ERIC Number: EJ1306553
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1361 7672
EISSN: N/A
RE Leader Connectedness: A Theology of the Lived Reality of Catholic Education
Journal of Beliefs & Values, v42 n3 p378-392 2021
The relationships between RE leaders in Catholic education and their schools and their religious communities may be ambiguous. RE leaders often appear disconnected from both 'ordinary' teacher issues and 'ordinary' leadership issues because of their religious responsibilities. In this innovative research project, the authors have explored RE leader connectedness and disconnectedness in Catholic schools around the world. Visual research methods are used, as respondents make use of artistic representations of both connectedness and disconnectedness, to describe (by explaining their choice of picture) the nature of their connectedness. Responses from Australia, Hong Kong in China, the USA, the UK and Germany are presented here, generating an initial account of the lived reality of RE leaders in Catholic schooling systems. Responses range from those who seem to integrate their accountabilities to school and church systems to those who seem more 'torn' between those systems and disconnected from one or both of school and church. The authors suggest this has implications for practical-empirical theology, and education more generally, based on the idea of the 'bi-dimensionality' of the RE leader role in Catholic schools, and on the role of the school in Catholic theology which, according to D'Souza, 'cannot help but be one of the intersecting points where the problems and challenges of society are encountered'.
Descriptors: Religious Education, Catholic Schools, Catholic Educators, Cross Cultural Studies, Comparative Education, Churches, Accountability, Teaching Methods, School Role, Social Problems, Foreign Countries, Visual Arts, Instructional Leadership, Administrator Role, Teacher Role, Elementary School Teachers, Secondary School Teachers
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; Hong Kong; United States; United Kingdom; Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A