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The award-winning author of What Makes Us Catholic provides a rich history of Catholic education from its spiritual roots to the present day.
In this readable and timely work, Thomas Groome explores the basis of Catholic education, from the historical Jesus to the Didache, to Augustine and Aquinas to Merici, Seton, and Ward. Groome shows how these foremothers and fathers of Catholic education ground and shape the spirituality of Catholic educators today. It is these foundations that ensure that Catholic schools today deliver the education they promise to students—not only to Catholics but to those of many religious traditions.
What Makes Education Catholic outlines a Catholic anthropology, sociology, cosmology, and epistemology. It demonstrates how all of us—educators and students, families and communities—serve a public faith that does justice and that is humanizing and emancipatory for one’s own good, for the common good, and for all creation.
“What Makes Education Catholic is yet another masterpiece by Thomas Groome. Weaving together his mastery of storytelling and deep theological wisdom, Groome’s impressive scholarship leads readers to understand not only what Catholic education is, but its value for our complex world.”
—Melodie Wyttenbach, PhD, Executive Director, Roche Center for Catholic Education, Boston College
“Thomas Groome’s What Makes Education Catholic is the most magisterial and comprehensive account we have today on the Catholic educational tradition. Groome writes with complete control of the intellectually demanding material and renders it accessible and enjoyable not just for educators, but for parents and the general public as well. This gem of a book belongs in every thinking person’s library.”
—Dennis Shirley, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College
Thomas H. Groome, PhD, is senior Professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College, and is the long-serving Director of its PhD in Theology and Education. His best known major books are Christian Religious Education, Sharing Faith, Educating for Life, What Makes Us Catholic, Will There Be Faith?, and Faith for the Heart. He has made more than a thousand public presentations and has lectured widely and repeatedly throughout the world.
