Both-And
Last weekend's Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity highlighted a keystone aspect of our Catholic faith: both-and.
The Most Holy Trinity posits God is both three Persons and one God. The Paschal Mystery combines both death and life. In the Incarnation, Christ is both fully human and fully divine. The Eucharist reveals the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood: we experience both the outward appearances (accidents) of bread and wine and the essence (substance) of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. The Annunciation proclaimed both Mary's virginity and her pregnancy. The Holy Spirit unites us both as one and maintains our unique gifts.
Catholic schools and the diocesan/network offices that support them would do well to embrace this theme as an approach to many aspects of school administration: both-and.
DuFour and Fullan (2013) argue that schools should be both autonomous and directed by a larger system. In what they describe as "The Loose-Tight Dilemma", they document the dangers of both too much local-level control (loose) and overly-restrictive district controls (tight).
Site-based management has a negative correlation with student achievement (Marzano & Waters, 2009). Similarly, top-down approaches to motivating people to change with punishments and rewards has a negative impact on the organizations under such a heavy handed approach (Pink, 2011).
The right balance of loose-tight, however, provides a degree of autonomy within the context of direction, coordination, and accountability (DuFour and Fullan, 2013, p. 38). DuFour and Fullan (2013) suggest that organizations define the non-negotiable priorities and parameters within which schools and personnel must operate. Within these tight parameters, local level leaders and educators can creatively work to accomplish these expectations.
Catholic schools and offices of Catholic education should work together to clarify that which must be tight across the network which can then allow for more understanding as to what can be innovatively pursued at the local level. These are exercises that should also occur at the local level - clearly defining both what must be tight - like ensuring students' safety and security - and the loose areas in which employees will be empowered to use their professional and apostolic gifts and talents to advance the mission of our schools.
Loose-tight.
Both-and.
