[eryque]

My first student teaching was in a catholic school. One thing that shocked me was the lack of spirituality I found in the administration and staff, and how little spirituality seeped into instruction or any of the atmosphere around the school.

The kids did take various theology courses, but lots of public schools offer courses in world religions too. I'm not convinced that the school did any better job of instilling anything spiritual into kids that they couldn't get elsewhere.

The one good thing was that this was in a pretty rough neighborhood and there were very, very few issues with behavior, truancy, violence, etc. in the school. The families who were sending their kids there were mostly doing a really good job of giving their kids the right values. Friends who have taught at the nearby public school say that it can be kind of rough, and a lot of the kids aren't getting the direction they need at home.