for the vocation of teaching. He grasped that a truly effective teacher-student relationship must be based on practical affection and mutual respect. In his writings for the Brothers, he pointed out again and again how such a relationship is enacted day by day. Some examples: "Examine before God how you are acting in your ministry and whether you are failing in any of your responsibilities. Come to know yourself just as you are." "Do you have charity and tenderness toward the poor children whom you have to instruct? Do you avail yourself of the affection they have for you to attract them to God? If you show them the firmness of a father, you should also show the tenderness of a mother in gathering them together, and in doing them all the good in your power." "By love and patience, win over the hearts of those whom you teach."

Pedagogy.
The method of teaching developed by De La Salle and the Brothers was based on both an abiding respect for the students and a realistic assessment of what they needed to become mature members of society and the church. Along with well-organized practical lessons taught in common, there was instruction in social manners and a host of classroom responsibilities, from ink-distributor to key-keeper to bell-ringer to prayer-leader. The teachers seldom spoke, except when asking a question or when, once a day, they shared a "reflection" on some religious theme in order to inspire the students and speak to them "from the heart to the heart." Each day, there was a catechism lesson and many opportunities for prayer, from the prayer said upon entering the classroom to the singing of a hymn (set to some popular tune) at the end of the day. Daily Mass attendance was expected, and at each hour of the day, the bell-ringer would stop all activity for the prayer "Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God." Throughout the school, an atmosphere of respectful silence was maintained, as testified to by an account of a visit to one of the schools: "Their surprise increased when, on entering, they beheld the Brother amid this multitude of light-headed pupils, all as quiet as if they were an audience listening to the sermon of an eloquent preacher. Struck by such a novel spectacle, they stayed for hours, motionless and attentive, hearing the children read, watching the signs of the Brother correcting their mistakes, and admiring the order and silence which reigned there."

The Brothers' schools became places where the young were able to develop intellectually, socially, and spiritually, where they were able to determine where and how to advance in their capacities, and where they experienced an affection and respect not commonly bestowed on the young by the general society of the time.

"Since it is your responsibility to teach your students about God, you must first become aware of the action of God in your life. Teach by example. Put into practice what you want your students to believe." – From De La Salle's Meditations

Conclusion.
De La Salle's intervention in the French educational system was truly and quietly revolutionary, thanks to two fundamental contributions. First, he revealed that teaching has a religious as well as a human dimension and that divine love is at the heart of all teaching. Second, he guided into being a stable community of Brothers vowed to associate together for the purpose of keeping schools for the poor. For good reasons, the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, with its essentially independent, non-clerical character and its mission-based, communal ministry of education, has been recognized by historians as a unique addition to the history of education. De La Salle's other contributions to education were many and varied, and have had enduring effects on all primary and secondary education.

"When the students begin to write, it will be useful and appropriate to give them a stick of the thickness of a pen to hold. On the sticks, there will be three grooves, two on the right and one on the left. These grooves indicate the places where the three fingers should be placed. This teaches the students to hold the pen properly in their fingers and makes them hold these three fingers in a good position." – From De La Salle's book The Conduct of Christian Schools

De La Salle the Educational Pioneer

Practical curriculum.
The curriculum addressed the practical needs and realistic options of the poor. The charity school students were not university-bound or headed for the seminary. The average student in a charity school could not stay more than two or three years, since by age fourteen many of them would have to be at work. Each subject area sought to be as practical as possible. Catechism lessons came from texts that De La Salle wrote, including Duties of a Christian, How to Go to Confession, and the like. The major reading text on politeness was written in a formal cursive script that the students would encounter in society. Writing was practiced with agreements, contracts, and the like. Simple mathematics focused on the French monetary system. Students were grouped by ability, and teachers made sure that a student had mastered one level before moving to the next.

French not Latin.
It was customary to teach spelling and reading with Latin words rather than with French ones. But De La Salle saw that the charity school students needed facility in reading and writing the everyday language of business, commerce, and catechesis, not a language that they would little use. De La Salle had to explain and defend the Brothers' policy of instruction in the vernacular. He also wrote Teaching French Syllables to teach reading in the native tongue. This syllabary still was widely used in French primary schools for 150 years after his death and is credited by French historians as one contributing reason for the eventual standardization of French pronunciation throughout the country.

Simultaneous method of instruction.
It had been customary for teachers to engage one student at a time in a classroom of dozens of students. While the rest idly occupied themselves, or worked at some minor trade to supplement the teacher's income, one student would be called up to the teacher for one-on-one recitation. De La Salle did away with this inefficient method. The Brothers' new method was to divide a large class into small groups according to their level of learning and to involve whole groups in the lesson. De La Salle wrote instructions on how to involve the whole class by posing questions and subquestions and by having one student repeat or correct another's answer. The goal was to engage every student every day in as many ways as possible.

Teacher Training.
"To teach," wrote De La Salle, "you must first know." He not only established pedagogical training for the Brothers but also created centers for the training of lay teachers who would serve in rural parish schools. Country priests begged De La Salle to send just one Brother to their charity schools, but De La Salle would never send fewer than two, since two is a minimal community and Brothers lived and labored in community. Instead, he took in young men sent by the pastors and trained them as teachers, for free, before sending them back to their parishes. He founded three separate training institutes for rural schoolteachers over a thirty-year period. Each closed after a short time either because of lawsuits by opponents in the educational establishment or because local needs had been fulfilled. But they were quite effective, and historians credit De La Salle with pioneering teacher-training schools in France.

Psychological observation.
De La Salle wrote, "All minds are not attracted in the same way and it is necessary to know how to deal with each in order to lead it to give itself over to the task." De La Salle and the Brothers studied each child's capability, character, and needs, and passed their notes on to the next teacher when the student moved on. This sort of psychological observation became widespread in the 18th and 19th centuries and is now habitual. Thanks in part to such observations, the modern concept of "childhood" as a distinct phase of growth has gradually come to be common wisdom. An example of one such note: "Francis Delevieux; 8 1/2, two years at school, in 3rd section of Writing since July 1st. Somewhat turbulent; little piety at church or prayers unless supervised. Lacks reserve. Conduct satisfactory; needs encouragement to effort; punishment of no avail; light-headed. Rarely absent except when with bad companions; often late. Application moderate but he learns with ease. Twice nearly sent down for negligence. Submissive to a strong hand. Not a difficult character. Must be won over. Spoilt at home. Parents resent his being punished."

Bending Social Barriers.
In their charity schools the Brothers charged nothing, accepted no gifts, and allowed no distinctions between those who could afford to pay and those who could not. De La Salle instructed the school inspectors: "Have books for every lesson, with as many as necessary for the poor who have none of their own. There should also be enough writing paper for the impoverished writers who have none of their own." He repeatedly told the Brothers: "Be conscious of the poor, and try to overcome the tendency to give more attention to those better off than to those who have less." As more children of families who were better off came into the schools, boys from bourgeois families studied, played, and prayed with poor boys, and vice versa.

Civility and manners.
The first reading book assigned to students of sufficient skill was a book that De La Salle wrote, titled The Rules of Christian Decorum and Civility. De La Salle wanted his pupils to learn how to act in the larger world. As the Brothers taught the boys reading and religion and math, so they taught them social and civil virtues, virtues very much De La Salle's own – politeness, fairness, self-control, graciousness, prudence, and self-discipline. This book, like his French speller, was republished many times in the succeeding two centuries and was widely used even outside the Brothers' schools.

Your zeal for the pupils under your guidance would be very imperfect if you expressed it only in words. It will become perfect only if you practice yourself what you are teaching them. – From De La Salle's Meditations

New Types of Schools

Technical Secondary School:
The traditional Latin school, with its conventional literary curriculum, did not offer the technical and scientific courses that the energetic and growing class of lower bourgeoisie (shopkeepers, merchants, artisans, draftsmen) wanted for their children. At the request of such parents, De La Salle started a boarding school at Saint Yon that offered courses in geography, bookkeeping, accounting, architecture, mechanics, music, and more. This has been identified by historians as a forerunner of the modern secondary school.

Weekend School for Workers:
In Paris, at the request of the pastor of Saint Sulpice, De La Salle opened a school which met for three hours on Sunday afternoon, where men up to age twenty who had to work all week could learn reading, writing, math, and religion, and get some technical training. This school proved to be quite popular and is another example of the effort by De La Salle and the Brothers to fulfill the real educational needs of their time and society.

Homes for Troubled Youth:
At Saint Yon, De La Salle started a school specifically for difficult and refractory boys who in modern terms would be called juvenile delinquents and wards of the court. As their behavior and skills improved, they were able to join the normal curriculum. So good were the results with juveniles that De La Salle, at the request of the President of the regional Parlement, or judicial court, opened a similar facility for certain adults who for various reasons were ordered confined by the courts. These effective programs of rehabilitation through education were, as one historian puts it, "two centuries ahead of their time." Notably, De La Salle was known throughout his life as an effective confessor for "hardened sinners" and in his retirement at Saint Yon he spent much of his time both with the novices, teaching them about prayer, and with these hard cases, teaching them about God through his presence and conversation.

Editor's Letter | Brother Visitor's Letter | John Baptist de La Salle: His Life and Times
John Baptist de La Salle: The Educator and Visionary | John Baptist de La Salle: A Saint For Teachers
General Chapter | The District Today

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