After the dinosaurs

Education Frances Orchard
At a Catholic education conference I attended recently, one of the headteachers present described himself as the "last of the dinosaurs". Had this come from a headteacher who was also a member of a religious congregation I would not have been surprised. The number of priests and sisters in headship positions is dwindling rapidly and likely to continue to do so as the vocations shortage bites hard into traditional apostolates. What this "last of the dinosaurs" went on to explain was that, as a layman, he reckoned that he belonged to the last generation that would be educated by members of a religious congregation. A quick headcount showed that a substantial proportion of those present had been educated in such schools, and many of them had found the inspiration to be Catholic teachers through this experience.
If the "last of the dinosaurs" viewpoint is valid, then the future for the leadership of our Catholic schools is cause for concern.
To those of us who work in Catholic education, the difficulty of finding suitable candidates for headship positions is well known. Posts have to be advertised not just twice, but even three times, on occasion. Catholic candidates for headship posts in Catholic schools have to be as well trained and qualified as their peers, and meet 'other criteria. Their personal faith history, moral integrity, and marital status will be subject to scrutiny, and increasingly Catholic candidates are falling at the last hurdle. There will then be the self-selecting criteria. This is an area that is not well documented, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that quality Catholic teachers, already in senior management positions, do not always want the top job. The sorts of reasons they give are: lack of theological knowledge and understanding; lack of confidence in their own ability to be spiritual leaders; and the complexity of moral and ethical issues on which they will be expected to be knowledgeable.
Why do we need special preparation for Catholic school leadership anyway? Surely, a practising Catholic with the relevant secular qualifications for headship can do the job well enough? This begs the question: are Catholic schools special and, if so, what is special about them?
What makes a Catholic school special is the religious, and thereby the educational philosophy, that underpins (and permeates) it. A Catholic school is special because it reflects a Christian view of the person and society.
If the Church in this country is really committed to the Catholic school system then more must be done to ensure that there is a pool of welltrained, confident, theologically articulate school leaders able and willing to take up headship posts. At least the problem has been recognised and the Catholic Education Service has recently commissioned research into the shortage of Catholic teachers for our schools. Nationally there is training available through programmes such as the Masters in Catholic School Leadership offered by St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, the postgraduate certificate in Leadership and Vision for Catholic Schools offered by the Maryvale Institute and, from this autumn, Liverpool Hope College will be offering four new modules in Christian Educational Leadership. Although these courses are meeting an important need, accessibility to them as taught courses can be an issue. Also, not all aspiring Catholic headteachers want a higher degree course if they have already completed a M.Ed. and/or NPQH.
What is needed is recognition at national level that the future of the Church depends heavily on the availability of a cohort of theologically welleducated, spiritually confident, Catholic school leaders for the next generation, and a coherent strategy for giving them the training in Catholic leadership that they need. Who else will lead our schools, when "the dinosaurs" have departed?
Sr Frances Orchard is a member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was headmistress of St Mary's School, Ascot from 1982-98 and is currently the General Secretary of the Catholic Independent Schools' Conference.