Continuity and change at C.B.C. : an ethnography of a Catholic Brothers School in Australian society

This thesis is an ethnographic investigation of a Catholic Brothers school, Christian Brothers College (C.B.C.), in the provincial city of Newburyport, Australia* The study explores the traditions and historical purposes of education at the independent, religious school, and examines the manner in which these have changed or are changing. All names, including the name of the school and the city, have been altered to preserve anonymity. The opening section discusses the emergence of the theoretical problem of the dialectic of change and continuity in the ongoing activity of C.B.C. actors. This is followed by an argument that an understanding of such activity requires an ethnographic perspective. Such a perspective, however, must not overlook the organisational and structural constraints within which participants operate. Hence, a critical ethnography, which takes account of both the agency of human actors and the structures which influence their activity, is advocated as the most suitable approach for understanding continuity and change within a complex organisation in its social context. This argument is followed by an ethnographic account of Christian Brothers College, which focuses on the perceptions and activities of teachers and administrators, Individual chapters deal with the Christian Brothers Order and its educational mission at C.B.C.; the nature of religious education at the school; the administration of the school; approaches to control and discipline; the curriculum and evaluation of pupils; and the relationship between C.B.C. and the wider Newburyport community. The concluding section integrates an analysis of continuity and change at C.B.C. with a discussion of theoretical perspectives on reproduction and transformation. The thesis concludes that, although change has occurred in many ways, an institutionalised image of C.B.C. as 'Brothers’ school'persists and impedes the formation of more democratic authority relations, curriculum, and evaluation. The potential for such change, however, is seen most strongly in the ongoing reform of religious education.

Exploring and reconceptualising the role of Victorian Catholic school principals

This research reinforced accounts of tension for school principals. It also provided new insights because an important finding was that, contrary to many reports of defection, principals wish to remain in the role. Greater support mechanisms and consideration of other principalship models emerged as important factors for enhanced job satisfaction.

Catholic agencies : making a distinct contribution to Australian social welfare provision?

The article presents the author's view on how Catholic agencies contribute to the social welfare services in Australia. It recognizes the role of catholic social workers in the  establishment of the Catholic Welfare Bureau in the country. It cites some implicit obligations of Catholic agencies which are to provide services accessible to the disadvantaged community, speak out publicly to improve public policies, and to provide services that promote the inherent dignity of the individual.

Catholic intermarriages in Australia : attitudes to children, identity and sharing household responsibilities

A cursory glance of the human history shows a changing view about marriage on various aspects and levels. One of which is the level of people’s exploration leading to marriage with a spouse that may have different articles of faith.

This study’s focal concern is on Australia’s Catholics’ and Christians’ interfaith marriages, and its level of influence on attitudes to children, identity, and sharing household responsibilities. Expectations are predetermined from both parties but it can be discerned that with sound values, relationships can be rockbed strong.

Raising a family for two individuals with distinct spiritual formation can bring multidisciplinary results. It may be a source of inspiration not only for children seeing their parents respecting each other’s belief— for the love of fellow, own children, and especially the love that has flourished through the union of faith.

William Wardell's 1859 St John's College - a rare realisation of Pugin's ideal Catholic College?

William Wardell’s St John’s College, Sydney, considered the grandest and architecturally most distinguished university college in New South Wales, is an exceptional example of 19th century Gothic Revival architecture.  The information board outside the college states that St John’s is ‘a rare realisation of Pugin’s ideal Catholic College’ and further that ‘it demonstrates [Pugin]’s profound influence on the work of Wardell’. This is but a small part of the story. The commission for St John’s College was far more complex.  The correspondence between the architects, William Wardell, Edmund Blacket and others, and St John’s Council indicates that right from the beginning there was a general lack of understanding of Wardell’s original design concept for the building. This has continued to the present day, as evidenced by the information on the board outside St John’s College, in which it is incorrectly assumed that Wardell’s proposal included a quadrangle as featured in Pugin’s ‘ideal College’. This paper, based largely on primary sources, investigates such claims about St John’s, considers William Wardell and the Gothic Revival, examines St John’s College within the University of Sydney – its design and its translation and posits a few conclusions leading to new understandings.

Catholic girls: the mother-daughter nexus

This paper examines Catholic girlhood, womanhood and the mother–daughter
relationship, and its socio-historical construction within a range of disparate
discourses. The aim of the paper is to deconstruct dominant patriarchal
constructions and images of femininity, particularly those embedded within the
doctrine of Catholicism. Moreover, the paper intends to reveal traces of maternal
connections and relations which are often hidden by more dominant discourses.
Rather than providing a historical account of Catholic girlhood, the object is to tell
a perspectived story of the local and contextual experiences of growing up and
being educated to be a ‘good Catholic woman’ in suburban Melbourne, Australia
in the 1920s and 1960s. In telling the story it is hoped that other women can
momentarily engage with this narrative of Catholic girlhood and the mother–
daughter relationship.

Catholic mothers and daughters: resilient conversations

In this paper, conversations between a group of white, middle class, adult Australian mothers and daughters are examined to disclose the symbolic dimensions that mark girlhood, womanhood, motherhood and the mother– daughter dyad within Catholic discourse. In their conversations,women unravel and produce understandings of themselves as women, and as mothers and daughters that operate at both a symbolic and real material level. Thewomen in their intergenerational dialogue depict a visceral account of Catholic desire, guilt, pleasure, piety and anger. They offer insights into the curious patriarchal religious rituals; logic and superstition that shaped their Catholic upbringings and that still permeate their adult lives. For it becomes evident that they are still affected by, and living out, the intensity of this religious force. By constructing traces of the Catholic mother–daughter nexus which relates back to women’s conversations, the intention is not to construct a closed off space but, rather, to construct a place in which women actively talk, listen and read, and by so doing come to a better understanding of their own social gendered embodied selves.

Comparing personality type profiles of primary teachers in the Catholic and state school systems

When Catholics turn right: the effects of the Islamic terrorism threat on the fragmented Catholic Italian voters

Italy, as well as most European countries, has been hit by a wave of anxiety arising from groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda, whose effects on political attitudes are still under-examined. This article investigates the effect of the perceived threat of Islamic terrorism as a potential driver for a ‘right turn’ in the Catholic Italian electorate with open-ended interviews and an Internet-based experiment in which voters were randomly assigned to a terrorism threat manipulation and to a control condition (N = 138). The results show that the Islamic terroristic threat significantly increased the support for centre-right leaders who promoted in-group identity and out-group hostility towards Muslims. Implications for the debate about the effects of perceived threat on political opinions and the relevance of the findings beyond the Italian case are discussed at the end of the article.