The Character And Culture Of The Catholic School

The leading comprehensive guide for Catholic school principals Fully revised and expanded 2nd editionNew material on curriculum, instruction, testing, development, fundraising, federal regulationsDiscusses school management fundamentals: from budgeting to recruitment This new edition of the highly influential text, Catholic School Administration, has been greatly enlarged and improved with new chapters on curriculum improvement, supervision of instruction, ways to assess testing—as well as new information on marketing, human resources, and student recruitment. Based on principles drawn from Ignatius to Vatican II, as well as concepts from current educational and social theorists, the book combines the best ideas for leading and decision-making with detailed practical presentations of the managerial tasks that must be mastered to run a parochial school. Case studies and surveys provide extra guidance. For readers seeking to make organizational and instructional improvements, this text offers proven techniques for systematic change. It is an outstanding resource for introducing administrators to the challenges of running a Catholic school.

Knowledge of Catholic educational scholarship and research has been largely confined to specific national settings. Now is the time to bring together this scholarship. This is the first international handbook on Catholic educational scholarship and research. The unifying theme of the Handbook is ‘Catholic Education: challenges and responses’ in a number of international settings. In addition to analyzing the largest faith-based educational system worldwide, the book also critically examines contemporary issues such as church-state relations and the impact of secularization and globalization.

Two major real-world problems prompted this study: maintaining the Catholic identity of the Catholic schools, and increasing interest in character education. Traditionally, Catholic schools in the United States were staffed exclusively by priests, sisters, and brothers. Today, they are predominately staffed by laypersons. This change has influenced the essential religious character and culture of Catholic schools. While Religious filter their teachings through their own religious training and emphasize the mission and charisma of Catholic education, lay staff often lack the same intensely religious experiences to bring to the teaching/learning environment. This qualitative interview study explored the influence that a series of spirituality and virtue seminars had on lay teachers’ perceptions of the Catholic school and character education.

As an evangelizing arm of the church, Catholic education plays an indispensable role in introducing young people to rudimentary elements of the Catholic faith as well as creating human and social capital. In spite of the numerous contributions Catholic education has made in the area of socio-economic development, many people don't understand what Catholic education is nor appreciate its contribution in the character formation and overall enhancement of human capital. This book is written to explain what Catholic education is, its mission, its identity, and its challenges. The audience the book seeks to serve includes diocesan policymakers and those in charge of in-service training and formation programs aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of leadership practice in Catholic schools. This book is also a useful resource for Catholic school leaders and administrators. It is a must-read for students undertaking graduate studies in Catholic school leadership and new emerging leaders and administrators in Catholic education.

Discussion on contemporary Catholic education is caught up in the larger debate over whether the Church has lived up to the options the Second Vatican Council offered for the future of Catholic education." "The Catholic Character of Catholic Schools provides a look at the issues that Catholic schools face today in order to fulfill their religious as well as their academic mission."--BOOK JACKET.

Study which examines research conducted in Catholic schools in 1972, 1982 and 1990. Describes the culture of the schools in terms of the core beliefs, values, traditions and patterns of behaviour which give meaning to the school communities. Presents the responses of students, parents and teachers, and explores the religious and educational influence of Catholic education. Indexed. The author is a senior lecturer in the department of religious education, Australian Catholic University, NSW.

This book highlights the model of contemplative Catholic school leadership as an influence on faith-formation cultures within the Catholic school, and it demonstrates the impact of cultural factors on Catholic identity formation. By integrating reflection and Catholic values with a leader’s decision-making process, the model described in this volume seeks coherence between the leader’s faith beliefs and their behaviors. Including five unique, international case studies, this research emphasizes the character of the school leader—including faith identity—as the principal architect of the school’s culture.