Page 36 - The Gonzaga Record 1985
P. 36
When completed, the windows added a whole new dimension to the school
Chapel. One might have expected that the windows would darken the Chapel
somewhat. But this is not so, and the magnificent play of colour throughout the
day is a prayer in itself.
There are ten windows. Six of them depict the days of creation and are very
dramatic. Others depict the Last Supper, scenes from the Nativity story, and the
Resurrection. The large windows over the interior entrance are devoted to scenes
from the life of St Ignatius Loyola, and the works of the Society of Jesus, especially
missionary work. It was a large undertaking, and Mrs Prances Biggs has placed
generations of school boys in her debt. It is an artistic triumph, and now that the
project has been accomplished one can only wonder that there was ever any doubt
about going ahead with it.
The introduction of Science teaching
In the original curriculum for Gonzaga College no place was envisaged for the
teaching of science. Today, this seems to be an incredible omission. But it would be
unfair to judge the nineteen-fifties by the requirements of the nineteen-eighties.
Besides, there was a certain conviction about the aim of education. What are you
trying to do in school? A lot will depend on the way you answer that question. We
have seen what sort of answer the founders of Gonzaga gave to that question,
following the old Ratio Studiorum. 'We are trying to teach a boy to think clearly;
and the way to do that was to teach him to write clearly, to speak coherently; in a
word to be articulate'. Once he had learned to think clearly, then he was ready to
tackle any subject. His schooling was not primarily to train him for a particular
job. It was something at once more basic and more important than strictly
vocational training.
In strict theory it didn't matter what subjects one used in order to teach him to
think, whether languages, or mathematics, or science. But in fact the Jesuit schools
of previous centuries had proved that it could be done by a concentration on
languages. There was a Jesuit tradition, and it was successful. There was not a
deliberate bias against mathematics or science. Even in the ages of purely classical
education, Jesuit schools had always taught mathematics and geometry. Keeping
all this in mind, one can begin to understand, even if one disagrees, how a decision
was made to exclude science teaching.
There was another reason. There was no sense of urgency to learn science at
school as far as the universities were concerned at that time. A student entering the
university to study medicine, or engineering, or architecture, or even a pure science
degree did not require a science subject in his Matriculation or Leaving Certificate.
And there was a very good reason for this. It requires some effort of the
imagination to picture the reality of secondary education in Ireland in the nineteen-
forties and fifties.
When one uses the term 'secondary school' most people would think of a fairly
large school, from anything over 200 pupils to some much larger complexes. But in
the nineteen-fifties the vast majority of secondary schools were quite small, under
eighty pupils. They were known as 'secondary tops'. This was standard throughout
28
Chapel. One might have expected that the windows would darken the Chapel
somewhat. But this is not so, and the magnificent play of colour throughout the
day is a prayer in itself.
There are ten windows. Six of them depict the days of creation and are very
dramatic. Others depict the Last Supper, scenes from the Nativity story, and the
Resurrection. The large windows over the interior entrance are devoted to scenes
from the life of St Ignatius Loyola, and the works of the Society of Jesus, especially
missionary work. It was a large undertaking, and Mrs Prances Biggs has placed
generations of school boys in her debt. It is an artistic triumph, and now that the
project has been accomplished one can only wonder that there was ever any doubt
about going ahead with it.
The introduction of Science teaching
In the original curriculum for Gonzaga College no place was envisaged for the
teaching of science. Today, this seems to be an incredible omission. But it would be
unfair to judge the nineteen-fifties by the requirements of the nineteen-eighties.
Besides, there was a certain conviction about the aim of education. What are you
trying to do in school? A lot will depend on the way you answer that question. We
have seen what sort of answer the founders of Gonzaga gave to that question,
following the old Ratio Studiorum. 'We are trying to teach a boy to think clearly;
and the way to do that was to teach him to write clearly, to speak coherently; in a
word to be articulate'. Once he had learned to think clearly, then he was ready to
tackle any subject. His schooling was not primarily to train him for a particular
job. It was something at once more basic and more important than strictly
vocational training.
In strict theory it didn't matter what subjects one used in order to teach him to
think, whether languages, or mathematics, or science. But in fact the Jesuit schools
of previous centuries had proved that it could be done by a concentration on
languages. There was a Jesuit tradition, and it was successful. There was not a
deliberate bias against mathematics or science. Even in the ages of purely classical
education, Jesuit schools had always taught mathematics and geometry. Keeping
all this in mind, one can begin to understand, even if one disagrees, how a decision
was made to exclude science teaching.
There was another reason. There was no sense of urgency to learn science at
school as far as the universities were concerned at that time. A student entering the
university to study medicine, or engineering, or architecture, or even a pure science
degree did not require a science subject in his Matriculation or Leaving Certificate.
And there was a very good reason for this. It requires some effort of the
imagination to picture the reality of secondary education in Ireland in the nineteen-
forties and fifties.
When one uses the term 'secondary school' most people would think of a fairly
large school, from anything over 200 pupils to some much larger complexes. But in
the nineteen-fifties the vast majority of secondary schools were quite small, under
eighty pupils. They were known as 'secondary tops'. This was standard throughout
28
