Date of Graduation

Spring 5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College/School

School of Education

Department

Education

Program

Catholic Educational Leadership EdD

First Advisor

Dr. Jane E. Bleasdale, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Dr. David M. Donahue, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Dr. Erin Brigham, Ph.D.

Abstract

This study was conducted to understand the formation of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, San Francisco and how their communal practices supported and sustained their vocation to educate in Catholic schools. As the number of women religious in the United States decline, their work of Catholic education is being continued by lay teachers who may not have experienced the robust formation of religious in teaching orders. This qualitative case study used archives and oral histories to uncover how Sisters were formed and sustained as Catholic educators through Sacred texts, practices of prayer, and communal life. Eighty-two texts were analyzed and seven Sisters were interviewed. Findings suggest that Sisters were formed through a series of relationships, maternal in nature, that were characterized by a feminist ethic of care for both physical and spiritual well-being. Their robust formation in the practice of prayer sustained them during the time they spent teaching. Sisters were also supported in their vocation by the shared commitment to educational excellence, communal wisdom about teaching, and the opportunity to pursue professional growth. Additional findings demonstrate that the use of a theoretical feminist hermetic of suspicion and remembrance provide an understanding of the work of women religious as Catholic Educators within the larger patriarchal context of the Catholic Church. This research has implication for the spiritual formation of lay teachers in Catholic schools that includes a feminist ethic of care for both the physical and spiritual health of students and teachers alike.

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