Sustaining Religious Education Leadership: Implications for Policy Reform

Overview & Synopsis

Religious education leaders promote the religious identity of the school as well as foster a sense of connectedness through building school community. However, these leaders who play a key role in this area are at times the ones who feel the least connected to the school community and are more likely than other leaders to resign from the position prior to completing their full term. One of the things principals of schools fear the most is the resignation of the religious education leader in their school (Crotty 2005). The high turnover rate of these leaders and the dearth of applicants to fulfil this role have resulted in less experienced personnel being appointed to these positions. Religious education leaders themselves as well as principals are concerned with the lack of suitable successors willing to take on the role. They want successors who are experienced and capable of senior leadership. Over the past decade the religious education leadership policy reforms and initiatives from diocesan based centralised authorities for Catholic education across Australia have attempted to address these concerns. Drawing on the insights from a study into the kinds of support religious education leaders need to do their job effectively, this chapter explores the general limitations of these policies and proposes some recommendations for policy reform that will sustain Religious Education Leadership as a viable career pathway.