Central to our understanding of Catholic education are the concepts of connectedness and interdependence.

We are not reductionists, dealing with discrete segments, separating aspects and components in contrived ways.

On the contrary, we focus on ‘the whole person' - mind and body, spirit and character.

A metaphor we have been using to catch this essential sense of connection is a web – a unitary mindset for considering our pedagogy with its stress on interdependence and responsiveness.

The challenging reality is that the basic unity and wholeness of our core work is always under pressure. The tenuous threads are so often artificially separated. The ‘whole' is weakened by short-sighted focus on the ‘bits and pieces'.

Over coming weeks, I want to open some discussion on this challenge by naming some of the issues which put strains on the metaphorical web. These include:

• the primary-secondary divide
• the fragmented curriculum
• the ways in which learning opportunities are structured and organised
• the physical location of schools
• the challenge and opportunities of virtual schooling
• delivering on the rhetoric of lifelong learning