Slogging and Stumbling Toward Social Justice in a Private Elementary School

The Complicated Case of St. Malachy

Bibliographic Data

ID9729474
AuthorsMartin Scanlan (0000-0002-0476-6893, Marquette University, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume42
Issue5
Pages572-598
Publication date2010-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducation and Urban Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-1245 • E-ISSN: 1552-3535
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0013124510366224
OpenAlexW1968340479
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited27

This case study examines St. Malachy, an urban Catholic elementary school primarily serving children traditionally marginalized by race, class, linguistic heritage, and disability. As a private school, St. Malachy serves the public good by recruiting and retaining such traditionally marginalized students. As empirical studies involving Catholic schools frequently juxtapose them with public schools, the author presents this examination from a different tack. Neither vilifying nor glorifying Catholic schooling, this study critically examines the pursuit of social justice in this school context. Data gathered through a 1-year study show that formal and informal leaders in St. Malachy adapted their governance, aggressively sought community resources, and focused their professional development to build the capacity to serve their increasingly pluralistic student population. The analysis confirms the deepening realization that striving toward social justice is a messy, contradictory, and complicated pursuit, and that schools in both public and private sectors are allies in this pursuit

Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Economic Justice · Pedagogy · Political science · Population · Public relations · Sociology · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Law · Pasture and Agricultural Systems · Public Administration · Religious Education and Schools

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