The identity of Catholic schools as seen by teachers in Catholic schools in Queensland, Australia

Abstract

This paper reports on the opinions of teachers in Queensland Catholic schools regarding the identity, purposes and characteristics of Catholic schools. It draws on survey data from 2287 teachers in Catholic schools as well as semi-structured interviews with twenty teachers. Respondents were asked about their reasons for working in Catholic Education and the faith-based identity, purposes and characteristics of Catholic schools. The vast majority believe that Catholic schools are different or very different from other schools and that the faith-based identity of Catholic schools is important or very important. More than half the survey respondents gave the ‘environment of Catholic schools’ as their main reason for working in Catholic schools, followed by ‘commitment to the Catholic faith’. Providing a ‘safe and nurturing environment’ was also the most popular choice for the purpose of Catholic schools, ahead of more explicitly faith-based options, while ‘caring community’ was by far the most popular characteristic of Catholic schools. The most significant finding of the study is that high levels of religiosity and self-reported knowledge of Catholic teaching are positively associated with the faith-based identity and characteristics of Catholic schools. Some implications of these key findings are then considered, with particular reference to the future of Catholic education.

Keywords:

• Teachers in Queensland Catholic schools
• faith-based identity of Catholic schools
• purposes and characteristics of Catholic schools
• implications for Catholic Education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Since initial response rates were slightly lower than desirable due to technical issues associated with the use of a variety of different browsers, the research team administered the survey at school staff meetings in twenty Brisbane diocesan schools.

2 It should be noted that these are self-ratings.

3 See link to Appendix 2 at https://www.acu.edu.au/625130 for all subsequent regression tables.

4 Survey question 16 can be found at https://www.acu.edu.au/625130.

5 This somewhat surprising finding may suggest that many non-Catholic teachers regard the outward signs as more important than characteristics of the community such as the religion of teachers and students. The zero order correlation between RELIGION and PRACTICES is positive, as would be expected i.e. Catholics are more likely to see the religious practices of the school as important to its Catholic identity. The change in sign is brought about by its inclusion with other variables in the regression equation.

6 This model of teacher professionalism has the development of the individual and teacher relationships with children as its primary focus. Sockett (2008) sets it alongside three other forms of professionalism: scholar-professional; clinician-professional and moral agent.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jim Gleeson

Professor Jim Gleeson worked formerly as a curriculum developer, teacher, teacher educator and researcher at the University of Limerick, Ireland and more recently as Chair of Identity and Curriculum at Australian Catholic University, Brisbane.

John O’Gorman

Professor John O’Gorman works at Griffith University in Queensland in the School of Psychology and is a former Pro-Vice Chancellor at ACU, Brisbane.

Maureen O’Neill

Dr Maureen O’Neill was the Project Research Assistant, based at ACU Brisbane.