Understanding the Meaning of Community in the Catholic High School: A Multiple-Case Study

This Dissertation in Practice is the result of a qualitative, exploratory, multiple-case study conducted in order to seek an answer to the following research question: What does community mean in the American Catholic high school as reported by administration and faculty? The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to uncover the tenets that underlie community as understood and operationalized in a Catholic school context by administrators and teachers at two distinct, yet exemplary, Catholic secondary schools in the United States. The aim of this study, therefore, was to create an evidence-based framework leaders and teachers in Catholic schools could use to help them understand the tenets that may be foundational to their understanding of community within their schools. Collected and analyzed data sources included 12 in-person interviews, documents, and photographic observations from two schools that made up this study’s sample. The core finding of this study was that, according to administrators and faculty from the two schools of the sample, community in the American Catholic high school means living out the mission of the school in a way that is grounded in the Catholic faith, with self-awareness of the diversity of its members, the imperfect nature of its efforts, and the calling toward continual improvement. As a result of this finding, an evidence-based, community reflective practice instrument is proposed as a means through which practitioners in Catholic high schools may come to better understand their own school communities. Directions for future research are suggested, such as deeper and broader exploration of this study’s question, as well as inquiry into how Catholic schools respond to diversity and how Catholic schools may support students with anxiety. Keywords: Catholic School, Mission, Faith, Self-Awareness, Diversity

Grantor dc:publisher

Creighton University

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• McClure, Scott William

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bloomquist, Candace D.

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is retained by the Author. A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/123541

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cdr.creighton.edu:10504/123541