Daniel Petri is a social studies teacher at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School. Millennial editor Robert Christian interviewed him on teaching, technology, Catholic schools, civics, and his faith.

I know so many kids that love learning but do not like school. Are there things you do to try to foster a love of learning and to form life-long learners? 

I think that most people are naturally curious about the how and why when it comes to history and social sciences (in addition to other subjects), so I try to focus my classes on the causes of historical events or political phenomena. I find that my students enjoy it when we can see how seemingly similar things throughout history (or in different countries) have distinct causes. I want my students to embrace that desire to be curious about the world around them and to never stop trying to learn more about what they see and experience around them.

You’ve worked on artificial intelligence (AI) policy for your school. How can schools address AI usage while preparing students for a world where not just AI but other technological breakthroughs will bring changes to our lives, including in ways that we can’t fully anticipate? 

I think one of the most important things for teachers and educators is that we cannot be afraid to embrace new technologies and figure out new ways to utilize them into our classrooms, while simultaneously teaching students ethical ways of using these new tools. One of the things that we have done at my institution is that we’ve put an emphasis on authenticity and ensuring that what you do is authentically yours—sure it’s fine to consult AI for essay topics or to ask ChatGPT to help you define terms and concepts that you don’t understand, but it’s what you then do with what AI gives you that defines whether or not the work you do is really yours. So you ask ChatGPT to give you a topic to write about when you’re stuck; however, you need to then write that essay and make it your authentic work. We have to teach students that, like other tools, there’s a good way and a bad way to utilize new technology.

Can Catholic schools exercise the option for the poor and vulnerable when a growing number of working class and even middle class families cannot afford to send their kids to them? 

This is such an important question and an important issue. Catholic schools used to be incredibly important for expanding educational opportunities for low income communities because they provided a reasonably priced alternative to lower achieving public schools; however, today, there are half as many Catholic schools and they educate around two-thirds fewer students than they did 60 years ago. They’re also much less affordable for middle and low income families than they were a few decades ago.

Catholic schools have been slow to adapt and that’s been part of the decline of Catholic education, but I think there are positive changes that are happening right now. More schools are offering tuition assistance and need-based financial aid. More schools are offering sibling discounts. They’ve stepped up fundraising for financial aid programs while also admitting more students whose families can afford full tuition that can help fund scholarship opportunities. Also, more schools are recruiting middle and low income families with more outreach and helping to educate them on ways that they can afford Catholic K-12 education.

That said, a lot more needs to be done. We can judge the justness of an institution based upon how it allocates its resources, and maybe schools can utilize the funding that they have in a way that can help to reduce tuition increases and expand affordability.

With our democracy on shaky ground, how can schools form the good citizens and participants in our democracy that our country so desperately needs? 

There’s such a hyper focus on elections, and rightfully so because elections are fundamental for a well-functioning democracy, but I think that the over-fixation on elections diverts our attention from other ways that we can make differences in our society and takes away our sense of agency at being able to solve some of our problems.  We might get some of the changes we desire from election outcomes, but we can make immediate impactful changes in our communities through volunteering, public service, and service. I think Catholic schools do such a wonderful job at teaching students about the value of service; however, I think we can do a better job at showing students how those volunteer hours can be catalysts for the change that we want to see in the world.

Yes, who is President will matter, and who we elect to state and local government will matter, but if you want to clean up a park you don’t have to wait for your city counsel to do something. If you want to improve the lives of the homeless, you can actually go and do something. Studies show that students who engage in service are more likely to vote and more likely to understand political issues. If we want to have an army of good citizens, then we need to get students out there doing meaningful work in their communities and linking that service to positive societal outcomes.

How does your faith impact your life outside of work?

As a teacher at a Salesian school, I try to integrate the “little virtues” of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal: humility, patience, thoughtful concern for others, joyful optimism, etc., into my daily life so I can be a positive example and role model to my young boys. I want to be an example to others by the way I live, and I can think of no better way than by trying my best to model the “little virtues.”

Why are you Catholic in 2024?

I love that Catholicism is an intellectual religion—yes, we have revelation, but Catholicism invites us to, paraphrasing the late Father James Schall, think about what else is out there. Catholicism invites us to see history, sciences, arts, math, philosophy, nature, and other things as means through which we can come to more fully understand the Truth. That’s why we need teachers and intellectuals to help us to learn and better understand the world around us, because, if all Truth is God’s Truth, then we cannot shut ourselves away from everything else that exists out there in the world. We must pursue knowledge to get closer to the Truth.