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This qualitative case study begins with the reasoning that a central concern and mission of the Catholic Church is social justice. Catholic schools, as institutions of the Church, are intentional in responding to this central concern and mission. This study attempted to explore how schools fulfill this mission, and in so doing, how students experience three identified principles of Catholic social teaching. This qualitative case study suggests that the school's response to mission will be found in the students' experience. This qualitative case study conducted a thorough review of the literature and research pertaining to Catholic social teaching, the history and purpose of inner city Catholic schools, and the Catholic school as a community. The researcher employed the use of observations, focus group interviews, and document review to investigate the research question: How do students in an inner city Catholic elementary school experience three essential principles of Catholic social teaching: Life and dignity of the person; Call to family, community, and participation; and Preferential option for the poor and the vulnerable? The methodology for this study was designed as socially committed research, to provide a way of knowing for both researcher and participants.

Until the era of Vatican Council II in the mid-1960’s, Catholic elementary and secondary schools functioned within a clearly established authority structure. Parochial schools operated under the authority of the pastor of the parish and diocesan or central schools under that of the bishop of the diocese or his priest delegate. Vatican Council II called for active lay participation in the life of the church and encouraged bishops to consult with the laity and value their contributions to the church. However, there is no evidence that the decrees of this Council altered the authority structure of the church. The Roman Catholic church is a hierarchical organization in which the bishop has final authority within his diocese. In many states, he also has complete civil authority in the tenure of church property. Following Vatican Council II, the proponents of a renewal Catholic school board movement urged that these boards be constituted as jurisdictional with complete authority for Catholic schools. The model for these boards was based on the public school board model. Since the authority structure of the Roman Catholic church is significantly different from that of the state which receives its authority from the people, the organizational systems including boards of education for Catholic and public schools must reflect these different authority sources. This dissertation studies the authority structure of the Roman Catholic church, the reasons for the development of a separate Catholic school system in the United States, the development of central Catholic high schools, and the Catholic school board movement before and after Vatican Council II. It concludes by making recommendations for alternative models for reorganizing non-private Catholic schools within the authority structure of the church and for constituting diocesan and local school boards in a manner which gives parents a voice in the operation of their children's schools. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

In the past, Catholic schools have made a significant contribution to educational provision in Lebanon. In the restructuring of society in post-war Lebanon, Catholic schools are called on to continue to provide academic excellence. To meet this need, principals of Catholic schools are challenged to provide instructional leadership and manage schools effectively. Against this background, this study explores the Catholic school principal's role with regard to its management and leadership capacity. A literature study investigates theories of management and leadership as applied to the principal. An overview of the Catholic school system in Lebanon is given against the backdrop of historical, social, political and economic factors. The role and tasks of the Catholic school principal are examined with particular focus upon the unique spiritual dimension of the role. From this theoretical and descriptive base, the research design is described. A qualitative investigation of the principal's role was conducted. Data gathering was done by means of an preliminary questionnaire, individual interviews and a focus group interview as well as participant observation in a Catholic school in Lebanon. The interviews explored the themes of management and leadership as experienced by a small sample of principals of Catholic schools. Data was analysed, discussed and synthesised. Significant issues discussed included management topics such as delegation, strategic planning, time management, financial management and the evaluation and staff development of teachers; leadership topics comprised vision, mission, faith formation, and school culture. The findings provide a basis for a recommended profile and model for the Catholic school principal. The study suggests that the future effectiveness of the principalship rests upon the clear conceptualisation and implementation of both management and leadership functions. In the light of this, the present formation and training of the principal may fall short in meeting the increasingly complex demands of Lebanese Catholic schools. Without strong endorsement and training for educational management and leadership principals in Catholic schools could face a precarious future. Further research and management training and formation is needed to lead Catholic school principals into a steadfast future. / Educational Leadership and Management / D.Ed. (Educational Management)

abstract / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Approximately one in two parents across the province of Ontario, regardless of personal religious beliefs, now choose to enrol their children in a public Roman Catholic secondary school over the public secular school counterpart. The Ontario Roman Catholic school system has historically struggled for recognition and independence as an equally legitimate system in the province. Students in modern schools regard religion and spirituality as critical aspects to their individual identities, yet this study investigates the language and knowledge delivered within the systemic marginalization and colonial framework of a Euro-centric school system and the level of inclusivity and acceptance it affords its youth. Using a critical ethnographic methodology within a single revelatory case study, this study presents the voices of youth as the most critical voice to be heard on identity and identity in faith in Ontario Roman Catholic schools. Surveys with students and student families are complemented with in-depth student interviews, triangulated with informal educational staff interviews and the limited literature incorporating youth identity in modern Ontario Roman Catholic schools. Through the approach of an anti-colonial discursive framework, incorporating a theology of liberation that emphasizes freedom from oppression, the voice of Roman Catholic secondary school youth are brought forth as revealing their struggle for identity in a system that intentionally hides identity outside of being Roman Catholic. Broader questions discussed include: (a) What is the link between identity, schooling and knowledge production?; (b) How do the different voices of students of multi-faiths, educators, administrators, and so forth, contradict, converge and diverge from each other?; (c) How are we to understand the role and importance of spirituality in schooling, knowledge production, and claims of Indigenity and resistance to colonizing education?; (d) What does it mean to claim spirituality as a valid way of knowing?; (e) In what way does this study help understand claims that spirituality avoids splitting of the self?; (f) How do we address the fact that our cultures today are threatened by the absence of community?; and (g) What are the pedagogic and instructional relevancies of this work for the classroom teacher?

Dans la France de l'entre-deux-guerres, les catholiques ne cessent de revendiquer une prise en charge financière de leurs établissements scolaires, dont la situation matérielle s'avère singulièrement précaire. L'enseignement privé catholique subsiste grâce à ses enseignants, subsumant leurs conditions de travail au nom de leur foi. La doctrine affirmée de l'Église catholique en matière d'éducation et l'acceptation des rôles prescrits dans l'institution sont les clés essentielles du maintien du réseau éducatif catholique. Cette revendication s'accompagne d'un militantisme polymorphe. Aux tenants de la réalisation de l'unité catholique, qu'elle soit en opposition au régime politique ou s'inscrivant dans la légalité républicaine, s'adjoint une troisième posture, encore marginale, d'insertion du catholicisme dans la modernité. Rejet ou acception de l'école publique, définition et rôle de l'enseignement privé, signalent ce qui se joue au sein du champ ecclésial : l'acceptation ou non de la pluralisation de la société française et de l'opinion catholique. Dans les années 1920, domine la configuration d'un cléricalisme éducatif, utopie d'une société chrétienne dont l'école catholique serait le fer de lance. Les années 1930 sont l'objet d'une reconfiguration paradoxale : alors que l'épiscopat reprend l'initiative en créant un Comité national de l'enseignement libre en 1931, la décléricalisation de l'action catholique est confirmée. Ce faisant, le militantisme catholique, qui a permis le maintien des écoles, participe en même temps de la politisation de l'espace ecclésial et, in fine, de sa sécularisation. / In France, during the interwar period, Catholics ceaselessly claimed public financial support for their schools, which were in a particularly precarious situation. Private Catholic schools subsisted thanks to their teachers who subsumed their hard working conditions to their faith. The strong doctrine of the Catholic Church in educational matters and the acceptance of prescribed roles within the institution were key to maintain a Catholic education system. This claim went alongside a polymorphous activism. Three attitudes prevailed: first, there where the advocates of the realization of Catholic unity, whether in opposition to the political regime or enrolling in the republican legality; then appeared a new movement which demanded the insertion of Catholicism into the modern world. The rejection or the acceptance of the public school system and the definition of private education and of its role, highlighted the issue for the Church: the acceptance or rejection of the pluralisation of French society and of the Catholic opinion. In the 1920’s prevailed the clericalist educational utopia of a Christian society of which Catholic schools would be the spearhead. The 1930’s saw a paradoxical reconfiguration: in the same time that bishops took the initiative of creating a National Committee for private education in 1931, the declericalization of Catholic action was confirmed. In doing so, Catholic militancy which enabled the maintenance of schools, was also responsible for the politicization of the ecclesial scope and, ultimately, of its secularization.