Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2008
Source Publication
Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice
Abstract
A "grammar of Catholic schooling" inhibits many elementary and secondary Catholic schools from reflecting on how they practice Catholic Social Teaching (CST). The values of human dignity, the common good, and a preferential option for the marginalized are central to CST. Schools can live these values by serving children who live in poverty, are racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, or have disabilities. This article demonstrates how a grammar of Catholic schooling has allowed Catholic schools to fall into recruitment and retention patterns antithetical to CST. Drawing upon a multicase, qualitative study of three urban Catholic elementary schools serving marginalized students, the article illustrates how select Catholic schools are breaking the grammar of Catholic schooling by practicing CST. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Comments
Originally published in Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, Volume 12, No. 1 (September 2008).
This version of the article is identical to the published version.