Faculty of Education - Theses

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End date: 1999 × Start date: 1980 × Type: Masters Research thesis × Subject: Catholic Church × Subject: Victoria ×

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    The educative role of a parish school and community
    O'Brien, Anne (1932-) ( 1991)
    Catholic parishes are undergoing radical changes today. Their mission of education is holistic and embraces a birth to death span. This study focused on the changes which had taken place in families from the time of the initiation of their eldest child into the community until nine years later when that child shared in the first meal ritual of the community. Multiple case studies and the outcomes of interviews were analysed using grounded theory. Interviews were conducted with a population of school families; conclusions were reached and an emergent theory proposed. As expected, the articulation of concepts proved difficult for parents. Growth is related to realms of meaning through which the educative process takes place; to cultural consciousness and to the respective life cycle of parents and their children. Overall, a degree of growth was reported by most respondents especially in terms of self-esteem, positive changes in attitudes towards the church, and access to support systems. The insights revealed by this study indicate that the parish primary school acts as a catalyst for the re-entry of parents into the community; that the climate of the community, the style of leadership, the participative decision-making processes and the pedagogical processes of the parish and the school are determining factors both in the effectiveness of the educational enterprise and in the ultimate survival of the community.
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    The history of St. John's College Braybrook, 1958-1978: an illustration of the tensions between local initiative and centralization in the field of Catholic education
    Dooley, Shane F. ( 1985)
    In 1958 a group of local priests from within the Sunshine/Braybrook region saw the need for the establishment of a school to cater for post-primary catholic boys and showed much initiative in their attempts to bring such a venture to fruition. Their initiative is demonstrated by their efforts not only to assure the central authorities that the project was feasible from the financial angle, but also by their extensive attempts to gain the services of a religious order to conduct the college. Having no success with the local orders, the priests turned to overseas for assistance. In 1964 the Brothers of the Sacred Heart arrived in Australia to open their first college. With the opening of the school at the commencement of 1965, the priests' venture had become a reality. As the sixties progressed changes to catholic secondary education within the archdiocese were taking place. The role of the laity within the Church became a more active one. This was translated into the life of the college by means of increased participation in decision-making processes by the laity. Further, the re-introduction of "state-aid" enabled the college, like many others, to survive financially. It did at the same time enable catholic central authorities to play a more dominant role in the operation of the college. The college continued to expand throughout the seventies. Co-education was introduced at the senior levels in 1972. This led to the establishment in 1975 of an Archbishop's Committee to investigate the possibility of establishing a separate senior college. Unlike the planning which took place in the fifties by the priests, this venture was undertaken by the central Catholic Education Office. Local initiative had to a great extent been replaced by centralization.