Irish and British Reflections on Catholic Education

Sean Whittle is a Visiting Research Fellow at St Mary’s University in Twickenham and a Research Associate with the CRDCE, with Professor Gerald Grace. He also held a Fellowship at Heythrop College, University of London, for four years.  Alongside these academic roles he works part-time as a secondary school RE teacher at Gumley House FCJ Catholic School in West London. He completed his doctoral studies at the Institute of Education – UCL, defending a thesis on the theory or philosophy of Catholic education. His book, A Theory of Catholic Education (Bloomsbury 2014), presents a robust philosophy of Catholic education that draws heavily on insights from Karl Rahner. Dr Whittle controversially argues in support of a non-confessional theory of Catholic education. In December 2016 Routledge published Vatican II and New Thinking about Catholic Education, which is a collection of essays edited by Dr Whittle on the impact and legacy of Gravissimum Educationis.  In recent years he has been collaborating with other academics working in the field of Catholic education in order to create the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education (NfRCE). As a result of this collaboration he has been able to publish two further edited volumes in 2018: Researching Catholic Education, (Springer) and Religious Education in Catholic schools in the UK and Ireland (Peter Lang).  He has also been working as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Brunel University on the Religious Literacy project with Dr David Aldridge, Prof. Gert Biesta and Dr Pat Hannam. The final report on Religious Literacy and RE was published by the charitable trust Culham St Gabriel in 2019. He continues to serve as the secretary for the NfRCE and organises the annual conference for this association. He also serves as Vice Chair of academic association AULRE.

Part 1: Contemporary challenges to the fundamentals of Catholic education.- Introduction to Part 1.- Chapter 1: Catholic faith education: a Jesuit theological critique.- Chapter 2: Scripture and preferential option for the poor in Catholic schools: the contribution of Gustavo Gutiérrez.- Chapter 3: Eyes on the Preferred Future: Renewing the Church-State Partnership for Catholic Education.- Chapter 4: Discourses in the Practice of Education.- Chapter 5: The ongoing danger of catholic-edubable for the philosophy and theology of Catholic education.- Part 2: Contemporary challenges to identity and historical self-understanding Catholic education.- Introduction to Part 2.- Chapter 6: Interfaith Education and the Catholic School.- Chapter 7: The queerness of education: Rethinking Catholic schooling beyond identity.- Chapter 8: Living with Meaning at a Time when Believing in God is an Option.- Chapter 9: Exploring the Voice of Children in Catholic Education in an Irish Primary School.- Chapter 10: Steps Along the Way: an historical introduction to Catholic Denominational Inspection in England and Wales.- Chapter 11: The Emergence of a pattern of Catholic Secondary Education for Boys: 1850 to 1914.- Part 3: Contemporary challenges and opportunities for leadership of Catholic education.- Introduction to Part 3.- Chapter 12: Shepherding Talent – an informal formation programme for aspiring school leaders.- Chapter 13: Towards the renewal of spiritual capital: a contemporary challenge for head teachers in Catholic schools in England.- Chapter 14: ‘The grace of faith, reparation and healing wounds: an autoethnographic inquiry of academy and faith leadership’.- Chapter 15:  Non-Catholic Teachers in Catholic Schools: The Hidden Majority.- Part 4. Contemporary challenges and opportunities for Religious Education in Catholic Schools.- Introduction to Part  4.- Chapter 16: Religious Education in Irish Secondary schools: A future?.- Chapter 17  An exploration of the different voices within the Irish Catholic post-primary Religious Education classroom.- Chapter 18: RE as discipline(s) in the knowledge-rich curriculum.- Chapter 19: A de fide case against ‘faith development’?.- Chapter 20:  Christian Religious Education in Irish Catholic Schools – Recent Developments, Challenges and Opportunities.- Conclusion: Future trends in Catholic Education research.