THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AFTER 1965: DECLARATION ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

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The need for the Catholic Church to evaluate the life of Catholic secondary schools against the challenges enhanced by the HIV/AIDS pandemic

The final aspect which emerged from the participants’ (HT 1-4) views concerning their provision of suggestions of how Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province can be realigned with Catholic education policy was the need for the Catholic Church to evaluate the life of Catholic secondary schools against the challenges enhanced by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This suggestion is necessitated by the contemporary challenge of absenteeism of teachers and learners from work and school due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This contemporary challenge contributes especially to the weakening academic mission of the schools as it has reduced the levels of academi achievement among the learners in such schools. Participants (HT 1-4) held a unanimus view that the Catholic Church through its educational wing must ensure that the challenge enhanced by the HIV/AIDS pandemic within the schools is contained through acquisition of skills of critical reflection, social analysis and responsible citizenship. One participant (HT 1) pointed out the need for the use of RE to resolve the problems of the challenge enhanced by the HIV/AIDS pandemic because through it, the learners can be equipped with a moral sense as well as the skills of critical reflection and social analysis. Therefore, all participants suggested the need for both the teachers and learners to acquire skills to help them to be responsible for their own lives amidst the challenges enhanced by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The following are verbatim quotations from the responses of the participants to support these findings.
Participant HT 2: At this school we must see to it that all our pupils acquire skills of critical reflection and responsible citizenship in order to help them cope with the challenge enhanced by HIV/AIDS in our society (interviewed on 8th September, 2015).
Participant HT 1: I believe that RE can be seriously utilised to help instil a deeper moral sense and critical skills in the learners in this era of the dreadful HIV/AIDS (interviewed on 9th September, 2015).

Summary of Findings from Semi-Structured Interviews and Focus Group Interviews

This section presented and analysed findings from semi-structured interviews with four (4) Catholic secondary school headteachers, four (4) teachers of RE, four (4) parents, one (1) Provincial Education Officer, one (1) Secretary of Catholic Education and twelve (12) focus group members. A number of themes and their sub-categories emerged from the data analysis. All the themes and sub-categories helped to explain Catholic secondary education and identity reformation in Zambia’s Southern Province. It was clear from the views of all the twenty six (26) research participants in the semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews that Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province have been experiencing undesired identity reformation in different ways and that such undesired identity reformation has led to two major undesired outcomes, that is, the weakening of either the religious or academic mission of the schools. This is because owing to the different kinds of undesired identity reformation experienced by the schools both their religious and academic missions have been weakening over the years since Zambia’s independence (1964).
The findings showed that research participants associated Catholic education policy only with Christian Catholic beliefs and values in educational provision. This was a restricted perception of a very broad and multifaceted policy of education. The omission of a variety of different and important other features or elements constituting Catholic education policy by the participants was an indication of their lack of a proper understanding of the policy in question.
Findings of the study showed unanimity among research participants that Catholic secondary schools had been experiencing identity reformation in Zambia’s Southern Province since independence (1964). Different participants expressed the undesired identity reformation experienced by Catholic secondary schools in the Southern Province differently indicating the different levels at which the schools experienced the undesired identity reformation. However, ultimately the different forms or kinds of undesired identity reformation led to a dual undesired identity outcome indicated by the weakening of either the academic or religious mission of Catholic secondary schools in the Southern Province.
Research findings also revealed that there had been no conflict of values between Catholic education policies and national education policies since Zambia’s independence (1964). The reasons for the lack of conflict between the values in Catholic education policies and national education policies are; (a) the Catholic Church’s post-Vatican II commitment to a spirit of cooperation with the outside world (including world governments such as the Zambian government), (b) the educational partnership between the Catholic Church and the Zambian government formed shortly after Zambia’s independence is characterized by a spirit of dialogue, mutual agreement and cooperation not a conflict of values between the two policies, (c) although government education policies have always had an upper hand over Catholic education policies in the educational partnership between government and the Catholic Church, there has been no conflict of values in the two policies because of the educational partnerships grounding in a spirit of dialogue, mutual agreement and cooperation, and (d) the Zambian MoE has a positive stance on Catholic education policy because it is based on Christian values.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
1.3 MOTIVATION FOR THE RESEARCH
1.4 CONCEPT CLARIFICATION
1.5 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS, OBJECTIVES AND AIM(S)
1.7 RESEARCH DESIGN
1.8 CREDIBILITY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS
1.9 LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF EDUCATIONAL PROVISION IN ZAMBIA
2.3 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AFTER 1965: DECLARATION ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
2.4 THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY
2.5 HOW THE STUDY FITS IN THE DISCIPLINE OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
2.6 FEATURES CONSTITUTING THE IDENTITY OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
2.7 A REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH STUDIES IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLING
CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 INTRODUCTION .
3.2 METHODOLOGY
3.3 RESEARCH METHODS
3.4 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE STUDY
3.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
3.6 SUMMARY
CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH FINDINGS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS.
4.3 PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS (SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS)
4.4 Summary of Findings from Documentary Analysis .
4.5 COMMENTS ON THE FINDINGS
CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES

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CATHOLIC SECONDARY EDUCATION AND IDENTITY REFORMATION IN ZAMBIA’S SOUTHERN PROVINCE