The current Independent Education Journal (Vol. 20 #2) has side by side articles about educating Queensland’s students in a variety of values. One promotes ‘getting students enthusiastic about social justice issues’ (p. 21) and speaks of how this might be achieved in the midst of their general education. It is captioned ‘Saving the world’ showing how important the writers believe the students’ attitudes are.

The adjoining article captioned ‘A healing game’ (Smith and MacKenzie, p.22) suggests that social problems, even as big as bullying, will yield to wider, positive programs aimed at ‘building, maintaining and healing relationships’ and the writers include the relationships and attitudes students are forming to the environment as well as the people in their lives. These are approaches to education now being pursued in secular schools. They show that the core business of education is being understood in much wider terms than just the classroom, the textbook, or the personal achievements of individuals.

The Catholic tradition has long held this wider view of education. Our College policy already states that: “We educate the whole human being in each of our students, physical, mental, social and spiritual, by integrating all academic and vocational programs with sound principles based on Gospel values.” The wide scope of the program we develop in living out this view of education is also evidenced by the line in our College Prayer that asks for: “... freedom for living in right relationship with God, ourselves, others, and all creation.”