Volume 3, Number 2
December, 1999
Table of Contents
Editors' Comments (p. 140)
Thomas C. Hunt, Ronald J. Nuzzi
Articles
The Evolution, Validation, and Use of a Personal Form of the Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire
Jeffrey P. Dorman
Australian Catholic University
(pp. 141-157)
The research reported in this article contributes to classroom environment research and Catholic education by describing the development, validation, and use of a personal form of the Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire (CSCEQ). Using the class form of the CSCEQ as a basis, a 49-item instrument that assesses a student’s perceptions of his or her own role in the class was developed and validated with a sample of 1317 students from 52 religious education classes in 17 Australian Catholic high schools. This instrument assesses seven classroom environment dimensions: Student Affiliation, Interactions, Cooperation, Task Orientation, Order and Organization, Individualization, and Teacher Control. The research revealed differences in the religious education classroom environment in Catholic boys’, girls’, and coeducational schools, differences between grade 9 and grade 12 classes, and differences between boys’ and girls’ perceptions of the environment in coeducational classrooms. This application of the CSCEQ’s personal form demonstrates its usefulness as a research tool in Catholic high school religious education classes.
A Qualitative Study of a Parental Involvement Program in a K-8 Catholic Elementary School Janet Ann Donovan
St. John the Baptist School
(pp. 158-172)
This article demonstrates that there is virtual unanimity among America’s educational leaders in the belief that when parents become involved in their children’s education, the children do better in school. Moreover, the study also reveals that in educational circles serious disagreements exist among leaders as to the degree to which parents should be involved in their children’s education. Central to the study is a small Catholic elementary school whose parental involvement program is not only diametrically opposed to contemporary educational thinking but could be interpreted as a refutation of it.
Robert T. Bapst: Catholic Education and Public Schoolmaster
Paul Nochelski, SJ
Canisius College
(pp. 173-182)
Over the course of 40 years in the public schools of Buffalo, New York, as principal and superintendent, Robert Bapst earned a reputation as efficient and forward-thinking. His leadership skills first received attention at South Park High School where, as founding principal, he created an environment noted for academic excellence, student development, and good citizenship. What is unusual about Bapst’s tenure was his ability to integrate his Catholic beliefs with the goals of public education. Jesuit-educated, Bapst stressed personal concern for the individual, community-building, and service to others as hallmark Christian values to be integrated within the life of the school. He saw no conflict of interest in this for the church and state cohabited, happily. Evidently his constituents concurred since the records contain no serious challenges to his program.
Doing Well and Being Well: Conceptions of Well-Being Among Academically Successful Adolescent Girls of Color in a Catholic School
Jennifer Ekert & Eleanor Drago-Severson
Harvard Graduate School of Education &
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
(pp. 183-201)
This article reports the findings of an ethnographic study conducted in an urban Catholic high school, with a focus on girls of color. By giving voice to this regularly neglected group, this research gives us the opportunity to hear from girls of color and to learn firsthand of their successes, joys, and struggles. Academic achievement and psychological health are presented as goals for high school programs.
Focus Section
Awakening Imagination Through Literature
Rita E. Guare
Fordham University
(pp. 204-215)
Great literature can inspire reflection and give birth to transforming grace. Words matter; and because they do, literature often reveals the human condition and suggests avenues for growth and change. This article explores the power of literature to cause a spiritual awakening in school leaders. Several works are discussed as the author leads readers into deeply poetic reflections on the possibility of healing and redemption through reading.
Education With a Sense of Wonder: A Spiritual Journey
Ruth Stuart Starratt
Boston University
(pp. 216-225)
The visual arts offer ample opportunities for educators to teach to the soul. This essay opens up some of the possibilities present in art education, opportunities to inspire dreams, announce visions, and ask ultimate questions.
Dance as Prayer: Moving the Body to Stir the Soul
Ona B. Bessette, CND
St. Jean Baptiste High School
(pp. 226-236)
Renewal—physical, emotional, and spiritual—is a perennial concern of those in leadership. This article explores the medium of dance as one way to re-energize the spirit. Adopting an incarnational theology, the author articulates a spirituality that is rooted, as all things human must be, in the corporeal.
The Soul in Trama: Poetry of War in the Classroom
Kathryn Hendren
Fordham University
(pp. 237-244)
Reflecting on a dark side of human experience, this article explains how one teacher used poetry to invite students into a deeper reflection on life, death, and justice. With startling and painful examples from modern poetry, the author helps us to appreciate anew the tremendous power of the word.
Review of Research
Parenting in Ethnic Minority Families
James M. Frabutt
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
(pp. 245-254)
Book Reviews
Response to James Heft, SM, Jeffrey Gros, FSC, and James Madden (pp.256-259)
James Tunstead Burtchaell, CSC
Models for Christian Higher Education: Strategies for Success in the Twenty-first Century (pp. 260-263)
Edited by Richard T. Hughes & William B. Adrian
Reviewed by Thomas Bourque, TOR
Insights on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit, and Servant-Leadership (pp. 263-265)
Edited by Larry C. Spears
Reviewed by Lois K. Draina