John Baptist de la Salle was born on April 30, 1651, into a very wealthy French family. He received an excellent education and became a canon (a church official) at just 16 at Reims Cathedral when the average age was 25. But after his parents died, he had to take care of his 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Nonetheless, he planned to live a comfortable life in the Catholic Church.
This comfort planned changed once he met a man named Adrian Nyel who wanted to start a school for poor boys. De La Salle wanted to help Nyel with this mission. Once he started helping Nyel, he realized how many people couldn’t afford education. This realization never dawned on him before because he grew up in a comfortable financial situation. He gradually started teaching the boys throughout his entire life.
De La Salle eventually started The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools also known as the Christian Brothers. These men were not priest instead they focused on teaching. They did, however, take vows and lived in a small community with each other.
De La Salle challenged the current education system in these ways. He taught in the vernacular, most schools were taught in Latin, but he taught in French so his students could understand him clearly. He invented the system of grade levels; most schools either taught everyone the same material or each student individually, but he created a system where you would be sorted into groups and taught different things than the other group. He also invented the first ever teacher training program and he taught the poor for free.
De La Salle faced many challenges along this path. Many people didn’t like that he taught the poor. He also faced financial struggles since he didn’t charge for the work. He faced conflict within his own community for what he was doing and at one point he even gave up all his wealth so he could live like his students.
De La Salle emphasized that teaching should be viewed as a vocation to the LORD. He encouraged teachers to see their work as God’s work and to respect their jobs. He promoted that his teachers should have discipline, patience, and genuine care for the students.
John Baptist de la Salle eventually died on April 7, 1719, after living a life to God and teaching the next generation. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on May 24, 1900, but was declared the Patron Saint of Teachers by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
John Baptist de la Salle is important because he shaped our education system into what it is today and began the fact of free education. He also improved how teachers were trained. If you went to a Catholic school growing up, there was a good chance it was founded by the Christian Brothers. He will always be an important figure in both faith and education. St. John Baptist de la Salle, pray for us!