Virtue Education Taught from a Catholic Perspective

Sr. John Dominic Rasmussen discusses how virtue education taught from a Catholic perspective is foundational for character formation as well as social-emotional learning. The basis is to extend into daily educational and development life the sanctifying grace that was given to each child upon the reception of the sacrament of Baptism. The living of a virtuous life aligns with important discoveries in neuroscience. Interpersonal neurobiologists (Siegel & Bryson, 2018) have identified four qualities that must be explicitly nurtured for a child to be open, receptive and engaged with their learning environment during development. These four qualities: balance, resilience, insight and empathy are remarkably in line with the moral virtues of temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice. The integrated virtuous life is the bedrock for character formation in school while instilling a stronger Catholic identity in students and every person within the learning community.