Wisdom and Wonder · Week 2 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: St. John Baptist de La Salle
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
France under Louis XIV
John Baptist de La Salle was born in Reims on April 30, blank 1, into a wealthy and well-connected family. France under King Louis XIV was the great power of Europe, splendid at court and sharply divided between rich and poor.
Schooling followed the same blank 2. Families with means paid for tutors or colleges. The children of workers and the poor mostly went without, or attended charity schools with untrained teachers.
De La Salle seemed made for the other world. He became a canon of Reims Cathedral as a teenager, was ordained a priest in blank 3, and earned a doctorate in theology in 1680.
From canon to founder
Write what happened at each point.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1651 | Write your answer |
| 1678 | Write your answer |
| 1679 | Write your answer |
| 1683–84 | Write your answer |
| 1688 | Write your answer |
| 1705 | Write your answer |
| 1719 | Write your answer |
| 1900 | Write your answer |
A new kind of community
De La Salle concluded that poor blank 4 would never be well taught until teaching itself was treated as a calling. He gathered the teachers into a community, the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
The Brothers were laymen under vows, and by design none of them were priests, so that nothing would pull them away from the classroom. Their schools were free. Pupils learned to read in blank 5 instead of blank 6 and were taught together in graded classes. He opened a school to train teachers and wrote a practical handbook on how to run a school.
The opposition was real. Teachers who charged fees took the Brothers to court, and some blank 7 authorities resisted this new form of religious life.
Apply it
A charity wants to help a struggling school the way De La Salle would. Which plan fits his approach best? Circle one.
- A Form and support the teachers, and live close to their daily work
- B Fund a new building and put the donor’s name above the door
- C Offer scholarships so the top students can leave for better schools
- D Send a consultant once a year to write a report on test scores
Why is that the right answer?
Apply it
Why did it matter that his schools taught reading in French instead of Latin? Circle one.
- A Latin had been banned from schools by the king’s law
- B He believed Latin had no place in the life of the Church
- C Poor children could use what they learned in the short time they had
- D French books were the only ones the Brothers could afford
Why is that the right answer?
Take a side
De La Salle brought free schooling to children who had none, and he insisted on trained teachers who knew each student. Today free videos and AI tutors can explain almost anything. Resolved: these tools now give students what his schools gave.
My side: ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree
- Access: his schools removed the barrier of cost. What barriers do free online tools remove, and which remain?
- Relationship: he wanted teachers who knew and cared for each pupil. Can software know you?
- Formation: his schools aimed at the whole person, including faith and character, not only skills.
- Honesty: when does an AI tool help you learn, and when does it only finish the task for you?
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Let us pray
Lord, you led John Baptist de La Salle one step at a time.
Lead us too, and show us whom you are asking us to serve.
Make us generous with our minds, our time and our tools.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Well done!
De La Salle never planned to found anything. He said yes to the next need in front of him, and schools on every inhabited continent are the result.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. John Baptist de La Salle shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: This week, use your phone or laptop to help one person learn something they are struggling with, and give them your full attention while you do it.