Contemplative Leadership in Catholic Schools: Employed by Principals, Experienced by Teachers, and Its Impact on Teachers’ Care for the Spiritual Lives of Students
Research demonstrates that the dual mission of Catholic schools, which integrates academic and spiritual growth, requires unique leadership from its principals (Bryk et. al 1993; Ciriello, 1996, 1998; Coleman & Hoffer, 1987; Cook, 2001, Jacobs, 2002). Contemplative leadership is a model suited to the distinctive principalship of the Catholic school. Contemplative principals, who understand and utilize reflective decision making based on Gospel values, Church tradition, and their personal Catholic character, employ a needed and “unique rationale for decision making” (Schuttloffel, 2008, p. 3). This reflective decision making along with other components of contemplative leadership behavior and the individual Catholic character of principals provides a leadership construct that guides teachers toward an understanding that this educational community is concerned with the student’s mind and soul (Schuttloffel, 1999, 2008, 2013). This study examined the extent to which contemplative leadership is practiced by principals and experienced by teachers while exploring the relationships between the formation of these principals and the use of contemplative practices and teachers’ experience of contemplative leadership and their care for students’ spiritual lives. Participants for this study included principals and teachers from three dioceses in Michigan. Surveys were sent to the principals and teachers of 75 schools. Sixty-one schools (81.3%) participated with a total of 56 principals and 295 teachers who completed the survey. Two surveys were developed for this study: Principals’ Contemplative Leadership Practices Survey and Teachers’ Experience of Contemplative Practice Survey. This study uncovers three major findings: Contemplative leadership is practiced by principals and experienced by teachers at a high level; there is a significant and positive relationship between the formation of principals and their use of contemplative practice; the most important finding is that there is a significant and positive connection between teachers’ perception of contemplative leadership and teachers’ care for students’ spiritual lives. These findings provide current principals, priests, diocesan leadership, and those in Catholic higher education insight into contemplative leadership practices and its impact on teachers’ care for students’ spiritual lives.
Stats
Viewed 207 timesDownloaded 61 times