Professional Documents
Culture Documents
As a school leader, a
principal/viceprincipal must be able to articulate the goals, values and mission of the school
as well as your own personal beliefs. You must be able to think critically about your own
place in the educational spectrum; for example, what have you experienced, what do you
value, how do you conceptualize the notions of leadership, teaching, learning, knowledge,
and education? How do your experiences and ideas impact how you think of yourself as a
Catholic educator? The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to reflect upon, and
perhaps reassess, your own philosophical ideas regarding Catholic educational leadership
based upon the content of readings and class discussion. This assignment should be one to
two pages in length.
We believe...
in the worth and dignity of every person
in the critical role that our Catholic schools play in promoting Gospel values, social
justice, environmental responsibility, human solidarity and the common good
that high standards and expectations foster greater achievement
that people thrive in a safe, healthy and compassionate environment grounded in
respect for the diversity of every person,
that teaching is responsive to individual needs
that teaching and learning should be rooted in research and evidence
that each of us shares responsibility for creating collaborative communities of learning
that equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusivity are integral to the Catholic
community
that the 21st century competencies collaboration, real world problem solving and
innovation, knowledge construction, skilled communication, self-regulation and the
use of information communication technology for learning, are essential.
Lifelong learning
Diversity
High expectations
Philosophy of Catholic Educational Leadership
David McMullan
community. Many students in our schools today have little experience in going to Church so
it is very important to develop their faith life within the school community. They should
experience this not only through the teachings of their religious education but in the way that
the members of the school community live their faith in their interactions with one another
example through my interactions with students, staff and the school community.
diversity of the school community. As someone who has lived and worked outside of
Canada in a different language and culture, I have come to recognize the challenges that
many of our students experience when they immigrate to Canada. I think it is important that
students feel both welcomed in the school but also that their experiences be validated by
being reflected in what they learn. Respecting diversity also means creating an environment
that is inclusive of all students, especially those who have special needs. I believe it is
important to as a school leader to seek out all support available to help students with special
I think that learning in schools should be informed by data and current research so
that our students learning needs can best be met. There is a tendency for teachers to fall
back on how they were taught in their approach to pedagogy. To meet students needs
today we need to develop 21st century learning. Through practices rooted in constructivist,
situated, collaborative and inquiry based learning we can best prepare our students for the
future. As a Catholic school leader I would hope to create a climate where teachers can
collaborate with each other to develop best practices to facilitate excellence in student
achievement.