Beyond Saints and Statues: A Critical Examination of Faith Formation in Catholic Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Faith, Pedagogy, and Leadership in Catholic Education

Abstract

This paper represents data which draws on the experiential and empirical knowledge of educators in Catholic schools to examine Catholic education and the common good in relation to worship, student formation, and justice. Ten participants used multiple modalities of self-study (e.g., photovoice, memoing) and engaged in semi-structured interviews to document their routine practices that reflected, sustained, and/or illuminated Christian worship.Participants described modes of explicit and implicit faith formation as well as ongoing narratives related to responding to changing student demographics and working to assert Catholic identity. Teachers and administrators thoughtfully responded to perceived needs of a given community while still engaging in discourses that could be read as both inclusive and exclusive of diverse students.

Authors

• Courtney O'Grady, University of Alabama

• Kevin J. Burke, University of Georgia

• John Reyes, Boston College

• Jonathon E. Sawyer, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Kathleen M. Sellers, Duke University

• Andrew F. Miller, Boston College