Preparing New Catholic School Educators for Inclusive Schools: An Analysis of University and Diocesan Teacher Training Research

Abstract

Educators can improve the academic and socioemotional wellbeing of their students if they are equipped with strategies and skills to support learners and families from diverse backgrounds and experiences—such as culturally and linguistically diverse students, students with differing abilities, and those who may experience trauma and/or socioeconomic challenges. To learn more about this topic, a Catholic university and local diocese partnered to examine the literature on the impact of Catholic teachers in under-resourced schools; practices for training Catholic educators with skills to meet the needs of all learners; and the structures needed to ensure that diocesan and university supervisors are able to effectively support the development of new teachers. The literature review was organized using the three pillars of the University Consortium of Catholic Education: service through teaching, community connections, and spiritual development. The review resulted in the following recommendations: train teachers in culturally responsive practices, incentivize educator collaboration, train supervisors in inclusive practices with purposeful faith-based integration, and mentor principals in effective methods of coaching and support for teachers

Special Education Teacher Job Satisfaction and Its Impact on Teacher Shortages

“…By following a research paradigm informed by job satisfaction theory and role strain theory, the researcher answered critical questions about how special education teachers employed in public or private schools negotiate teaching and nonteaching duties while receiving different levels of administrative support. The outcomes from this research were significant and supported by the existing literature reviewed (Fox et al, 2020;Jez et al, 2021;Millett Scallon et al, 2021;Newton, 2018;Newton et al, 2022;Olson et al, 2019;Saleem et al, 2020).…”

“…Much of the extant literature reviewed in this study included studies relaying a comparison of special education in public versus private schools. Studies presented how the turnover rates for special education teachers in public schools were much higher than those for private school teachers (Jez et al, 2021;Millett Scallon et al, 2021;Saleem et al, 2020).…”

“…However, in the private school setting, administrators focused more on leadership development for these same educators (Anastasiou & Bellos, 2020;Hussey et al, 2019;Julien et al, 2022;Trichas & Avdimiotis, 2020). Further, administrators in private schools showed more concern if their special education teachers lacked professional qualifications and experience, while the overriding concern for public school administrators focused on the politicized roles associated with special education teachers (Fan et al, 2019;Jez et al, 2021;Julien et al, 2022).…”

“…The study aims to address research and evidence gaps concerning the relationship between administrative support and job satisfaction among special education teachers. By following a research paradigm informed by job satisfaction theory and role strain theory, studies provided answers to the critical questions about how special education teachers employed in public or private schools negotiate teaching and non-teaching duties while receiving different levels of administrative support (Fox et al, 2020;Jez et al, 2021;Millett Scallon et al, 2021;Newton, 2018;Newton et al, 2022;Olson et al, 2019;Saleem et al, 2020). Concurrently, strategies are provided for school administrators to follow when policy compliance issues cause burnout, compassion fatigue, and disengagement (Fox et al, 2020;Olson et al, 2019).…”

“…There were limitations to this research that must be noted as they were impediments to the quality of the study. One major limitation is that private schools have higher turnover rates than public schools when teachers have shorter tenures and leave the profession altogether (Jez et al, 2021;Millett Scallon et al, 2021). This assumption underscores how special education teachers have different perceptions of administrative support and have wide-ranging expectations of which conditions guarantee job satisfaction.…”