Catholic Primary Schools Research Articles

Towards a culture of dialogue among teachers: a qualitative research study

This qualitative study follows upon and offers further analysis into the quantitative results of previous research into the beliefs styles of teachers in the Catholic primary schools of the Archdiocese of Armagh (Ireland). With the use of focus group and interviews, the study supports the previous findings of teachers who are, by and large, engaged believers with strong faith and a positive attitude towards plural society. Faith was seen as important for those who prepare children for the sacraments but not necessary for other teachers. Quite strikingly, teachers almost exclusively identified Catholic ethos with the passing on of core values. Faith is considered a personal matter but support for ethos and the delivery of Religious Education is welcome. Critique of the 2022 instruction from the Dicastery of Culture and Education shows the importance of including teachers of every belief style in bringing about a culture of dialogue within Catholic schools.

The ‘belief styles’ of Irish primary school teachers

This research investigates the varied approaches of teachers in Catholic primary schools of the Archdiocese of Armagh (Ireland), towards religious belief – their ‘belief styles’ – and explores how this might impact on religious school ethos in the changing socio-cultural context of Ireland today. It uses a quantitative approach in the form of a research instrument developed by the Enhancing Catholic School Identity project based at KU Leuven – the Post-Critical Belief Scale. This study reveals an overall picture of the primary school teachers sampled in the diocese who are engaged Christians with strong faith and an appreciation of diversity and plurality. Unsurprisingly however, given the socio-cultural context, a relativist approach to religious belief is evident among teachers and has the potential to become culturally dominant in Catholic schools into the future, possibly undermining their faith-based identity and ethos.

The use of song in RE and worship for spiritual development and wellbeing of pupils aged 7–11 in Catholic schools

This research reports an exploratory study of the use of song in religious education and worship (REW) with pupils aged 7–11. The study examined the use of three aspects of song pertaining to composition, understanding and prayer, and how these could be impactful in pupils’ spiritual development and wellbeing (SDW). This case study research was undertaken in two Catholic primary schools in London with pupils and teachers from all key stage two (KS2) classes. In total, 17 individual and group semi-structured interviews were conducted with 54 participants and this data was combined with that from 207 surveys. The literature review looks at the benefits of music on the individual and school community and then explores spirituality so that a conceptual framework is created. Research indicated that song was effective in developing pupils’ SDW as it enhanced connectivity with God, Others, Self, Cosmos and Social Action. The findings of the research offer possible ways forward for the use of song in RE for the promotion of spiritual growth as well as the Catholic life and mission of the school.

Will There Be Teachers? An Analysis of the Congruence of Religious Beliefs of Initial Teacher Education Students and the Patron’s (Religious Education) Programme for Catholic Schools

For historical reasons, the vast majority of primary schools in the Republic of Ireland are under the patronage of the Catholic church. Patronage involves a number of responsibilities, including the provision of a Patron’s Programme. Traditionally in the form of Religious Education (RE), such programmes should satisfy the curricular requirement for religious/ethical education and act as an expression of school ethos. In order to meet this responsibility, the Irish Episcopal conference in 2015 published its first curriculum in Religious Education, which forms the basis for the Grow in Love programme for pupils from Junior Infants to Sixth Class in all Catholic primary schools. However, effective teaching and learning of RE is dependent on the ‘buy in’ of those teaching it. The religious beliefs, understandings, and practices of those teaching RE are influential in this regard. Drawing from the data of a large-scale, multi-phase study, this paper describes the religious identity and beliefs of first-year students entering an Initial Teacher Education programme in Ireland—in this case, the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree—to qualify as primary-level teachers. It situates the data in the wider context of religious identity and beliefs in Ireland and goes on to explore how the religious profiles of these students fit with the required understanding, knowledge and ability to teach Religious Education in Catholic schools. Findings indicate that the majority of these students identify as Catholic and believe in God. For most, God is important in their lives. However, there is a complexity to these beliefs, with a significant number who do not know what to think. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the teaching of Religious Education and for the patrons of Catholic schools.

Development of an intervention to prevent violence in Catholic primary schools in Zimbabwe: Innovation from within the Church

Schools have enormous potential to prevent and respond to violence against children. In this paper, we describe a new intervention to protect children from violence in Zimbabwe’s Catholic primary schools, initiated and developed by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC). ZCBC and academic institutions in Zimbabwe and the UK are partnering to conduct formative research to understand the school context, barriers, and facilitators to intervention implementation. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with teachers and other stakeholders [n=18] suggest that this intervention will be well received. Perceived facilitators include utilising existing structures within the Church, the intervention being viewed as in alignment with Catholic values, and the use of familiar structures within Catholic schools to deliver intervention activities. Challenges will include perceptions of “child protection” among parents and teachers. ZCBC is refining the intervention model, which will be evaluated for effectiveness in reducing violence against children in a randomised controlled trial.

Mindfulness in Catholic Primary Schools: An Irish Perspective

Irish Catholic primary education operates within a context increasingly marked by detraditionalisation and secularisation. As religious belief and identity recedes in Ireland, Catholic schools face challenges in enabling the children they serve to develop a personal relationship with God and nurturing their faith formation and development, an important element of the mission of the Catholic school. At the same time, mindfulness practice has grown exponentially in popularity across many sectors of society, including in Irish education. A growing body of research supports mindfulness practice in schools, citing benefits such as improved academic performance and enhanced wellbeing. This review examines the development of mindfulness practice in Irish Catholic primary schools. Curricular reform in primary education regarding the growing role of wellbeing is explored. The review also addresses opportunities and challenges to mindfulness practice in these schools.

Mindfulness as praeparatio evangelica in the Irish Catholic Primary School

Mindfulness has exploded in popularity across several elements of Irish society, including Catholic primary schools. This growth of the practice is set against the backdrop of a secularized and detraditionalized Irish society. This changed context for religious belief, as explored by Michael Paul Gallagher, Charles Taylor and Lieven Boeve, has challenged the Irish Church’s mission of evangelization. The challenges faced by Irish Catholic schools, as ecclesial entities, in living out this evangelizing mission highlight the growing necessity for pre-evangelization. These issues include a breakdown in the home, school and parish partnership model for faith formation and development, and a contemporary ‘educational emergency.’ This article examines the contribution of mindfulness as praeparatio evangelica in Catholic schools, focusing on it as a contemplative practice and as a means of enflaming sacramental imagination.

A case study of primary students’ perspectives of engagement in interreligious learning and teaching: a community of learners

ABSTRACT This case study explores the perceptions of students regarding their engagement in interreligious learning and teaching in one Australian Catholic Primary School. The study probes the learners’ understandings of what interreligious learning and teaching looks like in their context and how it might relate to their understandings of their evolving religious identity. The students were interviewed in groups and qualitative content analysis was used to uncover themes that emerged from the data. The key themes, Religious Education learning, diversity, voice and agency, and identity were brought to the fore. These themes are discussed in light of the school’s Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) data and the school’s approach to Religious Education. Utilising the multicultural/multifaith reality in this school context enabled the learners to engage with a plurality of religious and non-religious worldviews. Employing a pedagogical model operationalised in other learning areas, learners in Religion can engage respectfully in dialogue, critique perspectives and come to new or nuanced understandings. The study revealed learners were empowered to bridge the gaps between them through a felt sense of belonging to their school community and the enhancement of their understandings of the Catholic tradition through knowledge of, and dialogue with, other traditions.

Short-term effects of the "I Spy Feelings" program on emotion regulation in 5- to 6-year-old children.

Mental health difficulties in early childhood can have a debilitating and ongoing impact throughout an individual's life; emotion regulation can serve as a protective factor. Therefore, evidence-based prevention programs that teach children effective skills and strategies for emotion regulation are needed. As part of the Aussie Optimism pilot study evaluating the "I Spy Feelings" program, this study aims to assess the short-term effects of the program on emotion regulation in pre-primary aged children after 2 months via a longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial. Participants included parents (N = 73) of 5- to 6-year-old children attending four different Catholic primary schools. Children from two of the schools were allocated to the intervention group where they participated in the program (N = 33), while children from the other two schools were allocated to the control group where they did not (N = 40). At each time point, all parents completed abridged Children's Emotional Management Scales measuring how well parents believe their child is able to cope with anger, sadness and worry. A significant intervention effect 2 months after intervention was found for the outcome of anger coping such that parents whose children were in the intervention group reported significantly greater improvement in their children's ability to cope with anger compared to parents whose children were in the control group. No significant effect was found for the outcome of sadness, and results for the worry subscale were inconclusive due to unacceptable internal consistency. The present study provides insight into the benefit of programs designed to enhance the emotion regulation skills of very young children. Further follow-up is needed to assess whether the "I Spy Feelings" program has lasting effects.

Literacy assessment in the early years of schooling in an era of neoliberalism

This paper explores the literature related to literacy assessment in the early years of schooling in an era of neoliberalism and reports on a key aspect of a study which focused on the literacy assessment practices of early years teachers and literacy leaders in Australian Catholic schools within the Melbourne archdiocese. Background: The study was undertaken in a period following the Melbourne Catholic Education system’s devolution of literacy assessment responsibility to schools after a long period of mandated literacy assessment (1998–2012) but also occurred within a neoliberal high-stakes assessment environment, characterised by heightened levels of teacher accountability. Research Objectives: The intention of the research was to explore the literacy assessment beliefs and practices of teachers in early years classrooms (F–2), to explore the impacts of assessment devolution and the implications in terms of the literacy assessment practices in the early years in Australian Catholic primary schools in the Melbourne Archdiocese. Methods: A predominantly qualitative case study approach consisting of two phases was used to explore literacy assessment in the early years of schooling. Phase 1 consisted of an online questionnaire comprising both open and closed questions, which was completed by 76 literacy leaders from 76 Catholic schools in the Melbourne archdiocese. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information on schools’ literacy assessment practices in the early years and if these had changed since a Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) policy change in 2012 allowing schools greater autonomy over literacy assessment in the early years. Phase 2 involved semistructured interviews with 23 early years teachers and seven literacy leaders from eight diverse schools to investigate their literacy assessment practices in greater detail and identify how they responded to the opportunities that came with devolved decision-making.

Early Childhood Teachers’ Confidence to Teach Religious Education and the Influences Which Impact Their Teaching of Religious Education in Catholic Primary Schools

This article reports findings from a study that examines the factors which influence early childhood and care (ECEC) early career teachers’ confidence in teaching Religious Education (RE) and how it impacts their teaching of RE in Catholic primary schools in Western Australia. Teachers’ confidence is a teacher’s belief in their ability to accomplish a goal and refers to strength of belief. Research in this area has shown that confidence is correlated with the sense of teaching efficacy and responsibility for student learning. Whilst there has been some research into teacher confidence, there has been insufficient research into early childhood teachers’ confidence to teach RE in Catholic schools in an Australian context. Literature supports the notion that if early childhood teachers have a strong teacher confidence for a subject, they are more motivated to teach the subject and this has a positive correlation with positive student outcomes. The epistemological approach underpinning the research is constructivist in nature; therefore, it is based on understanding the constructed realities of what humans know of the world and themselves as produced by communications and systems of meaning. Three case studies follow teachers from their early career to second-year experience in Catholic schools. This study investigates support structures and aspects that contribute to teacher confidence in the teaching of RE. The main themes identified by the data that contributed to confidence or lack of confidence included training, family and religious backgrounds, teaching and learning, mentoring and support in the first year of teaching. The implications of the results for pre-service teacher training and support for graduate teachers are discussed and some suggestions are offered about the courses provided by universities and what schools and education systems can do to support early career teachers to teach RE effectively in Catholic schools.

Education and Identity Politics in Uganda

The Roman Catholic Church is globally and historically renowned for the provision of quality education that stresses the development of the whole person. Traditionally, the Consecrated persons of their religious institutes - who were well grounded in the Catholic ethos, headed the Catholic schools. Today however, the management of Catholic schools is increasingly being handed over to the non-consecrated persons who lack proper orientation in the ethos of Catholic education. The Catholic schools are facing financial challenges that are perhaps straining them into a mission drift, from prioritising the poor and the Catholic community to giving more preference to the well-to-do; and the focus on academics with limited or no integration of the Catholic values in the curriculum. The informal interaction with teachers of Catholic primary schools in Uganda revealed an increasing secularization of the Catholic Schools. It is recommended that teachers in Catholic schools be oriented in the Roman Catholic ethos and be provided with support materials that explains their faith and how it can be integrated in the curriculum. This should be followed by continuous professional development and support supervision so as to ensure the implementation of the Roman Catholic values in the Catholic founded primary schools.

Catholic education in Europe, education pluralism, and public funding

According to Church statistics, 6.9 million children were enrolled in Catholic primary and secondary schools in Europe. Enrolment has remained relatively stable over the last 40 years in comparison to other regions of the world, contributing to education pluralism. This may be in part because in many countries, Catholic and private schools benefit from state funding, which helps in reducing out-of-pocket costs for parents to send their children to the schools. At the same time, public funding for private schools, including Catholic schools, often remains below the level of funding for public schools. This paper discusses enrolment trends in Catholic schools over time, compares the level of public funding for private and public schools, and looks at the relationships (or lack thereof) between such funding and enrolment in Catholic and private schools.

Szkoły katolickie w wychowaniu do wartości. Na podstawie założeń programów wychowawczych dwóch katolickich szkół podstawowych w Szczecinie

<b>Wprowadzenie.</b> We współczesnym świecie, pełnym kontrastów, różnorodności i pluralizmu społecznego, wychowanie do wartości staje się szczególnie pożądane. Niewątpliwie fundamentalne oddziaływanie na dziecko mają aktywność i postawa rodziców. To oni są pierwszymi, naturalnymi wychowawcami swojego potomstwa, dlatego mają prawo wybrać dla swoich podopiecznych szkołę, która wesprze ich w procesie kształcenia oraz w działalności wychowawczej poprzez tworzenie takiego środowiska, które będzie zgodne z ich oczekiwaniami. <b>Cel.</b> Głównym celem artykułu jest analiza programów wychowawczych Katolickiej Szkoły Podstawowej im. Świętej Rodziny oraz Szkoły Podstawowej Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego w Szczecinie, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem wychowania do wartości. Ponadto celem artykułu jest ukazanie drogi do powstania wybranych katolickich szkół podstawowych w Szczecinie. <b>Materiały i metody.</b> Artykuł powstał w oparciu o kwerendę źródeł, ich selekcję i opis. W efekcie zinterpretowano fakty stanowiące przedmiot badań. Ponadto podstawą była lektura literatury i opracowań. Analiza materiału źródłowego miała charakter jakościowy. <b>Wyniki.</b> Analiza materiału źródłowego pozwala stwierdzić, że wychowanie do wartości jest istotnym aspektem konstruowania programów wychowawczych wybranych szkół katolickich. <b>Wnioski.</b> Zaprezentowane wyniki badań prowadzą do wniosku, że szkolnictwo katolickie może dostarczać inspiracji w zakresie wychowania do wartości.

'I went there in an effort to help the child, but you can see there is corruption in the world': Adults' conceptualisations and enactments of child protection in schools in a challenging context.

Schools have the potential to be sites of support for vulnerable children, but can also be sites of violence perpetration. In this qualitative study we explore how adult school stakeholders in and around two public Catholic primary schools in Zimbabwe conceptualise and enact child protection. We analysed our findings in light of the protracted economic crisis in Zimbabwe; the current policy context for child protection; and the Covid-19 pandemic. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 adult education stakeholders in and around one rural and one urban school in the Harare Archdiocese, from October 2020 to January 2021. This comprised 12 school-level stakeholders, including teachers (N = 4), parents (N = 4), school priests (N = 2), and headteachers (N = 2), who were the main focus of this study, and a further 6 high-level education actors. We employed thematic analysis. Adults in this study placed considerable responsibility on children to protect themselves, with often unreasonably high expectations of children’s capacity to prevent abuse. At times they also blamed and stigmatised children, which was gendered, and particularly emerged around adolescent sexuality. Our findings suggest that this was linked to social norms around discipline, protection and gender, but in particular, the way these emerged in relation to the challenges of the context. Policy and interventions to promote child protection in schools in Zimbabwe should incorporate both an attention to the challenges teachers face in contexts of adversity, as well as address a tendency for adult school stakeholders to hold children responsible for their own protection.

Perceptions of pre-service and graduate early childhood and primary teachers regarding their confidence in teaching Religious Education in Catholic primary schools

ABSTRACT 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.

Choosing a Catholic Primary School: Tracing Lived Catholicism Among Young Parents

Abstract In Catholic education, three partners collaborate in the education of the next generation: parents, school and church. Since Vatican ii, this cooperation is focused on an integral education that comprises the whole human being, that takes shape in an evangelically inspired school climate which partakes in the mission of the church. Post-conciliar documents of the Congregation of Catholic Education recognise the fading of parental participation, relating this decline to secularisation within multiple worldwide societal developments. In the congregational texts however, the parental voice is barely heard. This article provides insight into that space. Based on qualitive research among parents with children attending Catholic primary schools in the strongly secularised Netherlands, it clarifies the challenges that young parents meet, how these affect the perspectives of Catholic and non-Catholic parents on Catholic education and how the parental religious and secularised backgrounds influence their vision on Catholic-educational partnership.

A case study of interreligious learning and teaching in a Catholic primary school – a nexus of leadership, pedagogy, identity, and relationships

Australia is a religiously diverse nation with a growing trend in ‘no religious affiliation’ and irrelevance of religion in the lives of young learners and their families. The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of School leaders, teachers, and support officers in describing their role in interreligious learning and teaching in the context of one school. Whilst this is a study of one context, the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) data and Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) school review data indicate it is a high functioning school. Fourteen one-to-one interviews were transcribed, analysed, and coded revealing themes that clarify key features of the data guided by the research question. Leadership, diversity, relationships, pedagogy, learners, and religious identity emerged as key themes. Delving deeply into the perceptions of the school staff in relation to their engagement in interreligious learning and teaching may offer some insight for other contexts endeavouring to increase the relevance and plausibility of religion in the lives of learners.

The Potential of Catholic Schools: Public Virtues through Private Voucher

Recent US Supreme Court cases signal a likely increase in calls for K-12 school choice programs that include the option of enrolling in religious schools. In turn, criticism of religious school-inclusive school choice programming is likely to shift to policy and values-based critiques. This article addresses two allegations of Catholic primary and secondary school deficiencies in achieving objectives important to a pluralist society, allegations that would invalidate indirect state support of Catholic schools. By analyzing the aesthetics of Hans Georg Gadamer and Aristotelian moral theory in light of American Catholic schools’ potential, this paper rejects claims that Catholic education is unlikely to meet core needs of a contemporary pluralist society.

The development of a decision matrix to guide and support the provision of effective arts programs in schools

In the current education climate, Australian schools are encouraged to provide arts programs, yet there is little dedicated funding for provision and leadership must balance resource allocation with other curriculum and policy priorities. To determine how best to support school leaders in this area, we undertook a three-year project with local industry partners to investigate relationships between different provision approaches, benefits and conditions necessary to realize them, using an emergent, three-stage design. Stage 1 explored current arts provision approaches in 19 Catholic primary schools in Melbourne, along with notions of sustainability. Stages 2 and 3 used ethnographic methods to develop and trial a decision-making matrix to facilitate discussion with school leaders about arts provision goals and provision feasibility. Leaders identified several distinct goals for engaging the arts, and a range of outcomes were anticipated that would require certain conditions and inputs for different program models to be successful. These goals, models, conditions and inputs were organized into a logic model that became the refined Arts Engagement Matrix. Trials showed that the matrix was considered accessible, and capable of assisting leadership navigate arts provision. While not prescriptive, we argue this matrix offers a uniquely comprehensive tool to help school leaders make realistic decisions about how the arts could enrich their school community.