Education as Transformation by Mo Fung Woltering (via Insight Scoop)

The next idea that I would like you to consider is ballroom dancing. Aside from the current popularity of Dancing with the Stars, ballroom dancing has immense intrinsic value for what it can cultivate. In order to do it well, men and women must know their roles. Although different, they are co-essential. They are complementary. This is the whole theology of man and woman in a nutshell. I think this is something that could be really effective with youth groups, as well as pre-Cana classes. Both our senior high school and junior high school students love ballroom dancing. When you see them dancing, you can immediately tell that it’s natural, not contrived. It’s a stark contrast to more popular forms of dancing, where the young people seem self-conscious, and their interactions artificial.

In ballroom dancing, the man leads. Was this deliberately left out or ignored? Or was it force of habit in addressing contemporary audiences?

As for his main thesis - can a sense of mystery be cultivated through education? Undoubtedly. But wouldn't it be better if life as a whole were directed towards contemplation of God? Recollection as the first step to prayaer - cultivating silence, like First we must cultivate silence, as the Holy Father recently reminded us with respect to the use of social media. How about a stronger liturgical spirituality, too, not just appreciation of the Mass? These practices can be modelled in the school, but they must first be developed at home and within the parish
community. The rather limited role of "Christian" education must be respected, especially when there is a temptation to market a school on the basis of its Catholic identity.

See the author's "The Personalist History of Warren Carroll."