Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Elisabeth Sullivan, Executive Director of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, via email in 2025. We have rearranged and edited some of the questions. This provides the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
You describe Catholic education as an “engine of evangelization.” Can you share a specific example of how a Catholic classical liberal arts approach has transformed a student’s or school’s understanding of faith and learning?
At one of our member schools, Holy Innocents School in Long Beach, California, the results were almost immediate after the pastor and principal welcomed ICLE in to form their teachers in 2018-2019. Fr. G. Peter Irving was intent on offering a deeply formative education to the children entrusted to his care in this low-income and socioeconomically diverse Catholic community. His new principal and teachers were devoted to their students and were keen to learn new approaches that would engage them with rich content and better pedagogy.
Principal Cyril Cruz reported that, once the teachers stopped teaching to the test, standardized scores in reading and math jumped dramatically. Both teachers and students were enlivened by a more substantive curriculum.
As one veteran teacher described the change: “It’s not just something that’s compartmentalized into religion class, but it really is the most coherent way to explain reality itself. And the purpose of education is to help our children be able to grasp what reality is, what truth is, and to be able to know how to live according to that truth in their lives. That’s what we call growing in wisdom and virtue.”
The fruits spilled over into family life. Mrs. Cruz said that, in the first year of the change, seven sets of parents had their marriages convalidated in the Church.
How does the Catholic liberal arts approach model help students resist the “dictatorship of relativism” you mention?
The Catholic classical liberal arts approach is predicated on the fact that Truth exists, that it can be known, and that it can be communicated. This vision is the complete opposite of our prevailing secular climate, where each individual may claim his or her own “truth.” Pope Benedict XVI saw that incoherent claim woven through modern life, and warned of its consequences: If there is no truth, only power prevails.
We are now seeing a powerful recovery of the Church’s intellectual tradition, which unites faith and reason in such a way that students can grasp truth that is both visible and invisible. There is an inherent order in the universe; it is not chaos. A loving God is in charge, and He beckons us to Him. This knowledge gives our children hope and confidence.
Our own proven tradition was the gold standard for centuries, and it formed some of the keenest minds and holiest saints in the history of the world. It works. The framework of the seven liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy/physics) trains the mind to perceive truth across the disciplines. Instead of the modern grind of cram-test-forget, this approach restores wonder in the classroom, and energizes teachers and students because it makes learning a process of delight and discovery.
As the patron saint of education, how does Saint John Bosco’s educational philosophy align with ICLE’s mission?
St. John Bosco knew that “education is a matter of the heart.” He was known as the father, teacher, and friend of youth. His “preventive system” embodies many insights about human nature, and the power of a positive, aspirational way of mentoring and teaching the young. ICLE’s mission is to help Catholic educators at every level recapture the Church’s understanding of formation for human flourishing. Don Bosco’s approach is an important component of our tradition.
What can modern Catholic educators learn from Don Bosco’s approach to teaching and forming young people?
We all know that teaching is relational. How many of us remember much of the content of what we learned in second grade or ninth grade?
It is the teachers we remember most, those who inspired us to learn and to grow more deeply in our faith. As Pope Paul VI said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than he does to teachers, and if he listens to teachers, it’s because they are witnesses.” St. John Bosco exuded joy in Christ, and love for his charges. My first experience as a teacher was in a school dedicated to his charism. We tried to take it seriously and to emulate him. I highly recommend that school leaders and faculty members study together his writings on education—they are full of wisdom about the teachers’ responsibility to create a climate in which virtue can thrive.
For educators just beginning to explore Catholic classical liberal arts education, what are the first few steps you recommend?
First, we hope to convey that this is not just some niche, but rather a full recovery of the Church’s vision of Catholic education. This renewal is relevant and exciting for all Catholic schools. It is not a model to adopt, but rather a theology and philosophy to infuse in both content and pedagogy throughout the school culture. Our website features an entire page to walk newcomers through resources and links that will introduce them to the basic concepts and experiences of others who have pioneered this renewal.
In addition, ICLE has built a variety of programs, events, and formation opportunities to share the good news and invite others to help recover this deeply human approach to teaching and learning. We host multiple “School Spotlights” at some of our flagship member schools, so pastors and educators can see this approach in action. Our National Conference is also designed to inspire and equip both newcomers and veterans to connect, learn, and pray together. Our entire team is eager to lift up those who have responded to a vocation in Catholic education, because we believe their role is crucial in our time.
How do you support hybrid Catholic liberal arts schools in developing their unique educational model?
The Church teaches us that parents are the primary educators of their children. The content and pedagogy we promote is relevant for teachers in brick-and-mortar schools, hybrid schools, and homeschools, because it is based in the natural way that children learn. Some of our 284+ member schools are founded on the hybrid model, and they find our resources and training to fit their needs. We want to encourage parents to enter into the education of their children, and not to feel as though they must outsource learning because they are not “professional educators.” Everything they do teaches! Our schools share resources and tips with them, to partner with them in the formation of their children.
What changes are you seeing in Catholic education nationally as more schools embrace this classical liberal arts approach?
Quite simply, we see a real joy in teaching and learning when wonder, meaning, and purpose are restored to the classroom. This energy transfers into family life, because children are coming home and spilling over at the dinner table with things they have discovered at school. Children are evangelizing their own parents, some of whom are returning to the Church. Parish life, too, is then enlivened by vibrant school communities.
How are you measuring the success of schools that have implemented ICLE’s recommendations?
ICLE conducted an initial study of member schools in early 2023 that captured hopeful trends: 82% percent of respondents reported better faculty morale; ⅔ of respondents reported better family engagement in the life of faith. Most reported significant jumps in enrollment. Some schools were saved from the brink of closure. However, this is not just for struggling schools. It is for all Catholic schools that recognize more is needed to combat disaffiliation and decline in our aggressively secular culture. We hope to conduct regular studies to track these trends.
How is the current Eucharistic Revival influencing ICLE’s approach to Catholic education?
The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Faith. It is the place where heaven and earth meet, where the natural and the supernatural worlds come together in our presence. The Catholic liberal arts tradition is fully ordered to help children grasp this unity of the temporal and the divine. The Church’s tradition of education is built for discipleship. If we are succeeding, children formed in these schools will have no reason to doubt the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist. All we do aims to form the intellect and the will to know, to love, and to serve Him with joy. In this, we achieve true happiness.
In what ways are you helping schools integrate Eucharistic spirituality more deeply into their educational mission and daily practices?
Holy Mass is always a central feature of our programs and workshops, as well as Adoration whenever possible. Of course, we encourage this in our member schools. The intellectual life is barren without the sacramental life. We continue to build upon the spiritual components of our offerings to educators, particularly in the practice of a daily prayer life—which we see as essential for all.
About Elisabeth:
A former journalist, Elisabeth developed her passion for Catholic liberal education while exploring authentic formation in faith and reason for her own children. She joined the Institute in 2010 to advance this vision and train educators in its philosophy and practice. As Executive Director, she develops ICLE’s program content and publications, designs our annual conference, and promotes our mission through speaking engagements across the country. Elisabeth is a CiRCE-Certified Classical Teacher who has taught middle school writing and literature, served on Catholic school boards, and served as director of communications for a liberal arts school in the Catholic tradition. She holds a B.S. in Humanities from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She and her husband live in North Carolina and have three sons and two grandsons.
