The Role of the Catholic School Chaplain in Transforming Catholic School Leadership in a Ghanaian Catholic Diocese

This Masters dissertation explores the role of the school chaplain in a Catholic diocese of Ghana. There are concerns among parents and school leaders that the roles are not resourced to be sustainable in the future. This is significant for the faith and moral development of pupils and combating the negative influences prevalent in society. While the focus of the study is on the chaplain (as a member of the clergy), leadership is closely related as chaplains are often important instrumental spiritual guides for school leaders and pastoral support. They place emphasis on developing spiritual capital in whole school staff and pupils. This is achieved through the sacramental perspective on school life and working in collaborative ministry with others around the Church’s mission. A wide range of Church and Scriptural sources are cited in support of the discussion on the significance of the ordained priest-school chaplain in embracing the effectiveness of Catholic school leadership, especially during times of challenge. A good grasp of research methodology is demonstrated and appropriate research techniques are selected, in this case a questionnaire to school staff and semi-structured interviews with current and retired school chaplains. A sample of the detailed questionnaire is provided with a variety of question types. Considerable effort is demonstrated with the presentation of findings using SPSS quantitative analysis software. Interview data is presented separately with direct quotations. While there are chaplains with low quality training to work in schools, they are typically in communion with school leaders in advancing the faith community. In the case study school, however, teachers were unwilling to be involved in collaborative ministry. Recommendations include chaplains to empower lay leaders to be more involved with Chaplaincy, the bishop of the diocese to resource chaplaincy training and support and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana to establishing a national Catholic school chaplains association.