The Catholic school and social justice in Africa: a Zambian case study

Abstract

This paper will argue that the state-aided Catholic school in Zambia has contributed significantly to the development of the country over the years. However, because of its enmeshment in the state system of education it has inadvertently become an instrument of underdevelopment. It is structurally complicit in alienating some of the poorest sectors of society, which runs counter to its professed religious mission. This essay presents the Zambian situation as a case study where it is contended that in order to understand the current situation there is need to see it in the light of its history. The discussion is intended to explore how faith-based educational settings within the state systems in Africa may become complicit in sustaining forms of oppression. It will include a consideration of how, as part of this, religion has been reduced historically through being too closely allied to a modernisation framework generating the illusion of promoting social justice. The article notes that in the light of better historical appreciation of the issue there is need for a review of the faith-based school’s pedagogy.     

19世纪美国的天主教移民及其本土化研究

19世纪有大量的欧洲移民进入美国社会,其中以爱尔兰移民和德国移民的数量最大,绝大多数是天主教教徒。当时美国的新教徒占据绝对的主流,他们对代表欧洲旧势力的天主教持抵抗态度,加之移民本身的复杂性,使得这一时期天主教在美国的发展举步维艰。19世纪的美国天主教是在克服外来的反天主教势力和解决内部冲突的过程中得以生存和发展的。     

The size,stability, and consistency of school effects: evidence from Victoria

The bulk of public debate on education focuses on schools and school differences. Ideally, the characteristics of schools that add value to student performance can be identified and implemented for other schools. However, such scenarios assume that school effects are sizable, stable across cohorts, and consistent across subject areas. This study tests these assumptions by analysing school effects in both primary and secondary schools in 5 achievement domains with administrative data from almost all government school students in Victoria, Australia. Gross school effects are reasonably large but show only moderate stability. However, in net progress models which control for prior achievement, school effects are substantially smaller, display only low levels of stability across cohorts, and are not consistent across achievement domains. Therefore, it is difficult to identify schools that consistently increase (or decrease) student performance across subject areas beyond that expected by students’ intake characteristics, most notably prior student performance. Other policy goals are recommended.     

The views of primary pupils on school attendance at Key Stage 2 in Wales

This paper provides new empirical evidence on primary pupils’ views on school attendance in Wales at Key Stage 2. The research was conducted as part of the specific evidence commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) for the National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) in Wales which was chaired by the lead author. The findings indicate that nearly every child and young person who participated in the specially convened focus groups, in practically every setting, had a good awareness of the benefits of attending school regularly. They were all acutely aware of the potential consequences of non‐attendance both within their current setting and as it could potentially affect their later chances in life. They also understood the law regarding school attendance. They were clear about the attendance regulations within their own school settings. They were however, particularly concerned about bullying in all its forms, the use of supply teachers and “boring” teaching styles. Rewards for good attendance were generally appreciated. The implications of the findings are considered. This paper is the first of its kind to be undertaken in Wales and in the field of school attendance and opens up considerable possibilities for further research.     

Attitude toward Christianity among secondary school pupils in Northern Ireland: shifts in denominational differences

Background Northern Ireland is a province that remains deeply divided between Protestants and Catholics and maintains a segregated system of schools.

Purpose The research builds on a series of studies conducted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to monitor the attitude toward Christianity of males and females educated in Protestant and Catholic schools.

Sample A sample of 2359 16- to 18-year-old pupils attending Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland.

Design and methods A random sample of seven Protestant and nine Catholic schools invited all pupils attending their lower and upper sixth-form classes to participate in the survey and to complete the Francis scale of attitude toward Christianity.

Results The data demonstrate that, while males attending Catholic schools maintained a more positive attitude towards Christianity than males attending Protestant schools, females attending Catholic schools reported a less positive attitude toward Christianity than females attending Protestant schools. These findings are compared with studies conducted during the 1970s and 1980s when both males and females attending Catholic schools recorded a more positive attitude toward Christianity than their peers attending Protestant schools.

Conclusions Repeated cross-sectional studies of this nature help to profile the changing religious climate of Northern Ireland.     

Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education in Catholic Secondary Schools: Stakeholders' Views

During 1999–2000, the writer carried out a survey of six randomly selected Catholic secondary schools in England to examine the attitudes of stakeholder groups towards Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education. Questionnaires were completed by six governors, 12 parents, 139 pupils, 12 teachers and six school leaders, providing insight into perceptions of the purposes of selected components of Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education, viz. Citizenship Education, Moral Education and Sex Education. Drawing on Hornsby-Smith's (1996) definition of contrasting perspectives, which he characterises as 'Open' and 'Closed' Catholicism, the enquiry located attitudes of the stakeholder groups along a continuum of values. While there was evidence of consensus across stakeholder groups within each component, differences in attitudes were also identified. The results indicated that governors and school leaders adopt more 'Open' attitudes towards Citizenship Education compared with pupils, teachers and parents; that school leaders adopt more 'Open' attitudes towards Moral Education compared with pupils; and that pupils and teachers adopt more 'Open' attitudes towards Sex Education compared with governors. One conclusion is that these results demonstrate that, when traditional religious values are challenged by rapid social and technological changes, stakeholder groups in faith schools are faced with added tensions to resolve.     

The funding and future of Catholic education in the United States

The Catholic school system in the United States is undergoing significant changes in size, populations served and the funding models which have traditionally supported such schools. The closing of many schools in urban areas in the last 10 years in conjunction with the rising costs of schooling suggests that unless a new approach to funding schools is developed, the future of Catholic education in the United States is seriously threatened and with it the American Church. This article explores the link between traditional sources of funding Catholic schools and the increased role of federal and state funds. The rise of Charter Schools has added a significant model for Catholic schools to emulate in regarding future sources of funding. Three strategies for future funding are explored with an emphasis on the development of Faith-based Charter Schools and the development of ‘Catholic’ Charter Schools.     

The Effect of Catholic Schooling on Math and Reading Development in Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade

Abstract

Prior research estimating the effect of Catholic schooling has focused on high school, where evidence suggests a positive effect of Catholic versus public schooling. In this article, we estimate the effect of attending a Catholic elementary school rather than a public school on the math and reading skills of children in kindergarten through fifth grade. We use nationally representative data and a set of matching estimators to estimate the average effect of Catholic schooling and the extent to which the effect varies across educational markets. When we use public school students nationwide or within the same county to provide a counterfactual estimate of how Catholic school students would have performed in public schools, we find strong evidence indicating that Catholic elementary schools are less successful at teaching math skills than public schools (Catholic school students are 3–4 months behind public school students by third and fifth grade), but no more or less successful at teaching reading skills. Moreover, unlike prior research, we find no consistent evidence that the effects of Catholic schooling vary substantially by race or urbanicity, though our power to detect such differences is weak.     

Historical construction and Australian Catholic education: accounting for school funding policy from the cultural politics of Australian education

This paper seeks to explain why the policy history of school funding in regard to Australian Catholic Education looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The questions addressed are, first, why has the funding of Catholic schools in Australia become an occluded historical site since the 1970s, despite the controversy in which popular accounts of the funding of Australian schools is mired, and when its prevalence so completely dominated the discourses of Australian education in the prior century? Second, has funding policy discourse been defined and contained and what basis is there for contesting such discourse in light of events since that period of time? Third, which or whose policy version triumphs and becomes the accepted policy process and which other policy approaches are obliterated in this process? The theoretical perspective adopted in this paper draws from both postmodern critiques and cultural theories of historical construction, as framed within Foucauldian Studies.     

Catholic education in Zambia: mission integrity and politics

This article provides the history of Catholic state-aided schooling in Zambia for over a century. It notes how the Catholic Church came to view its school to be a pivotal means of church development. By cooperation with the state it entered more fully into the nation’s future by offering high-quality state-sponsored schooling. This proved to engender its acceptance because this is what the younger generation of Zambians treasured. Progressively, the Catholic school faced a major challenge by becoming embedded in a paradigm of learning that ran counter to its religious mission. It will be argued that this dilemma remains and that the future of the Catholic school in Zambia and beyond pivots on a satisfactory outcome if it is to make a distinctive contribution.     

Social position of special needs pupils in the classroom: a comparison between German special schools for pupils with learning difficulties and integrated primary school classes

The rejection of pupils with behaviour problems is a serious problem for inclusive education schools. Sometimes parents prefer special schools because they do not want their children to become outsiders in integration classes. Are they right? The study presented here surveys children with behaviour problems in integrated primary school classes and in special education schools. The main focus is the extent to which behaviour problems influence social relations within the classes. The findings indicate that German pupils with behaviour problems are not well liked. The comparison of special education classes and integrated primary school classes also shows, however, that this is not solely a feature of integrated classes. Pupils with behaviour problems are disliked in both systems, and to a comparable degree. This means that there may be some good arguments for special schools. But both systems—special schools and integrated school classes—have outsiders. Especially parents of pupils with learning difficulties and behaviour problems should know that there is no difference here between special education classes and integrative primary school classes.     

Comparing religious education in Canadian and Australian Catholic high schools: identifying some key structural issues

Religious education (RE) in Catholic high schools in Australia and Canada is compared by examining some of the underlying structural factors that shape the delivery of RE. It is argued that in Canadian Catholic schools RE is diminished by three factors that distinguish it from the Australian experience. These are: the level and history of government funding which in turn leads to a relative lack of autonomy of Catholic schools to control their own RE curriculum; external political and social influences on the RE curriculum which is apparent in the popular election of Catholic school trustees; and most decisively, the absence of strong, ongoing bureaucratic support of RE.     

The teacher as moral educator: comparative study of secondary teachers in Catholic schools in Australia and Ireland

This paper considers the role of the teacher in relation to moral education in Catholic schools in Australia and Ireland. Literature pertaining to faith-based schooling, the moral role of the teacher and moral education across the curriculum in both countries is outlined. The paper draws on a small-scale study involving a survey with 154 respondents and individual interviews with nine teachers. Some interesting country differences emerged that are indicative of cultural settings. These include pedagogical practices, the nature of teacher–student relationships and levels of awareness of schools' founding charisms. Some implications for moral education in faith-based schools are identified.     

Parent involvement: perceptions of recent immigrant parents in a suburban school district,Minnesota

The study aimed to examine the perceptions of immigrant parents regarding their school’s efforts to encourage three types of parent involvement: Parenting, Communicating, and Learning at Home. The sample includes 106 immigrant parents with children who were enrolled in English Language Learners programmes at 10 schools in a suburban school district in Minnesota, USA. The results showed that depending on their ethnicities, the children’s school levels and the father’s educational level, the perceptions of the parents were significantly different in terms of the “Parenting” and “Learning at Home” involvement types. Mother’s educational level was significantly correlated to the languages used at home and to their children’s academic achievement in English. Results indicated that schools should consider ethnic backgrounds and educational levels of parents, and languages used at home to instil as collaborations between immigrant parents and schools.     

The educational achievement of pupils with immigrant and native mothers: evidence from Taiwan

This paper takes advantage of the Taiwan Assessment of Student Achievement data set to empirically evaluate whether the test score differentials between pupils with immigrant and native mothers are substantial across subjects, grades and years. Our results show that there exist test score differentials between the two groups after controlling for the students' individual characteristics and family background. The Chinese, Maths and English subjects exhibit larger test score gaps relative to Science and Society. We also find that the academic gaps between native students and pupils with mothers from Southeast Asian countries tend to widen, while the students' performance is about the same as that for native students if their mothers are from mainland China, confirming that the language proficiency of immigrant mothers significantly affects pupils' learning. Our empirical results may suggest that remedial teaching (or an equivalent preferential policy) for the lower-grade pupils with immigrant mothers might be required to create a fair environment for learning, and such a policy should take the nationality of those foreign mothers into account.     

Exploring pupils' perceptions of teacher racism in their context: A case study of Turkish and Belgian vocational education pupils in a Belgian school

This article employs ethnographic data gathered from one Belgian (Flemish) secondary school to explore the meaning Belgian and Turkish‐speaking minority pupils enrolled in technical and vocational education attach to teacher racism and racial discrimination, and to explore variations between pupils in making claims of teacher racism. A symbolic interactionist framework is employed to explore how pupils define teacher racism and how a particular context and interactions between pupils and teachers informs pupils' perceptions of racism. This article builds on a strong research tradition in British sociology of education on racism and discrimination by focusing the analysis on pupils' perceptions of such incidents and by investigating how racism is experienced by a generally neglected group of Turkish minority pupils in a particular Belgian education context.     

Every school a school of choice: school choice in Ireland as viewed through American eyes

‘Choice’ and ‘freedom’ as measured by the ability of parents to select their children's schools are deeply embedded in the national ethos of the United States of America. Wealthy American parents have always exercised school choice but minority and lowincome students are often trapped in failing schools. This paper is based on research conducted in a purposive sample of Irish primary schools into the nature of school choice. The authors examine five aspects of the Irish national primary school system that could provide models for American educators, whose vision often stops at the boundaries of the United States: education law, school choice for all, a national curriculum framework, the role of assessment, and the role of parents and educators in the creation of new schools. While arguably the five relate directly to school choice of different degrees, they collectively weave a web whereby school systems in the Republic of Ireland and the USA may productively be compared to the benefit of both.     

The effectiveness of structured co-operative teaching and learning in Greek primary school classrooms

This study focuses upon the effectiveness of structured co-operative group work on primary school students, aged between 8.5 and 9.5 years old, regarding their content knowledge, attitudes towards co-operative group work, experiential learning and open-ended curriculum as well as students' social and learning behaviour during co-operative group work. A cross-curricular educational programme was implemented within the curriculum area of environmental studies entitled ‘traffic education'. The methodology applied in this study was the experimental and the case study research designs. The findings of the present study support the view that pupils can gain benefits through structured group work co-operation in obtaining content knowledge and group work skills, as well as in developing positive attitudes towards group work, experiential learning, open-ended curriculum and the co-operation with their peers with learning difficulties (LDs). Changes in the relationships with the peers were not affected after the implementation of the educational programme.     

Teaching beliefs: a comparison between Italian primary and secondary school trainee teachers

This paper presents research which compares the teaching beliefs of primary and secondary school trainee teachers. Participants were 177 trainee teachers, 92 enrolled in a primary school teacher degree course, and 85 enrolled in a postgraduate teacher training course specifically for music teaching at secondary school level (middle and high school). A questionnaire was employed for assessing beliefs. By performing factor analysis, the following four dimensions were extracted: innovative teaching and cooperative learning, teacher-centred approach, learner-centred approach and working collaboratively. Data were subjected to analysis of variance for each factor of the questionnaire. Significant differences between primary and secondary trainee teachers in the way they think about music teaching were found. The relevance of these factors and differences was discussed in considering how to improve the education of teachers.