Catholic School Leadership Research Articles

Can Decentralized School Systems Pursue Common Ends? An Analysis of Urban Catholic School and System Leaders’ Perceptions of Reform

There has been little research examining how decentralized Catholic diocesan systems have worked toward their stated system-wide goal of keeping urban Catholic schools sustainable. Through a new qualitative analysis of interviews with Catholic school and system leaders, we demonstrate in this article how leaders agreed about the issues preventing urban Catholic elementary schools from becoming operationally sustainable but disagreed about potential solutions to this problem. Our findings indicate these leaders believed decentralized systems constrained their ability to pursue coherent system-wide reforms. We connect these findings to broader calls for decentralization in large urban systems attempting to pursue educational equity initiatives.

New York City Catholic Schools Operating in the Public Space in a Post-Makin World

ABSTRACT Given recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, specifically Carson v. Makin, which permit public funding for religious schools, we examine how Catholic diocese and school leaders interpret these legal shifts for Catholic education. We utilize the Catholic education sector in New York City as a case study to examine how Catholic school leaders interpret local, state, and national policy shifts in funding for Catholic education. Specifically, we examine how Catholic school leaders currently navigate public–private partnerships and how they think Makin will affect future funding of Catholic education in New York City. We find that Catholic school leaders are already participating in limited public–private partnerships and are enthusiastic about potential policy windows for opportunities such as tax-credits and religious charter schools. However, Catholic school leaders in New York face challenges in terms of state politics, Catholic identity of schools, and other school-choice advocates including public charter schools.

Spiritual Leadership of Principals Imbued with Monastic Vows in Malang, Indonesia

This study aims to describe the implementation of the spiritual leadership of the monks in Catholic schools. The research method used is a descriptive qualitative approach. The research design used a multi-site study conducted at three Catholic Junior High Schools (CJHI) in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The results of the study show that in developing spiritual leadership in Catholic schools, school principals are imbued with monastic vows namely poverty, chastity and obedience. Embracing monastic vows in leadership assignments has a positive impact on teachers, staff and students.

“I Didn’t Care About Enrollment:” Investigating Catholic School Leader Perceptions of the COVID Era Return to In-Person Instruction

ABSTRACT Many Catholic schools in the U.S. resumed in-person instruction in 2020–2021 sooner than public schools. But little research has examined whether Catholic school leaders made these decisions in light of parents’ preferences for in-person instruction. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of interviews with Catholic school leaders examining these dynamics in a single Northeastern city. Findings indicate leaders’ decisions were focused on meeting the needs of those parents who had previously made the choice to enroll students at their schools and not on increasing enrollment as its own end. Several implications of these findings are highlighted in the discussion.

Organizational Culture Among Religious Founded Schools in Enhancing Teachers’ Performance: A Case Study of Bishop Willigers Secondary School in Bugweri District, Eastern Uganda

The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of organizational culture on teachers’ performance in Bishop Willigers Secondary School in Bugweri District, Eastern Uganda. The study objectives were to; “determine the type of organizational structure in enhancing performance, to examine the contribution of organizational culture on teachers’ performance and to explore other factors that influence teachers’ performance other than organizational culture”. The study employed a qualitative paradigm where interview guide and focus group discussion guide as data collection instruments and the results “were analyzed thematically and presented adversatively adversatively”. The study employed Organizational Culture Theory of Edgar H Schein (1992) to examine the contribution of organizational culture on the performance of teachers. Study findings revealed that, “there was a strong relationship between organizational structure and teachers’ performance, and also revealed that other than organizational culture, other factors such as teacher motivation, parental involvement in the student’s learning, qualification of the teachers, influence teacher’s performance”. The study concludes that: The school has a positive organizational culture which is traditionally structured with a top-down communication system. In a school setting, organizational culture determines how things are done, employees’ work ethic, values, beliefs and attitudes and their commitment towards work. The organizational structure of the school was in line with the Catholic School leadership structure. Therefore, it’s recommended that all schools develop a well-organized, defined and standard organizational structure, develop a strong organizational culture, should hire competent qualified staff, and motivated teachers. Also, parents should encourage and get involved in their children’s education to be able to improve teachers’ performance in schools.

Leading the School Wisely and Purposefully: Design of a Practical, Wise Leadership Practice to Fulfil the Mission of Catholic Education

Regarding the educational endeavour of their schools, Catholic school leaders are challenged to maintain “mission integrity”, and to remain faithful to the principles of Catholic education. While their daily praxis is characterised by multiple interruptions, even school leaders with profound theoretical knowledge and extensive experience do not automatically know how to deal with them in a way that aligns with the distinctive and authentic principles of Catholic education. This article argues that a practical, wise leadership practice based on Christian discernment practices provides a kind of executive function that helps Catholic school leaders to decide and act wisely and purposefully. A generic design for interrelated strategies of practical, wise school leadership is presented that in a profound way does justice not only to the ethical but also to the transformative nature of the endeavour of Catholic education. The design consists of four clusters of strategies, characterised by practical wisdom and well-chosen reflective questions to activate these strategies.

A Phenomenology of the Job-Related Experiences of Early Career Catholic Elementary School Principals

This qualitative phenomenology investigated the job-related experiences of early career Catholic elementary school principals (N = 13) in the Mideastern region of the United States. Data were collected from an introductory survey, semi-structured interviews, two focus groups, and a participant designed plan for professional development. The findings indicated that Catholic elementary principals in their early career are motivated by a calling to a vocation in Catholic school leadership as well as the ability to develop and implement a vision for their school. Principals reported being challenged by limited resources, balancing the demands of the position, and navigating relationships. Finally, principals believed they are supported by diocesan administrators in the areas of human resources and student issues, particularly if the concerns have legal implications.

Understanding Leadership for Adaptive Change in Catholic Schools: A Complexity Perspective

In an era of decline and crisis, Catholic school leaders have been encouraged to find innovative ways to enhance a school’s operational vitality. Yet to this point, most research on educational change in Catholic schools has focused on the technical tasks school principals can take to “save” individual schools. In this article, we apply a complexity perspective to educational change leadership in Catholic education: leadership for adaptive change. Based on a new empirical analysis of the professional experiences of two Catholic school principals working at four different parish schools, we demonstrate in this article how leadership for adaptive change can operate in Catholic elementary parish schools and assess whether and how the attributes of complex adaptive schools were present in these four elementary schools. We also highlight the organizational and social conditions these two principals confronted that both undermined and promoted their ability to lead for adaptive change at these four schools. Ultimately, we suggest in this article the utility of using a “complex adaptive” approach to understanding change leadership in Catholic elementary schools as opposed to “technically rational” approaches commonly found in contemporary Catholic school leadership research.

Bringing purpose and peace-of-mind to the role of a Catholic school middle leader

ABSTRACT Middle leaders play an essential role in schools but for many their position is characterised by tensions caused by ‘being caught in between or sandwiched between senior management to whom they were accountable … and subordinates for whom they had some functional and often moral responsibility’. Moreover, Catholic school middle leaders face increased tension because they are expected to actively support the Catholic mission and identity of the school. Unfortunately, contemporary leadership descriptions provide Catholic school middle leaders with limited insight about how best to manage these tensions. Thus, this article seeks to redress this challemging situation by providing a clearly articulated theoretical foundation that offers a coherent and manageable guide for the formation and practice of middle leadership in Catholic schools. As a result, this article provides clarity to all who have Catholic school governance or administrative responsibilities as to what should be expected of middle leaders so that performance responsibilities and accountabilities are appropriately aligned to enable the religious education dimension of the school to flourish.

Mixed Blessings: Understanding the Experience of LGBTQIA+ Educators in Catholic Schools

ABSTRACT 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.

Indonesian teachers’ emotional exhaustion and commitment to teaching: A correlational study

This study intends to explain whether or not emotional exhaustion and organisational commitment of Catholic primary school teachers in Merauke regency correlate prospectively. This study was guided by one research question: ‘Does the Catholic primary school teachers’ emotional exhaustion and organisational commitment correlate significantly negatively?’ To answer the research question, two survey questionnaires were disseminated to 157 teachers. Employing the SPSS programme version 21, the study shown a significant negative correlation among the surveyed research variables. The findings may be authoritative for the Catholic primary school leaders and the Chief of the Catholic Foundation for Education in Merauke regency, Indonesia, to take major efforts to eliminate emotional exhaustion of teachers in order to foster the organisational commitment of teachers at the Catholic primary schools to teaching the youth.
 Keywords: emotional exhaustion, primary school, organisational commitment, teacher

Re-constructing Catholic school leadership: integrating mission, identity and practice

The genesis for this conceptual article is the serious universal concern for Catholic school leadership into the future. Catholic school systems are struggling to attract suitably qualified and experienced applicants for vacant principal positions. Arguably, the simultaneously essential responsibilities of being both the Catholic leader and the educational leader are becoming a deterrent. For a growing number of potential future Catholic school principals it seems that high quality performance in each of these two important responsibilities is mutually incompatible and, therefore, unachievable. Thus the departure point for this article is its argument that high quality Catholic and educational leadership is one and the same thing. When high quality leadership is understood as essentially a transrelational phenomenon, the educational leadership practice of the Catholic school principal will simultaneously fulfil their Catholic and educational leadership responsibilities. Hence, this article not only describes what constitutes transrelational leadership but also illustrates how such practices provide the means by which the principal is readily able to personally promote and model the Catholic mission and identity of the school.

Aspiration and formation: a pilot study into the perception of headship among middle and senior leaders in Catholic secondary schools in England

Research by Grace, G. R. (2002. Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets, and Morality. London: Routledge/Falmer) and Wilkin, R. 2014. (“‘Interpreting the Tradition’: A Research Report.” International Studies in Catholic Education 6 (2): 164–177) has drawn attention to the importance of spiritual capital amongst Catholic school head teachers and the possibility of its generational decline. This small-scale study seeks to understand the aspiration and formation of the next generation of Catholic school leaders. It found that there is a need for positive models of headship and a desire for leadership formation that is practical, relevant and yet equips future leaders with knowledge of the Catholic tradition, knowledge that they may lack in comparison with earlier generations of head teachers brought up in a more influential Catholic culture. The findings point to a need for well-resourced, school-based formation in which head teachers play an important role and which allows time for prayerful contemplation, in addition to sufficient theoretical content to allow future leaders to look outside their immediate school context to the wider mission of Catholic education.

Book Review: Catholic School Leadership

Book Review: Catholic School Leadership

Australian Catholic Schools Today: School Identity and Leadership Formation

This article focuses on the challenge of faith leadership in Catholic schools. In particular, it reviews Australian research that aims to understand how principals conceptualize and enact their role as faith leaders. Consistent with American research, Australian research finds that principals see themselves as playing a leadership role in the evangelizing mission of the church by strengthening Catholic school identity and culture. At the same time, they are mindful of their limits in respect to their faith leadership capabilities. Moreover, the principals worried that the next generation of school leaders may lack the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to engage faith leadership in a changing social and cultural context. Consequently, they recommend faith leadership formation for teachers as well as principals, their deputies, and assistants. By situating these findings within the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism, this article argues that, together, the current interest in Australia in Catholic school identity and leadership formation represents a positive development. However, there are also inherent dangers that come with the imposition of a generic Catholic school identity and a “one size fits all” approach to the leadership role. This article concludes by suggesting a way forward with the promotion of a new model for leadership formation that seeks to avoid these dangers.

The Virtual Classroom and Catholic School Leadership Preparation: The LMU Certificate in Catholic School Administration (CCSA) Program

The Virtual Classroom and Catholic School Leadership Preparation: The LMU Certificate in Catholic School Administration (CCSA) Program

The contribution of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus to Catholic education in West Africa

This article discusses the extent to which the charism and the philosophy of education of Venerable Cornelia Connelly founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus are being maintained in the twenty-first century in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana). Using data gathered from Sisters and former students of Holy Child schools as evidence it seeks to discover to what extent Cornelia Connelly's educational vision is indeed alive and flourishing today in the light of contemporary challenges for leadership in Catholic schools and the many threats posed by modern secular and materialistic society.

Clarifying the Public-Private Line: Legal and Policy Guidance for Catholic-affiliated Charter Schools

In the past fifty years, the share of students enrolled in U.S. Catholic schools has declined from approximately 12% to 3%. In reaction, many urban Catholic schools have closed and subsequently reopened as public charter schools in order to receive governmental funding and to increase enrollment. As public schools, these Catholic-affiliated charter schools now face a complex set of legal and practical challenges. This article presents empirical research on Catholic-affiliated charter schools, and the legal issues facing them as well as the wider category of religiously-affiliated charter schools. The authors conclude by answering a number of questions that Catholic school leaders are likely to pose about this emerging trend in Catholic education.

The story of an educational innovation: the MA in Catholic School Leadership at St Mary's University College, Twickenham, 1997–2013. Principles, pedagogy and research studies

Within the context of a national shortage of high quality applicants for senior leadership posts, there is a need to nurture future leaders in Catholic primary and secondary schools and to promote their professional development and formation. If they are to be fully effective, teachers in Catholic schools need continually to develop their leadership skills and, crucially, they need to understand how they can best support the educational mission of the Catholic Church. This paper tells the story of the establishment and continuing development of a unique M-level programme, which sets out to combine a Catholic philosophy of education with the principles and practice of effective school leadership.

Maintaining the Special Character of a Faith-Based Schooling System

Since the enactment of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act in New Zealand in 1975, leadership in Catholic schools has become increasingly complex. Under the legislation Catholic schools are required to develop and maintain their Special Character. The Director of Religious Studies (DRS) has become the position with a key responsibility to ensure this “Special Character.” These challenges and demands make it necessary to reconceptualize this role. Drawing on historical insights pertaining to the DRS role this article provides insights into the progressive development of responsibilities and characteristics of the DRS that are vital to any reconceptualizing for contemporary leadership.