Alive-O 5 an Analysis. Éanna Johnson Phd Page 1 of 138

Alive-O 5 – An Analysis. Éanna Johnson PhD page 1 of 138

A Theological & Pedagogical

Analysis of Alive-O 5

Éanna Johnson PhD

2008, 2013

This Analysis of Alive-O 5 was prepared by Éanna Johnson

as part of his research of the complete Alive-O Programme

for a PhD in Theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

For the PhD dissertation see

Alive-O 5 is the fifth of eight years of the

Religious Education Programme for Catholic Primary Schools in Ireland.

It corresponds with Third Class in Primary School, 8/9 year olds,

the year after most pupils have received First Confession & Communion.

The Alive-O Programme is published by Veritas Publications,1996-2004.

© Irish Episcopal Commission on Catechetics.

CONTENTS

PAGE

1. INTRODUCTION & SUMMARY 3

2.ANALYSIS OF PROGRAMME COMPONENTS

2.1.Overall Presentation 8

2.2.Lesson structure 9

2.3.Pupil’s Book 12

2.4.Pupil’s worksheets 13

2.5.Teacher’s Book 13

2.6.Songs & Stories43

2.7.Prayer 44

2.8.Video 46

3.ANALYSIS BY THEME & LESSON47

3.1.Beginnings & Endings: T1L1, T1L248

3.2.Old Testament / Covenant: T2L1, T2L2, T2L453

3.3.Jesus: T1L3, T1L5, T1L8, T2L9, T3L461

3.4.Mary: T2L376

3.5.Saints: T1L6, T1L7, T3L880

3.6.Liturgical Year: T1L9, T1L10, T1L11, T2L5, T2L10, T3L1, T3L685

3.7.Sacraments: T1L4, T2L6, T2L8, 107

3.8.The Mass: T3L2, T3L3 119

3.9.Life in Christ / Morality: T2L7, T3L5, T3L7 129

ABBREVIATIONS: The Alive-O Programmeis structured in Lessons of one week in three Terms. The abbreviations above indicate Lessons within Terms: T1L1 is the first Lesson in the first Term; T3L8 is the eighth Lesson in the third Term; and so on. A prefix is often used to indicate Book of the Alive-O Programme, e.g. A5- for Book 5.

CCC – Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992.

GDC – General Directory for Catechesis, 1997.

GCD – General Catechetical Directory, 1971.

CT – Catechesi Tradendae, 1979.

INTRODUCTION & SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION.

This analysis seeks to assess Alive-O 5 in comparison with the relevant teaching of the Catholic Church, in particular the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)[1] and the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC)[2]. The Church requires that a Catholic catechetical text must be in perfect harmony with the CCC, and must give due consideration of the norms and criteria contained in the GDC[3]. In relation to norms and criteria, some are mandatory (e.g. the Pedagogy of God), while others are more in the nature of good advice.[4]In the context of these requirements of the Church as expressed in the General Directory for Catechesis the principal evaluation criteria for content used in this Analysis are Authenticity and Completeness, while the criteria for pedagogy used in this Analysis are Faithfulness to the Church’s prescribed Pedagogy and Educational Effectiveness.

SUMMARY

The summary material below is arranged in accordance with the principal themes that are addressed in Alive-O 5. The themes are arranged in the sequence in which they appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with the exception of the theme of ‘beginnings and endings’ which has been selected by Alive-O 5 as the principal theme for its own programme.

The Summary seeks to cover all the relevant material in Alive-O 5. It includes the lesson material that could be expected to be seen directly by the pupils, covering the Pupil's Book, Worksheet, and video. It also includes the Teacher’s Book, in which there is some information for the teachers alone – partly located in the Introductory pages, partly prior to each lesson – and lesson material that is provided for teachers to be used at their discretion with the pupils.

Beginnings & Endings

A theme of beginnings and endings is a great opportunity to present the Christian view of salvation history. Salvation history starts with the creation of the material universe and also of God's spiritual creation: the Angels, heaven and the human spiritual soul. First we have the rebellion and fall of the Angels, then the creation of human beings in Adam and Eve, the Fall, the preparation of the Chosen People through centuries to receive the Messiah Jesus, God the Son, as Redeemer and saviour, the time of the Church, and finally the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time, with the general resurrection and judgement, and the new heavens and new earth. Salvation history gives the big picture, which gives meaning to all the other beginnings and endings of human existence.

Salvation history sets the context for the overall beginning ending of each human life. When life begins at conception we are each given an immortal soul by God and each human life is a personal story of salvation which will end in eternity, and either an eternity of happiness with God in heaven or the eternity of separation from God in hell. All the other beginnings and endings of each human life take their meaning and context from this overall beginning and ending, which is the personal living out of salvation history.

Alive-O misses the opportunity to present salvation history in its totality and as it applies to the human person. Instead its approach to beginnings and endings is largely secular, at best theist.

There is also nothing in these lessons about eternity, which is to omit an essential element in a Christian understanding of beginnings and endings. There is no mention that God is eternal – he is, was, and always will be; no mention that God is the Beginning and Ending – Α and Ω (Alpha & Omega). Also there is no mention that each one of us human beings has an immortal soul that will live forever.

Old Testament / Covenant

These three Lessons address the stories of Abraham and Moses and the Exodus, which is excellent in principle. However, the coverage is poor, because the information given is incomplete and lacks context, in particular it lacks the context of salvation history. Alive-O does not recognize salvation history at all.

The lessons also address the theme of covenant, which is also excellent in principle. However the treatment of covenant is poor and does not explain the real nature of the covenants between God and his people, of which the fulfillment is the New Covenant in Jesus; the New Covenant is not referred to in any way. Alive-O presents a kind of theist understanding of covenant as no more than the constant love of God.

There is an introduction to the Ten Commandments, which is also excellent in principle. However the overall explanation of the Decalogue in general and the First Commandment in particular is limited and poor.

Jesus

The first of these five lessons presents an account of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. It is a poor account which fails to present an adequate understanding of the persons of John and Jesus, and their mission. The perspective is mainly theist and humanitarian, while the Christian significance of Jesus’ baptism is not brought out.

The next three lessons deal with three miracles that Jesus performed: the healing of the Centurion's servant, the calming of the storm, and the healing of the paralytic. The Lessons are presented mainly in the form of drama. The use of drama is excellent in principle, however the format chosen, that of a television news programme, is more suited to extensive events (like the Exodus or fall of Jericho and invasion of the Promised Land), while discrete events, such as are the subject matter here, are better acted out directly. The dramas are not effective in presenting authentic versions of the stories; they are complicated and Jesus does not appear in any of them. The lessons do not bring out the significance of the miracles in relation to who Jesus is and what is his mission. The approach in the three lessons tends to be the theist and humanitarian, rather than authentically Christian.

The fifth lesson deals with the appearance of Jesus after his resurrection to Peter and that other disciples on the shores of the lake of Galilee. The presentation is poor. Alive-O misses out on the great opportunity to teach pupils about Jesus’ selection of Peter as head of the Church, and how the Pope and bishops are successors of Peter and the Apostles.

Mary

The lesson lacks focus, because it tries to present a lesson on Mary and also on the Fourth Commandment. The part on Mary focuses on the Angelus prayer, which is fine in principle, but in practice is poor because Alive-O changes the wording of the Angelus prayer to diminish its impact and meaning. Changing the wording of the prayer from that used by the Church also serves to separate the children from home and parish.

The presentation on the Fourth Commandment is particularly poor. Alive-O presents the Commandment as meaning no more than that children should appreciate the love and care they receive from parents and grandparents. There is no obligation on children in the Commandment to love, honour, or obey their parents or other legitimate authorities. There is also no reference to what the Church teaches, that this Commandment refers also to the respect and obedience due by all people to all legitimate authority.

Another problem in Alive-O's presentation of this Fourth Commandment is that parenting is effectively equated with mothering. The role of the father is seriously downgraded and marginalised.

Saints

There is some good material about the coming of Christianity to Ireland and Irish Saints. Unfortunately, the good material is undermined and its value diminished by mixing in the fanciful legendary fiction with historic material. At times the fiction dominates, swamping the facts. There is no attempt made to distinguish between fact and fiction, which could prove very confusing to the pupils, and potentially undermine the credibility of the entire programme. At the same time, there is much superb, interesting and exciting information about the coming of Christianity to Ireland and the early Irish Saints which is omitted.

In the material in the Teacher’s Book there is a brief but satisfactory teaching on the Trinity. However, the value of the teaching is diminished by the fact that it is not given any great prominence in the Teacher’s Book, and is not reflected in any way in the material that the pupils receive.

The Liturgical Year

These seven lessons cover various aspects of the liturgical year from Advent through to Pentecost. This is a very reasonable approach in the catechism, as it gives the opportunity to cover key aspects of the faith, and to link in with what is actually happening in the local church. It also provides an ideal opportunity to link the catechetical material with the structure of the salvation history, which is one of the principal structures recommended by the Church for catechesis.

While this set of lessons to cover a great many aspects of the various events that are commemorated during the Liturgical Year, they generally do not do it very well, with many inaccuracies and omissions. In particular, the dimension of salvation history is not brought out at all, which is consistent with Alive-O's nonrecognition of salvation. Instead Alive-O presents the great drama of the Liturgical Year in a context which is essentially theist, in line with its own spirituality.

The first lesson covers the Annunciation and Advent. There are many good aspects covered in the lessons, but also important omissions, which means that the full and authentic Christian significance of these great events in is not taught to the pupils.

The next lesson covers John the Baptist, and is largely a repeat of the material covered in an earlier lesson A5-T1L3 – ‘Where are we now?’. Like the earlier lesson it does cover some information about John the Baptist and Jesus, but also falls short in presenting a full Christian understanding of who John and Jesus are, and what is their mission. Very much the same could be said of lesson on Joseph, which also gives some reasonable information about Joseph and his role in the birth of Jesus, but this also falls short of presenting a clear Christian picture of Joseph and of Jesus.

The Lesson on Lent is poor. It does not even mention that Lent is a preparation for Easter. The presentation on Lent is predominantly humanist, treating Lent as a time to be quiet, reflective and sort out one's life.

The lessons on Holy Week follow a similar pattern to the earlier lessons. There is quite a bit of good information about what happened, but there are key inaccuracies and omissions from the Scriptural accounts, such that these great events are not presented as the high-point of salvation history, but rather presented from a theist perspective. The Apostles' Creed is included, which is excellent in principle; however the way that the Creed is presented tends not to enhance, develop and explain the meaning of the Creed, but rather to undermine and diminish it.

The lesson on the Day of Pentecost regretfully follows a similar pattern, with key omissions and inaccuracies from the Scripture account, which change the perspective from being Christian to being essentially theist.

Sacraments

The first lesson in this group deals with the Sacrament of Baptism. It is quite poor, and treats baptism very much as a rite of initiation into a group of people who follow the teachings of Jesus. Alive-O omits that Baptism cleanses from original sin and all pre-baptismal sin, through the salvation won for us by Jesus on the cross, and gives us new birth in Christ. This serious deficiency in the presentation on Baptism is consistent with Alive-O's non-recognition of original sin or of salvation.

There are two lessons on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The first lesson attempts to set the scene for the Sacrament through the Bible story of Zacheus. However the story is poorly presented, because Alive-O changes the focus from repentance, forgiveness and salvation, to one of social exclusion based on difference. The social exclusion theme is further reinforced by stories involving the objectionable 'little Beings'.

The next lesson treats of the Sacrament of Reconciliation itself. Some aspects are reasonably well covered but there are also significant weaknesses on: examination of conscience, contrition, firm purpose of amendment, the grace of the Sacrament, what must be confessed, the sacramental power of the priest, the seal of confession, and frequency of confession. A particular weakness in the lack of information in the Pupil’s Book which would give the children simple and understandable guidance on how to go about Confession. Pupils and parents desperately need this kind of information if the children are to go regularly and well to the Sacrament of Confession.

The Mass

The first of these two lessons seeks to present the structure and meaning of the Mass. There is some good material here, but overall the lesson is poor and will do little to help the pupils understand the true meaning of the Mass as taught by the Church. The material that the pupils will see is both limited and poor: the Pupil's Book has some of the prayers of the Mass which the pupils will see anyway in the Sunday missalette, while the worksheet has a less than satisfactory presentation on the parts of the Mass.

The material in the Teacher’s Book is extensive and complex. There is much good material but it is mixed up with inadequate material, some of which is quite misleading because of key omissions, so that it is unlikely to be very helpful to the teachers in presenting a clear picture of the Mass to the pupils.

The second lesson covers the gospel account of the meeting of Jesus with the disciples on the road to Emmaus after the Resurrection. In principle this is an excellent Scripture passage to help explain the meaning of the Mass. However, Alive-O's account is poor because the Scripture is changed to fit in with Alive-O's own spirituality, which is theist rather than Christian.

Life in Christ / Morality

The first of these lesson addresses how we should treat the material world that God has created for us. The Pupil’s Book has three good questions and answers which sum up very well this theme. However, the rest of the lesson material is poor. The story of Zacheus is repeated, with the addition of much fictional material, which re-cast the story in the mould of materialism versus environmentalism. Then there is a completely fictional pantheistic-type story of Zacheus and a talking sycamore tree. There is also a fictional story about 'little Beings', which is about materialism, but does not help teach how Christians should treat the earth.

The next lesson gives an account of the Ascension, in which the Scripture original is changed to omit the Great Commission and to replace it with a call to Christians to live in a good humanitarian way.

The final lesson learned deals with the early Christian Community, but fails to convey the true spiritual nature of the early Church, and replaces it instead with a kind of theist humanitarianism. A great opportunity is lost to teach about the beginnings of the Catholic Church.

2: ANALYSIS OF PROGRAMME COMPONENTS

2.1Overall Presentation

The Programme presents itself on its covers and title page simply as “ALIVE-O”. This title in itself does not convey anything Catholic, Christian, or even religious.The term “Alive-O” comes from the chorus of the popular traditional Dublin folk-song, known as ‘Molly Malone’ or ‘Cockles and Mussels’. The song is basically secular, though it does end with a vaguely spiritual element (‘Her ghost wheels her barrow’), which is not specifically Catholic or Christian. The Programme is heavily ‘branded’ as ‘ALIVE-O’, not as anything Catholic or Christian.