Clarification of Concepts from the Thesis

Academic mission of a Catholic school – this refers to a plan devised by a Catholic school, at all educational levels, to achieve all its academic objectives within and beyond the school setting.

Catholic school – refers to schools administered by the Catholic Church through adherence to the values of the philosophy of Catholic education or the ‘declaration on Christian education (Schmiesing, 2004:2). This philosophy is the main guide of all matters

21 relating to Catholic educational provision and such schools are obliged to function in accordance with the Catholic values stipulated there in.

Conflict – according to the Oxford Dictionary Plus (2006:54) ‘conflict’ refers to a serious disagreement and argument about something important or it may also mean a serious difference between two or more beliefs, values, ideas or interests such that if two or more beliefs, values, ideas or interests are in conflict, they are very different.

Curriculum – this concept is defined differently depending on the perspective taken when defining it. Usually different definitions of the concept combine various elements to describe it. According to Bilbao (2008), curriculum refers “to the total learning experience provided by a school. It includes the content of courses (the syllabus), the methods employed (strategies), and other aspects, like norms and values, which relate to the way the school is organized”.

Declaration on Christian education – according to Schmiesing (2004:1), the declaration on Christian education is a key document with regards to Catholic educational matters and it acts as the main philosophical guide on all Catholic ideas, attitudes and most importantly, Catholic values on matters pertaining to educational provision in all Catholic institutions globally. The ‘declaration on Christian education’ is synonymous to the ‘philosophy of Catholic education’. By this is meant that it refers to the same thing and hence the similarity of the definitions of both concepts.

Dual education – means having two separate systems of education operating at the same time in the same educational context. Although such educational systems operate in the same context at the same time, they are usually operated under distinct educational policies. (Kelly, 1999; Snelson, 1974; Carmody, 2004).

Educational partnership – “when two or more parties at any level (individual, institutional, national and others) come together or work together as partners regarding educational provision” (Kelly, 1999:34). Usually educational partnerships are arranged for

22 the sake of enhancing quality educational provision. Another motivation for educational partnerships is cost sharing for the sake of improving standards of educational provision at national level (Ministry of Education, 1996). In Zambia educational partnerships have been at national level between the government of the Republic of Zambia and other nations such as England, Ireland and the USA. Such developed countries offer financial aid to Zambia’s education system in order to enhance quality educational provision. Also at national level the Ministry of Education (MoE) introduced educational partnerships with the people of Zambia through what is known as ‘cost sharing’ in the early 1990s (Kelly, 1999:33).

Education Policy – these are “the principles, laws or rules that govern the operation of education systems” (Bell and Stevenson, 2006:1). These sets of educational ideas, principles, laws, rules or plans are usually contained in a policy document. Since education occurs in many forms for many purposes through many institutions at various levels, “education policies have a direct effect on the education people engage in at all ages” (Bell and Stevenson, 2006:1). Education policies, principles, ideas or plans are used as a basis for making educational decisions at all levels of the education system.

Genuine or True Catholic Identity – refers to an instance when a Catholic educational institution portrays desired features or characteristics of an authentic Catholic educational institution usually as directed by the philosophy of Catholic education or the ‘declaration on Christian education’ (Schmiesing, 2004:2). The philosophy of Catholic education is a key document providing central Catholic attitudes, ideas and values on educational provision. It is through the school’s adherence to the philosophy of Catholic education that it assumes a genuine or true Catholic identity.

Identity Loss – refers to a state of no longer possessing the distinctive features or characteristics which define the identity of something or having less of such distinctive features than before. In this particular instance, ‘identity loss’ in Catholic secondary schools refers to such schools having less of their distinctive features than before (Kabwe, 2010; Chisempere, 1993; Carmody 2007).

23 Identity Crisis – this concept refers to a situation where the identity of something is affected by one or more problems leading to a failure to define its role and purpose in life and ultimately its identity (Erikson, 1963). In other words, this refers to a situation where the identity of something is seriously threatened that it is in a state of confusion.

Jesuit Fathers – according to Hungerford (2009), the Jesuit Fathers are a religious order founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The Jesuit Fathers are also known as ‘The Society of Jesus’. Forming a central part of their evangelism and ministry is the imitation of Christ and their main object is the propagation and strengthening of the Catholic faith throughout the world by using various means including education.

Philosophy of education – is a broad concept which is defined differently depending on the perspective one decides to take. Bennaars (1986:12) defines ‘Philosophy of education’ as a field of enquiry, speculating and application, in which philosophical methods are applied to the study of problems, topics or issues in education. Philosophy of education can also refer to the academic study of any educational philosophy that promotes a specific type of education and examine its goals and meaning (Cahn, 1997:12). Noddings (1995:1) defines Philosophy of education as “the philosophical study of education, its problems and their solutions”. It is also important to state that Philosophy of education studies the concept of education from two distinct levels namely; education as a process and education as a discipline.

Philosophy of Catholic education – refers to a key document of the Catholic Church which was compiled in 1965 at the Second Vatican Council and is constantly updated whenever necessary in order to adapt it to contemporary fundamental educational issues worldwide. It also acts as the main guide with regards to Catholic educational matters worldwide and contains values which form the basis for the features or characteristics which grant Catholic educational institutions their genuine or true Catholic identity (Schmiesing, 2004:2).

24 Religious Education (RE) – this refers to one of the subjects in the Catholic school curriculum. In Catholic schools, the RE programme is academic, life-centered, broad and multi-faceted, encompassing personal growth as well as moral formation. According to Davies (1999:56), the RE programme also involves full-religious exploration and practice and more importantly such programmes are intended to deal with the goals or purpose of Catholic education. A central aspect of the purpose of Catholic education which RE is meant to promote is an all-round development of the learners or the total formation of the human person (Sullivan, 2002:16). This entails that education should involve the various dimensions such as; aesthetic, creative, critical, cultural, emotional, intellectual, moral, physical, political, social and spiritual. From a Catholic perspective, a form of education that ignores or marginalizes the moral and religious dimension of the person which RE is meant to promote is a hindrance to total or full education.

Religious mission of a Catholic school – this refers to a plan devised by a Catholic school, at all educational levels to achieve all its religious objectives or goals within and beyond the school setting.

School Ethos – it is a very broad concept encompassing various aspects. However, in simple terms, school ‘ethos’ defines and displays the core beliefs of the school and are closely linked to its value system (Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, 1988:56). Ethos can also refer to fundamental character or spirit of the school. It refers to the character or disposition of the school. It certainly exists in every school and it can be positive or negative. It is that distinct school culture which is typically detected when one visits a school for the first time. School ethos is usually linked to aspects such as; relations between teachers and the learners, teachers and fellow teachers, the physical appearance of the school, disciplinary matters in a school and others.

Social Capital - this concept is based on the thesis that social relationships or connections matter in enabling either positive or negative outcomes not only in people’s lives but also to the functioning of social institutions (Giddens, 1984; Wilson, 1997). From the positive or negative social networks a resource of social capital is formulated. It is this

25 resultant resource of social capital which determines either positive or negative outcomes at personal or institutional levels in society.

Undesired Identity Reformation – in this study this concept is used to refer to unwelcome identity change experienced by Catholic education institutions in Zambia (Kabwe, 2010; Chisempere, 1993: Carmody, 2007). It also refers to identity change by such institutions that is not liked or wanted by the Zambian people. Moreover, this refers to institutional identity change that may be described as regrettable or bad and should not be allowed to happen in Zambian Catholic schools.

Values – according to the Oxford Dictionary Plus (2006:1002), this word refers to “moral principles and beliefs which are perceived as important”.

White Fathers – refers to “a religious missionary society concerned with the sending of missionaries to parts of the world for purposes of evangelism or ministries of service such as social justice, economic development, education and others” (White Fathers, 1985:8). The religious society of the White Fathers was founded by Charles Martial Lavigerie.

Zambia – a landlocked country located in southern Africa. According to Ntalasha (2004:4), Zambia “is a vast country covering a total area of 752, 618 square kilometers and has eight neighboring countries namely; Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Angola”.

Having dealt with the aspect of the clarification of concepts both in the title of the thesis and the thesis itself, attention is now directed towards a brief discussion on the problem statement of the study.