This research concerns how lay principals are negotiating the nurturing of authentic Edmund Rice education in their schools within a period of organisational change in the 21st century. The context of this research is Queensland Catholic schools in the Edmund Rice tradition, once more commonly known as Christian Brothers’ schools. These schools claim to carry on the educational charism of Edmund Rice (1762-1844), Founder of the Christian Brothers, who began schools in Ireland to provide a holistic education for boys, especially those who were marginalised by poverty and social stigma. Christian Brothers’ tradition purports that the Edmund Rice educational charism was handed on to successive Christian Brothers’ schools by Christian Brothers; however, research indicated that there were clear deviations from the original charism just prior to and following the death of Edmund Rice, raising questions of whether these schools remained authentic carriers of the original charism. Research also suggests that these deviations resulted in number of instances when the original charism of Edmund Rice was, at best, muted, or, at worst, distorted beyond recognition. Additional investigation also demonstrates that these departures from Rice’s charism resulted in a culture that differed from Edmund Rice’s original vision for education thus raising issues of authenticity for schools in the 21st century. Since Vatican II the Congregation of Christian Brothers has undergone significant changes. Most notable has been the reduction in Brothers in leadership positions in schools. Edmund Rice’s beatification in 1996 sparked renewed interest in his original educational vision, and The Congregation of Christian Brothers world wide began to explore what this charism might mean in contemporary times. In Australia, schools changed their name from Christian Brothers’ schools to Catholic schools in the Edmund Rice tradition, as part of an attempt to develop an authentic educational vision for contemporary Australian schools. At the time of this research, there were ten schools in Queensland, all led by lay principals, within a subset of forty or more schools across Australia. In Queensland, these schools encompass a wide socio-economic spectrum and offer differing educational offerings ranging from a totally traditional curriculum, to a comprehensive curriculum, to more flexible offerings for disengaged and marginal youth; the majority of these boys’ schools are single sex schools. This researcher identified that there was lack of clarity as to what constitutes an authentic Edmund Rice school and that a lacuna existed between the organisational rhetoric and the reality of principals. Consequently, the purpose of this research was to explore what lay principals perceived to be the essential features or ethos of this educational vision and the ways they developed this ethos into an authentic Edmund Rice culture in order to determine whether these schools are authentic to the original vision of Edmund Rice. Because the purpose of this research was to explore perceptions, the epistemological position of Constructionism, using an interpretivist perspective was adopted for this research. The methodology of Case Study was utilised as it allowed for the exploration of the world of Queensland Catholic schools in the Edmund Rice tradition from the perspectives of principals: nine current principals and one past principal were studied. The literature review generated the following research questions: 1.What do principals consider are the essential features of the Edmund Rice ethos? 2.How do principals ensure that the ethos of Edmund Rice is an integral element of school culture? 3.What aspects of leadership do principals consider important in ensuring that the Edmund Rice ethos is developed into an authentic culture? The findings of this research indicated that principals perceived that the essential features of ethos were found in: providing values based education; ensuring that young people were liberated from factors which marginalised them; ensuring that their schools were places of Diversity and Inclusivity; undertaking the development of Right Relationships; and developing a strong sense of community. Principals ensured that the Edmund Rice ethos was authentically connected to school culture through: providing Social Justice Initiatives; developing spirituality and sense of the sacred; providing flexible options for a diverse range of students; and ensuring that structures and formation experiences were provided to support the development of ethos. Finally, principals articulated their leadership role: in ensuring the embedding of ethos in culture was one of cultural change agent; as a spiritual and prophetic leader; developing a student centred focus; and being a role model for leadership within the totality of the school community. The research concluded that, for these principals, the development of an authentic Edmund Rice school was embedded in these three issues: 1.Ethos: A Catholic education with values based on Edmund Rice and his educational mission; 2.Culture: A positive environment which enables and encourages the development of structures and formation experiences to support ethos; 3.Leadership: Leadership led by a principal who understands ethos and is committed to a role model of the development of an authentic culture. However, the research also concluded that, while lay principals were committed to the development of an authentic Edmund Rice school and were committed to the organisational change needed to achieve this goal, they were constrained by a variety of factors including: school context; school tradition and history; the traditions and expectations of the Christian Brothers; the financial situation of the school; support or lack of support from the college community and Edmund Rice Education. These factors make the realisation of authenticity a goal to be worked towards, rather than a concrete reality. In essence, this study concluded that, one overriding dilemma for principals was whether they were prepared to make the sometimes difficult decisions needed to ensure authenticity to the original Edmund Rice educational charism, or retain the status quo, with the knowledge that, in so doing, they may be militating against authenticity to the Edmund Rice educational vision.

This study was an investigation of the leadership required for the transmission of the charism of Edmund Rice in a time of transition from religious to lay leadership in Christian Brothers’ Schools. Historically the Christian Brothers have had a significant impact on the development of Catholic education in this country through the development of a large network of Christian Brothers’ schools. However the rapidity and depth of changes over the past two decades have threatened this position of strength and the schools now find themselves at a critical time. There is the possible risk of the gradual dilution of Christian Brothers’ schools losing their special character and their God-given charism. The study investigated the means for the effective formal and informal transmission of the charism of Edmund Rice, and the influence of leadership styles and qualities on this transmission. The two main questions were asked are: What is needed for the effective formal and informal transmission of the charism of Edmund Rice? What leadership styles and leadership qualities are required of lay principals for this transmission? The study was situated in three schools that display one of the following characteristics: A Christian Brothers’ school that had a lay principal for a period of more than five years. A Christian Brothers’ school that currently had a Christian Brother as principal. A Christian Brothers’ school that had recently changed from a religious principal to a lay principal and was in the associated processes of changing from a religious to lay leadership. The methodology used for this research study, was a case study, presented in the context of general qualitative methodology and specifically social research methodology. The major data-gathering approach was a questionnaire. Two questionnaires were used to collect the required data. The construction of the items were informed by key points, drawn from the literature review which, in turn were derived from educational leadership theories. The research undertaken in three Christian Brothers’ schools resulted in: Understanding the leaders’ perceptions of the charism of Edmund Rice; Identification of means for transmission of charism; Identification of styles of leadership and qualities of leadership which assist the transmission of charism; Informed Christian Brother’s schools of possible means for the transmission of the Edmund Rice charism in the future; and Suggested the provision of a formation program for recently appointed principals. The thesis concludes that the understanding of the Edmund Rice charism by future leaders of Christian Brothers’ schools needs to reflect the contemporary context, that takes into account the need to provide access to a Catholic education by all those who seek it rather than preserving it for those who have the capacity to pay for it; and it needs to provide spiritually nourishing environments for students within these schools. Ultimately, a real and genuine attempt to engage all people in a Catholic education that is embedded in the tradition of Edmund Rice is required. Christian Brothers’ schools require leaders who can promote and achieve the vision and mission of Christian Brothers’ schools and live out the charter of Edmund Rice through example. The leaders who are able to achieve this are people who practice elements of servant, transformational and authentic leadership. The Christian Brothers’ need to ensure that they have an appropriate formation program, that addresses these areas, for leaders of their schools.