This thesis explores the expectations that parents had of a particular Catholic secondary school for boys during the first half of the 1990s. By exploring in some detail the expectations of one group of parents whose children attended one particular Catholic secondary school in suburban Adelaide (South Australia), the research illuminates the larger issue of the changing nature of parent expectations of Catholic secondary schooling, and how these expectations were being shaped in the last decade of the twentieth century. The social, educational and ecclesial context within which Catholic secondary education operates has altered in the three decades following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The literature reviewed in this thesis indicates that parent expectations of Catholic secondary education in the 1990s were increasingly shaped by a complex variety of factors beyond traditional religious or denominational loyalty. The post-1973 organisational and administrative structures established for the delivery and development of Catholic schooling in Australia reset the centralisation/decentralisation balance. These changes in administrative centre of gravity have of themselves created a climate in which a greater range of parent expectations is evident. This research used an established questionnaire to gather data from parents about their expectations of the school as their sons entered the first year of secondary schooling. The same parents were then surveyed four years later to gauge the extent to which they believed the school had met their expectations. Exploratory analyses were conducted to investigate if there were significant statistical differences in parent expectations, or in parent perceptions of the school's meeting their expectations, that were due to different parent characteristics. In particular, the research investigated whether parent gender, religion, religious practice, level of education, or length of parent association with the school played a significant role in parent expectations. A further important research aim was to investigate the statistical properties of the research questionnaire, first used to explore parent expectations of Catholic secondary education in the early 1980s, and to suggest appropriate changes to the way in which the items and scales of the questionnaire were constructed. Eight of the nine scales of the research instrument, whether used in the first round of the survey (as the student entered Year 8, and parents were asked what their expectations were in anticipation of their child's Catholic secondary education) or the second round (as the student entered Year 12, and parents were asked to indicate the degree to which the school had met their expectations) were found to be reliable. The results from the research reported in this thesis indicate that the parents believed that the school in large measure met their expectations. The results also demonstrate that, for these parents, there was no significant relationship between their expectations of the school and the sample characteristics of parent religion, gender, or level of education. Only two parent characteristics were found to demonstrate a significant relationship with parent expectations as measured by the questionnaire scales: the frequency of parent religious practice (as measured by reported church attendance) and whether the parents had earlier enrolled their sons in the primary section of the school. A more finely-nuanced examination of the data indicated that parent religion and parent gender may indeed have an influence on parent expectations of the school, but that the influence of these parent characteristics on parent expectations of the school are mediated by the degree to which the parents practice their religion. This research appears to confirm that parent expectations of Catholic secondary schooling are not a simple function of parent religion. The research indicates that parents, whether Catholic or not, whether practising church goers or not, tend to share a reasonably coherent view of what a Catholic secondary education should include, and of what constitutes a

This research was based on ‘Catholic secondary education and identity reformation in Zambia’s Southern Province. Its main purpose was to explore the nature and scope of the undesired identity reformation experienced in Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province as well as suggest possible ways of how the problem can be resolved. The study was guided by the following main research question ‘How has a conflict of values between the evolving Catholic education policies and Zambian national education policies affected the identity of Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province?’ This question formed the main basis for the achievement of the study’s overarching purpose highlighted earlier. A qualitative methodology was utilized to gather data for this research. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews/discussions and documentary/content analysis. Research participants included: the Secretary of Catholic education, the PEO, school headteachers, teachers of RE, parents and grade twelve learners. Key documents analyzed using document analysis were Catholic education policies and Zambian national educational policies. The following findings resulted from the study: a conflict of values is non-existent between Catholic education policies and Zambian national education policies; there are four real/major causes of undesired identity reformation in Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province; the various contemporary challenges experienced by Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province are responsible for the undesired weakening of the school’s ‘academic’ and ‘religious’ mission; RE has experienced undesired changes at the levels of its nature, role and place in the Catholic secondary school curriculum over the years; Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province can be characterized as ‘partially Catholic’; realigning Catholic secondary schools with Catholic education policy involves returning such schools back to Catholic educational practice as recommended in Catholic education policies. The main conclusion of the study was that undesired identity reformation is present in Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province but it is not linked to a conflict of values in Catholic education policies and Zambian national education policies. To resolve the problem of undesired identity reformation in Catholic secondary schools, all study recommendations emphasized an urgent return by the schools to educational practice as recommended in Catholic education policy if they are to regain their lost desired total-Catholic character or identity. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)