{"id":151,"date":"2010-09-30T13:36:35","date_gmt":"2010-09-30T19:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=151"},"modified":"2010-09-30T13:36:36","modified_gmt":"2010-09-30T19:36:36","slug":"the-spiritual-formation-of-principals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/30\/the-spiritual-formation-of-principals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spiritual Formation of Principals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This post by Jonathan Sullivan on Catholic school principals as spiritual leaders<\/a> impressed me. He speaks about how few principals receive formation in the specific dynamics of operating in a Catholic educational environment. I think this is becoming increasingly true.<\/p>\n

More and more new Catholic school principal hires are coming from a secular background and have no experience working in a Catholic school.\u00a0Chances are they were trained as teachers in a secular university and don’t have any formal training in the distinctives of religious education. These factors make it more difficult for a leader to establish the Catholic identify of a school…without training.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the points Sullivan makes regarding the role of a Catholic principal as the spiritual leader of the school:<\/p>\n

[box]1. The primary job of a Catholic school \u2013 and therefore the primary responsibility of the principal \u2013 is to build disciples for Christ. Everything else is secondary.<\/p>\n

2. Principals must encourage parents to assume their role as the primary catechists of their children. Parents cannot outsource religious instruction to schools or PSR programs. For better or for worse, children will follow their parents\u2019 example.<\/p>\n

3. Principals are responsible for the spiritual formation of their staffs. This means more than just the occasional diocesan formation class; it means forming them through prayer, retreats, and spiritual reading, and inviting them to participate in the faith.<\/p>\n

4. As part of their oversight of curriculum, principals must ensure that the catechetical textbooks and materials used in their school conform to the teachings of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

5. Finally, principals must be an example of joyful faith and holiness to their staff, faculty, and students.[\/box]<\/p>\n

This is quite a list. If a Catholic school principal lived up to these ideals, they would be a spiritual leader indeed! However, just saying the primary job of a Catholic school is to build disciples of Christ is a paradigm shift for most people.\u00a0I think that if we expect principals to be spiritual leaders like this, they will need some kind of formation.<\/p>\n

I’m intrigued by the prospect of this kind of formation. This could be the solution to making Catholic schools everything they need to be in order to remain viable. The Catholic school must be a place where the gospel and Catholic thought permeate every aspect of educational formation. It must be a place where Catholic disciples of Christ are formed. Our children need to emerge from Catholic schools ready to face life with a solidly Catholic worldview. Wouldn’t it be amazing if bishops would implement this kind of training to ensure principals are spiritual leaders in our Catholic schools?<\/p>\n

What do you think?\u00a0Should there be a training program for new principals?\u00a0What would it look like? How would a diocese initiate this kind of program?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post by Jonathan Sullivan on Catholic school principals as spiritual leaders impressed me. He speaks about how few principals receive formation in the specific dynamics of operating in a Catholic educational environment. 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