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New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education Some Perspectives on This Field of Study

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Researching Catholic Education

Abstract

The field of International Studies in Catholic Education has been developing in recent decades. This Chapter narrates how the emergence of new scholarship and new research in Catholic Education internationally has brought into sharper focus the challenges currently facing Catholic schools. Part 1 reviews the ten challenges facing Catholic Education that were identified in a major international study of Catholic education in 45 countries. Part 2 briefly summarises the ways in which new scholarship and thinking have begun to respond to these challenges. In Part 3, the contribution of a journal dedicated to international scholarship in Catholic Education is reviewed. This new thinking and scholarship in the field of Catholic Education is something primarily aimed at supporting the wider project or tradition of Catholic Education, rather than being an end in itself.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The countries and jurisdictions participating in this research survey were as follows:

    Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (Hong Kong), England and Wales, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Scotland , South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Uruguay, Vatican City, Zambia + ‘The Holy Land’ (Israel/Palestine).

  2. 2.

    The contributors were as follows: North America

    *USA. Fr. Joseph O’Keefe, SJ & Aubrey Scheopner: Sr Patricia Helene Earl IHM: Gerald Cattaro & Bruce Cooper: Merylann Schuttloffel: Paige Smith & Fr. Ronald Nuzzi

    *Canada Fr. James Mulligan CSC

    *Latin America

    Adriana Aristimuño: Danilo Streck & Aldino Segala: Fr. Jeffrey Klaiber SJ: Sergio Martinic & Mirentxu Anaya, Ana Maria Cambours de Donini and Carlos Horacio Torrendell.

    *Europe

    Aidan Donaldson: Fr. James Gallagher SDB: Fr. David Touhy SJ: Maria del Mare Griena: Joaquim Azevedo; António Fonseca & Rodrigo Queiroz e Melo: Fr. Hugues Derycke: Annemie Dillen: Aad de Jong: James Conroy & Michael McGrath: Mary Darmanin: Maria Luisa de Natale: Archbishp Michael Miller, CSB: Wolfgang Schönig: Fr. Wlodzimierz Wieczorek, Raf. Vanderstraeten.

    *Africa

    Brendan Carmody SJ: Mark Potterton & Nathan Johnstone: Fr. Martin Mtumbuka: Winston Jumba Akala: Argaq Fantu Chernet.

    *India

    Cardinal Telesphore Toppo: Sr Lydia Fernandes, AC: Fr. Nicholas Tete SJ

    *Asia

    Angelina Gutiérrez: Br. Martin Komolmas FSG: Kaetkaew Punnachet & Sr. Maria Archara Supavai, SPC: Magdalena Mo Ching Mok: Fr. Jiro Kozaki SJ

    *Australia & New Zeland

    Cardinal George Pell: susan Pascoe: Brian Croke: Kevin Wanden FMS & Lyn Birch

    *The Holy Land

    Fr. Jamal Khader: Sr. Vinginie Habib: Sally Kaissieu.

  3. 3.

    ‘Western’ countries here refer to those also called ‘first world’ or ‘advanced developed cultures’.

  4. 4.

    See Dawkin (2006): Humanists Philosophers Group (2001).

  5. 5.

    Address to the Catholic Union (UK): 2.2.2017.

  6. 6.

    See Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets and Morality (2002) pp. 212–214.

  7. 7.

    ‘Strategic subsidy’ refers to the whole network of resource which Religious Congregations made available for their schools, i.e. spiritual capital, cultural capital, financial capital, models of vocational commitment and service, Catholicity made manifest, the culture of prayer and faith.

  8. 8.

    See Archbishop Michael Miller (2007) pp. 475–476 IHCE.

  9. 9.

    See Lydon (2009, 2014).

  10. 10.

    ‘Popular science’ refers to a generalised misunderstanding among many people in the West, that natural sciences have, in some way, ‘proved’ the non-existence of God and that, therefore, all scientists are necessarily atheists or, at least, agnostic. Einstein himself rejected this position (see Jammer 1999) and both the historical and contemporary analysis of the beliefs of scientists shows that science and religion can co-exist as complementary commitments of leading scientists (see Polkinghorne 2011).

  11. 11.

    Mtumbuka’s chapter was derived from a Ph.D. thesis completed at the London Institute of Education and was intended to be a follow-up to the pioneering work of Brother Marcellin Flynn. FMS.

  12. 12.

    Catholic Schools and the Common Good , published in the USA by Bryk et al. in (1993) was a major influence on ‘common good ’ research internationally. It can be said of this book that it helped to launch Catholic Education Studies as a serious research project worldwide.

  13. 13.

    See Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, Chapter 33 in IHCE.

  14. 14.

    See the References for further citation details.

  15. 15.

    See Sullivan (2001).

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  1. Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK

    Gerald Grace

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  1. Heythrop College, University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Sean Whittle

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Grace, G. (2018). New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education Some Perspectives on This Field of Study. In: Whittle, S. (eds) Researching Catholic Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7808-8_2

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