The Contemporary Catholic School

This collection of essays by American and British authors discusses how the methods and issues of Catholic schooling are becoming of increasing interest to non-Catholic schools - due to the Catholic method of schooling being perceived as more humane.

In this ground-breaking book, Gerald Grace addresses the dilemmas facing Catholic education in an increasingly secular and consumer-driven culture. Theory and original research drawn from interviews with Catholic headts are combined.

In this ground-breaking book, Gerald Grace addresses the dilemmas facing Catholic education in an increasingly secular and consumer-driven culture. The book combines an original theoretical framework with research drawn from interviews with sixty Catholic secondary head teachers from deprived urban areas. Issues discussed include: *Catholic meanings of academic success *tensions between market values and Catholic values *threats to the mission integrity of Catholic schools *the spiritual, moral and social justice commitments of contemporary Catholic schools This book will be equally useful to leaders of Catholic and other schools and to all those interested in values and leadership in schooling.

This book presents a range of perspectives on the current state of Catholic education in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. All of the chapters have their origin in an International Conference on Catholic Education, held at Heythrop College (University of London) in September 2016. The book brings together many leading scholars to present a survey of the latest research on Catholic education in areas such as the aims of Catholic education, Catholic schools and Catholic identity, leadership issues in Catholic schools and fresh thinking about the place of Religious Education (RE) in Catholic Education. This book demonstrates how the field of Catholic Education Studies has firmly come of age. Rather than being a subfield of educational or theological discourse, it is now an established field of research and study. As such, the book invites readers to engage with much of the new thinking on Catholic education that has grown rapidly in recent years. It offers a broad range of contemporary perspectives on research in Catholic Education and rich insights into current thinking about Catholic Education.

This book reflects on the most appropriate methods of teacher preparation for contemporary Catholic schools and on possible contributions to wider teacher preparation from cogitating the history of the Catholic tradition. The authors offer exciting and innovative opportunities to inform contemporary practice from international examples.

Since the publication of its predecessor volume Contemporary Catholic Education in 2002, the Catholic education landscape has experienced significant developments and challenges. The notion that the perennial, in the form of the rich heritage of the Catholic education tradition, must remain in constant dialogue with the transitional educational landscape permeates this publication. This is rooted in a sacramental vision of the human person and is anchored in three core principles: the dignity of the individual, the call to human flourishing and the promise of a divine destiny. The extent to which Catholic school teachers, leaders and governors embrace the challenge to embed these core principles, while acknowledging a range of factors challenging the holistic perspective canonised in Catholic tradition, features prominently in this volume. The structuring of Contemporary Perspectives on Catholic Education around three themes, context, Religious Education and leadership and governance is designed strategically to enable the authors to address contemporary challenges, principal among which is the maintenance of the integral mission of Catholic education. In these contexts the value of the witness of Catholic teachers, leaders and governors is accentuated and, in the words of Pope Francis, 'teaching ultimately has to be reflected in the teacher's way of life, which awakens the assent of the heart by its nearness, love and witness'.

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.