The Hoben Project

Named in honour and memory of Fr Cormac Hoben SM, an inspirational educator in Marist schools, The Hoben Project is essentially a Lay Pastoral Ministry Training Institute. It is designed for College staff and Parish members, providing them with the knowledge and practical skills to carry out lay ministry in their respective environments. Although the Hoben Project is in its infancy, there is a variety of programmes already being offered.

Staff and Board Enrichment in Marist CharisM

The Hoben Project responds to requests from individual schools to carry out professional development for Staff and Boards. This entails a number of different approaches, depending on the needs of the particular group.

The themes of Marist Education gleaned from the insights of Fr Colin in Les Avis are kept to the forefront, as are the unchanging Gospel virtues that continue to inform the spirit of a Catholic and Marist school. Both Staff and Boards are helped to understand how a Marist way of living and working affects the outcome for each student and for the whole school. This professional development is always changing and growing.

New needs are constantly being met, and most schools in the Network avail themselves of at least one significant session of enrichment in Marist Charism each year. Individual staff have further opportunities for Marist professional development through National Network Forums.

Lay Pastoral Ministry Training Programme

This programme is designed for those who will be working in a Marist context, but the material and skills taught in the programme will be applicable outside of a Marist context as well.

The purpose of the programme is to train and support lay people for ministry in schools, parishes and youth outreach programmes. It will assist in establishing effective and vibrant lay ministry teams in parishes and schools.

Each programme is open to a maximum of eighteen participants. It consists of six two-day forums spread out over two years. Individual participants are further supported during the course of the programme in their place of work. Appropriate reading and study material is also provided. The programme follows an auditing style --- there are no written assignments or assessments. There is a discernment element running throughout the programme.

The methodology followed in the programme sees input from the presenters, prayer and reflection, interaction with other participants, practical application of the principles being taught, and experiential training in the use of “circles” for process and theological reflection.

Growing New Principals Programme

This programme is an effort to guide staff in Marist schools on a journey of discernment of their willingness and suitability for aspiring to becoming a principal.

The programme runs over eighteen months during which there are five Forums. Each Forum focuses on one of five components:

1. The legal and Church requirements of the PSCI Act 1975. What Proprietors of Catholic Schools deem as ‘acceptable’ in an applicant for a leadership position.

2. The personal Catholic faith and spirituality of the leader

3. The spiritual leadership in the Catholic secondary school

4. The professional leadership in the Catholic secondary school

5. Intentional preparation for leading in a Catholic secondary school in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Each programme is restricted to thirteen participants and each forum contains strong elements of Marist spirituality and exploration of the Marist Charism in the context of school leadership. At each Forum participants hold a question and answer session with one or more of the Principals in the Network. In between forums the participants are given reading material and a certain focus for reflection.

General Forums with Staff Groups

The Hoben Project presents professional development in Marist Charism in a focused and intentional way through Forums run for specific interest groups, requested by the member schools of the Network. The Forums, presented in Wellington, follow the pattern of the Lay Pastoral Ministry programmes. Typically there is some general input on Marist history and spirituality and how it impacts on this particular group. Then there is input, much more specific to the interest of the group, and guidance, especially, on how the individual staff member might apply this aspect of Marist insight to his or her work and life. The participants have the opportunity to network with each other, to exchange best practice examples, to learn from each other’s experience, and to be affirmed in their service to Marist Education.

These are some of the interest groups that gather for Forums:

   •   Principals and Board Chairs
   •   Senior Management Teams
   •   Directors of Religious Studies and Ministry Leaders Religious Education Teachers
   •   Teachers of Secular Subjects
   •   Middle Management Leaders
   •   Teachers new to a Marist School
   •   Tagged Teachers
   •   Non-Catholic Teachers
   •   Extra-curricular coaches and administrators Ancillary staff
   •   School and Board Financial Officers
   •   Wananga exploring Marist tikanga
   •   Servant Leadership in Marist Schools

Te Tiriti O Waitangi in a Marist School