Voices from the Field: Interviews with Three Prominent Catholic School Educators about Leadership and Collaboration

Early childhood educators have for some time now questioned approaches to education that focus solely on the development of thinking and rational cogitation, and have begun to favour dispositional frameworks in preference to learning frameworks. However, there is little evidence to suggest that dispositional frameworks have been utilised in religious education with early years’ students in faith based contexts. This paper describes and discusses five possible learning dispositions: curiosity, being dialogical, persisting and living with uncertainty, meaning‐making, and taking responsibility, which may form a dispositional framework for religious education in Catholic primary schools. While the intention of the use of this dispositional framework is with students in their first formal years of schooling, it is recognised that it may have application for older students in the Catholic primary school context.

LGBTQIA+ educators are a gift to Catholic schools. In this article, two researchers affiliated with the University of San Francisco conducted a national survey of LGBTQIA+ educators in Catholic schools that highlights the blessings and challenges of their work. The survey results demonstrate that, despite the tension and fear experienced by these educators, they still offer significant contributions to the mission of Catholic schools through their prophetic witness of advocacy and inclusion. Most importantly, their LGBTQIA+ identity serves as a foundation for a deeper relationship with God through their vocation as educators. Many LGBTQIA+ educators, who have every reason to leave Catholic education in search for more stability, choose to stay in Catholic schools to support students, deepen their faith, and promote a Catholic climate of inclusion in their schools. Catholic school leaders should stop dismissing them and seek to fully include them into the life and work of the school. In this article, the researchers explore the historical climate regarding LGBTQIA+ educators in Catholic schools and raise some moral and theological questions. Then they analyze the responses to the national survey to generate some key findings. They conclude with some recommendations on how Catholic leaders can best appreciate and include the gifts LGBTQIA+ educators bring to Catholic education.

This research reports an exploratory study of 22 pre-service teachers involved in the Religious Education courses offered by The University of Notre Dame Australia, as part of the university’s accreditation to teach religious education. The study examined the influence of key factors on how confident these pre-service teachers perceived themselves to be to engage with the necessary knowledge to effectively teach religious education in a Catholic school. The pre-service teachers were surveyed pre and post their final-year internship, and subsequently, six of these were interviewed at the end of their first term of employment. Results indicated that out of the five compulsory courses, the two teaching method courses were found to be most influential in developing confidence to teach. Family, religious background, schooling, and mentoring were found to be influential in confidence development. In addition, confidence improved across the timeframe.

Presenting notable curricular, pedagogical and ‘green’ initiatives in Indonesian pesantren, the country’s traditional Islamic boarding schools, this chapter proceeds from the assumption that education in general and Islamic schools specifically have a critical role in raising public awareness of environmental problems. More specifically, the chapter has three key objectives. First, we review some of the challenges with introducing environmental education in Islamic schools in a societal context where state and local government leadership is sorely lacking. We then offer a case study of Pesantren Annuqayah in East Java, one especially prominent school in Indonesia’s Pesantren Hijau or Green Pesantren programme. Our analysis focusses on the school’s holistic curriculum, innovative pedagogy and community engagement efforts. Finally, we reflect on the broader takeaways for a culturally relevant environmental education in Islamic schools beyond Indonesia by paying specific attention to connections and dissonances with the dominant discourse on environmental education cultivated in the Global North.

Upholding the faith. The process of education in Catholic schools in Australia, 1922–1965. By Thomas A. O'Donoghue. (History of Schools and Schooling, 24.) Pp. ix+171. New York: Peter Lang, 2001. 0 8204 5653 5 - Volume 54 Issue 3

This study aims to describe curriculum management in improving the quality of education in Catholic schools in Samarinda City, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. This study uses a qualitative approach with a descriptive method. Observation, documentation, and interview techniques were used to obtain data related to curriculum management in improving the quality of Catholic education by involving foundation administrators, school principals, vice-principals, curriculum fields, and teachers. The collected data were analyzed in the form of data reduction, data presentation, drawing conclusions, and checking the validity of the data by using technical triangulation methods. The results of this study found that educational curriculum planning in improving the quality of education in Catholic schools always emphasizes the importance of aspects of the school's vision and mission, changes that occur in the education process, and is adjusted to the national education curriculum program and local content curriculum, school circumstances and needs. Curriculum organization is carried out by assigning duties and authority by the principal to the curriculum coordinator, namely the vice principal, and to senior teachers to supervise the learning process. In addition, through classroom supervision, teacher performance is assessed in the learning process. Good curriculum management, it can be a roadmap to achieve effective and efficient learning, build student character, improve learning achievement, and ultimately improve the quality of education.

Religiosity education is an alternative to Catholic religious education in some Catholic schools in Yogyakarta. In religiosity education students learn to appreciate different religions. It was started in 1982 by the late Father Y.B. Mangunwijaya, and later developed by the Commission of Religious Education in the Diocese of Semarang (which includes Yogyakarta). This development took place at a time of tension for Christian schools, because, under the terms of a new law, they had to offer religious education specific to every student's religion. Religiosity education was successfully developed as a new curriculum, which met the criteria of multicultural education. Unfortunately, when the government Education Office in Yogyakarta did not accept religiosity education as an alternative to Catholic religious education, most Catholic schools withdrew from implementing it. The future of religiosity education in Yogyakarta was uncertain. However, this research shows that much Catholic religious education is currently undertaken in the same way as religiosity education, using the reflective pedagogy paradigm. So the spirit of religiosity education remains in these schools – though without the actual term. The paper argues that the spirit of religiosity education should be maintained in Catholic schools in Yogyakarta in order to contribute to making Yogya a true ‘city of tolerance’.

Inclusive education has become a key focus in educational reform promoting equal access and participation for all learners. Understanding teachers’ readiness and capacity to implement inclusive practices in Catholic schools is essential to advancing this goal. This study assess teachers' knowledge, readiness, and challenges in implementing inclusive education in Catholic schools considering area of school (urban vs. rural) and field of specialization (BSEd vs. BEEd). A Quantitative-Descriptive, Comparative and Correlation research design was used, with data gathered from 118 teacher-respondents through a validated and reliable questionnaire. Findings revealed that teachers generally possessed a high level of knowledge in inclusive education. Urban teachers reported high knowledge than rural teachers though the difference was not statistically significant. However, a significant difference was found based on the field of specialization, with secondary teachers scoring higher. In terms of readiness, no significant difference where observe based on area of school area or field of specialization. Regardless of these variables, teachers encountered high level of challenges, often due to limited access to resources, training, and support, particularly among elementary teachers due to the developmental needs of younger learners. A weak but significant positive correlation existed between teachers' knowledge and their readiness to implement inclusive education, suggesting that increased knowledge may enhance perceived readiness. However, no correlation between teachers' readiness and the challenges encountered. This study concludes that while teachers are generally ready to implement inclusive education, targeted professional development, particularly at rural schools and among elementary teachers is needed. Further research should explore the causes of the challenges faced and ways to enhance teachers' readiness and support for inclusive practice.

An overview of the thinking that led us to write our most recent book, Piety and Privilege. Catholic Secondary Schooling in Ireland and the Theocratic State, 1922-67, constitutes the substance of this paper. Our central argument is that during the period 1922-1967, the Church, unhindered by the State, promoted within secondary schools, practices aimed at “the salvation of souls” and at the reproduction of a loyal middle class and clerics. The State supported that arrangement with the Church also acting on its behalf in aiming to produce a literate and numerate citizenry, in pursuing nation building, and in ensuring the preparation of an adequate number of secondary school graduates to address the needs of the public service and the professions. This situation proved attractive to successive governments, partly because the great majority of the nation’s politicians and public servants were themselves loyal middle-class Catholics. In addition, the teaching religious played a crucial role in the State’s project of harnessing schools as part of its Gaelic nation-building project. This paper considers what we deem to be three distinctive aspects of our work. First, we detail how it is a contribution not just to the history of education in Ireland but also to the broader field of the history of Catholic Church and State relations in education in the English-speaking world for the period examined. Secondly, we deliberate on the research approach we adopted in generating our exposition. Thirdly, we outline our consideration of three aspects of the process of education in Catholic schools that have been neglected in many accounts to date, namely, the manner in which privilege, piety, and sex education were approached. Keywords: Ireland, secondary schooling. piety, privilege, sex education

Pope John Paul II, following in the steps of his predecessors, strongly advocated the critical appraisal of the influence of culture on people’s spirituality. This article responds to his directive by seeking to develop an interpretation of how and why contemporary spirituality has changed that will better inform the work of religious educators in Catholic schools. A number of constructs like secularisation, privatisation of religion etc. have been used to describe the significant change in spirituality of many of the young people in Australian Catholic schools over the last 50 years from a more traditional religious spirituality to something that is more secular, eclectic and individualistic. To some extent, this change has been acknowledged; but the religion curricula in Catholic schools still give the impression that all of the students are, or should be, regular church goers – as if Sunday mass attendance was to be the end point of their education in spirituality. An interpretation of change in spirituality in terms of change in cultural meanings has been developed for the purpose of understanding contemporary spiritualities in other than a deficit model. Such an interpretation may be more persuasive in getting Catholic education authorities and religious educators firstly to accept, rather than condemn or ignore, the significant change in contemporary spiritualty; and then secondly, to take steps to address this change positively and constructively in the Catholic school religion curriculum. This article is concerned with the first step – understanding contemporary spirituality; it is intended that the second question will be considered in a follow up article.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the spirituality of a small sample of teachers in Catholic schools through the expressions of their own personal understanding of spirituality. The study was conducted in a biographical, narrative way which allowed the voices of the participating teachers to be heard. This research inquiry addressed the contemporary problem of the ambiguous relationship between religion and spirituality within a culture that is predominantly secular. The cultural religious overlay (in this case, Catholicism) which once served to identify and define spirituality and its practices for many Catholics, no longer provides a meaningful reference point for a significant number of those baptised in the Catholic faith. This problem presents a substantial challenge for church schools grounded in the Catholic tradition, which set out to educate young people religiously and to help induct them into the Catholic Church. Identifying and interpreting how the personal spirituality of teachers was expressed makes a helpful contribution to clarifying some of the issues within this problem. It could shed some light on the ways in which the spirituality of teachers related to the Catholic school’s intended role in educating young Catholics and promoting an integration of faith, life and culture. The study was located in the context of four aspects of spirituality identified in the literature. The first two considered spirituality in a broad way, regarding it as an intrinsic human capacity and then traced the ways this had been expressed over the centuries in the Christian tradition. The second two aspects centred on an exploration of more specific contemporary expressions of spirituality. The first of these was concerned with exploring the normative Catholic Church documents and the current religious education theory of Shared Christian Praxis. The fourth aspect was the literature which focussed specifically on the spirituality of teachers. As the study explored the perceptions of teachers regarding their personal spirituality, the research design was situated within the interpretivist model. The investigation occurred inside the interpretive tradition of phenomenology which provided access to many facets of the human experience. Constructionism through the lens of symbolic interactionism and intersubjectivity provided the epistemological framework. This allowed for meaning to be created personally and for participants to express different perceptions of similar experiences. The key data gathering strategy was three interviews with each of the 5 participants. While it was recognised that this was a relatively small sample, it allowed for prolonged time with each participant to explore spirituality across a range of experiences. Spirituality was therefore iii identified within a broad spectrum inclusive of the religious and secular. The NVivo qualitative research program was used to assist with the analysis of the interview data and ensured that the analytical categories remained close to the words used by the participants Conclusions from the study highlighted the interpersonal ways in which spirituality was understood and expressed in the themes of relationality, connectedness and belonging. The capacity for presence, combined with attitudes of listening and empathy were seen as important pathways to experience transcendence, described by the participants as “something other,” “something beyond” or “mystery.” The study acknowledged that although spirituality may be regarded as an innate human potential, it needed to be awakened and nurtured for this capacity to be realised. Therefore recommendations were proposed for informing programmes that intended to promote ongoing spiritual development for educators in Catholic schools.

Little is known about the experiences of non-heterosexual educators in Catholic schools. This international comparative analysis reveals previously unreported data from Australian and Canadian qualitative studies that examine the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) teachers, and LGBTI Allies from Australia and Canada who are currently teaching or have taught in Catholic schools. Bringing their work together for the first time, the two lead researchers compare their investigations and reveal disheartening similarities with religiously inspired homophobia despite differing legal and policy contexts of the two countries. These two studies reveal that LGBTI teachers, and LGBTI Allies, rely on their personal beliefs and local school community culture and policies to understand their equality rights and this has significant implications for the field of education.

The purpose of this dissertation was to research, present, and thus to preserve, information concerning Catholic school education in San Diego County from 1850 to 1936. The historical method of research was the research methodology utilized in the study, in which the author primarily investigated original documents stored in religious archives. The author details the thirteen Catholic schools that came into existence during the time period; describes the background and arrival in San Diego County of the seven religious communities that conducted the various schools; and portrays the early leaders responsible for the growth and development of Catholic education in San Diego County. It was noted in the dissertation that Catholic schools gained a foothold in San Diego County in the 1880's largely through the initiative of Father Anthony Dominic Uback, pastor of San Diego from 1866 to 1907. This Catholic leader was responsible for securing the first religious community of women to teach in San Diego County, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, an influential community who would conduct seven of the first nine Catholic schools to open in the County. Until 1936, San Diego County formed a part of either the Diocese of Monterey or of Los Angeles, and it was concluded that, in comparison to the rest of the Diocese, Catholic education developed slowly in San Diego County. Indeed, prior to 1900, there existed only one private school for Catholics, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, and three schools for Indians. It was not until 1912 that the first "diocesan" school opened in San Diego County. Nevertheless the Catholic schools instituted during the eighty-six year period under investigation were widely dispersed throughout the County, from San Ysidro in the south, Fort Yuma in the east and San Luis Rey in the north. The dissertation may serve as a valuable contribution to the study of Catholic educational history in San Diego County. Furthermore, a better understanding of contemporary Catholic education is gained throughout the background of historical research documented in the study.

Irish and British reflections on Catholic education: foundations, identity, leadership issues and religious education in Catholic schools

This chapter explores the theme of science and religion in relation to Religious education and to fundamental debates about the nature and purpose of Catholic education. It draws on insights from the leading Catholic philosopher Bernard Lonergan to propose a creative way of reframing and recasting debates about the relationship between science and religion. An overview of Lonergan’s contribution to this issue is presented. This is then followed by a presentation of the pedagogic utility of Lonergan’s approach. It is argued that it provides a fruitful way of framing and guiding discussions of Catholic school ethos as well as the science and religion debates within religious education in Catholic schools.