Education Commons^™

When Did It Begin? Catholic And Public School Classroom Commonalities, Richard T. Ognibene

Journal of Catholic Education

Catholic educational historians note that although preserving Catholic identity has been a constant in the mission of Catholic schools, their curriculum and instructional practices evolved in ways that were similar to public schools, thus enabling Catholic parents to select schools that were both faith based and modern. Since there is an absence of information about when and how this change in Catholic education began, this article documents its origin in the 1940s when Catholic educators joined a public school reform movement called Life Adjustment Education. Once begun, there was no turning back, and Catholic educators participated in the major reforms …