Sacred Story

Focus... SIP From the School Improvement Plan That the school community enters into dialogue with each other to develop shared understanding of Catholic tradition

Dialogue Please dialogue: What’s his understanding of ‘Tradition’?

group of 3MUST In your group of 3, you MUST choose a picture that best represents your understanding of “As Jesus is central to our lives, how do we lead and build the capacity of our learners to engage in Powerful Contemporary Learning? ” 2 minutes O n ce you have chosen your picture take 2 minutes to reflect

When Sharing... 2 minutes without interruption actively 1.The first person talks about explains their thinking for 2 minutes without interruption. The other members of the group just sit and actively listen. Each person has a turn at sharing in this method (6 Minutes) 2. Then once all members of the group have shared, begin an open dialogue with each other. (5 Minutes)

Visible Thinking – from Project Zero Core Routines What Makes You Say That? Interpretation with justification routine Think Pair Share A routine for active reasoning and explanation See Think Wonder A routine for exploring works of art and other interesting things

ELABORATION GAME A routine for careful observation and description ELABORATION GAME TEN TIMES TWO A routine for observing and describing TEN TIMES TWO

The Steps...

SEE? What do you SEE? Ten Times Two... Begin INDIVIDUALLY Look at your section quietly for at least 1 minute List 10 List 10 words or phrases about any aspect of the picture. Repeat Repeat Steps 1 & 2: Look at the image again and try to list 10 more words or phrases to your list. SHARE SHARE with your group

THINKING? Describe what you are THINKING? Begin individually recording your thinking on the Graphic Organiser - BLACK In Partners please share Elaborate Elaborate on one particular aspect of your section

WONDERING Begin individually recording your thinking on the Graphic Organiser- BLACK In your group please share What are you WONDERING about? Begin individually recording your thinking on the Graphic Organiser- BLACK In your group please share After all of that thinking, what is it making you wonder? Elaborate to your group why you are wondering this

SHARE RECORD Let’s SHARE and RECORD as a group

Dialogue amongst your group, think Dialogue amongst your group, What did you think this painting is titled?

...They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

new thinking Add any new thinking to your own SEE THINK WONDER Please use a new colour Please use a new colour – this is to show changes in thinking (2 nd Thinking)

More pieces of the puzzle 3 rd Thinking New Thinking??? (3 rd Thinking) please record in a 3 rd colour We, in our communities of faith, are a procession of stories, stories both unique and shared, stories connected to those who have gone before us and those who will come after us. We gather in celebration of and respect for each person's story and in expectation and awe of the story we are becoming together.

Dialogue What do you think the is ? What do you think the title is ? Why do you think this? Has your thinking changed? Why? Why not? What enabled your thinking to change, or not?

An artist’s reflection... The places that inspired this image are the beautiful cathedrals I have seen in Europe and Mexico: Chartres, France; Canterbury, England; Notre Dame, Paris; the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona; the Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City and Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles. These are sacred places used for procession. There are sacred places throughout the world for all beliefs, places that have special meaning in the lives of people who journey to get there. They experience a centering, a healing, and a safe place to remember and to hope. The journey or procession takes us out of our ordinary lives to experience a transcendental or universal connection. The outward walk reflects an inner journey. We have taken the steps to move to another space in the journey of our lives. I see in the walking meditations led by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk and global peacemaker, a profound example of a true procession. Each step for him is a gesture and a hopeful prayer for peace.

In the Buddhist tradition, the mandala is used for spiritual centering. I see a form of mandala in the PROCESSION. As in the mandala, there is a complexity of images where all elements and ideas are drawn to the center. These images encircle the people. This picture gives us a connection, setting us apart from the extraneous happenings and distractions that surround our lives. It helps to focus our attention. It can provide us with the opportunity to stand back and review each of the scenes in ways that help us engage in contemplation and calm reflection on our complex lives. It becomes a metaphor for our own experiences. Processions also move us toward a transformation of more than just our individual hearts. Martin Luther King organized processions and marches for civil rights in the south, accompanied by spiritual leaders of different faiths. He gathered people together to work for change and for the understanding of nonviolence. Cesar Chavez, the leader of the United Farm Workers, organized farm laborers to work for their rights and to improve their lives. To gather support for their movement, they also walked many miles in procession, carrying banners and flags as a way of spiritual empowerment.

We, in our communities of faith, are a procession of stories, stories both unique and shared, stories connected to those who have gone before us and those who will come after us. We gather in celebration of and respect for each person's story and in expectation and awe of the story we are becoming together. This is the reality I seek to touch upon in this work. Noted historian, Howard Zinn, offers this reflection: “What we choose to emphasize in this [our] complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places…where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act… And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future in an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

It is not my desire that the complexity and intricacy of this work confuse or confound, but that it illuminate and inspire. We are invited to join together in the procession to help each other see in ways we have never seen before, to help each other see again what we have forgotten, to see something familiar in a new way, in a new light, from a different perspective. The great procession is a celebration of life and faith where the rich and poor march in unison; the strong carry the weak, and the weak humble the proud; those who know the dance teach those who are just learning; and a child lifts high the banner for all to follow in joy, in peace, in love. This is the reality, the spirit I want to make real in this work. -- John August Swanson, September 2007

Dialogue What do you think about this process? What did you learn? What enabled that learning and thinking to happen/change? How could you use this strategy in the classroom?