Near the end of the great movie, The Wizard of Oz, there’s a wonderful moment when the key players in the story reflect on what they’ve learned:
- The Tin Man: What have you learned, Dorothy?
- Dorothy: Well, I – I think that it – it wasn’t enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em – and it’s that – if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with!
In faith circles, we call this theological reflection - the act of looking back over an experience to discover meaning that draws from the Christian Tradition.
Theological reflection is a good exercise for catechists to engage in after every class and especially at the end of a year of teaching. Here’s a good example of a catechist sharing his reflections on his year as a catechist:
http://www.catechistcorner.com/2009/05/lessons-learned/
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Christian 05.24.09 at 2:48 pm
Joe, Carlos has some very good observations, especially for a first-year catechist. I hope he posts regularly at his site; we both teach 6th graders. Per his comments, I think they’re old enough to not want to be treated as kids, yet not jaded as they may be by the time they’re in 8th grade…which you may know about.
I particularly agree with his wish to have everything tie clearly into Catholicism. (”However, it lacks strong coverage of Catholic Doctrine…”)
I posted a year-end review as well:
http://platytera.blogspot.com/2009/05/fin-de-siecle.html
[Reply]
Joe Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Thanks, Christian. Yes, I hope Carlos continues to post…he’s a very thoughtful catechist. I look forward to checking out your blog as well.
[Reply]