THE CORRESPONDENCE OF LASALLIAN PHILOSOPHY AND TEACHER EDUCATION IN SELECTED CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' COLLEGES.

Abstract

The major tenets of teacher pre-service education enumerated by John Baptist de La Salle, Founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1680, and modified and approved in the current documents of the General Chapter, were compared with current teacher pre-service education programs of selected Christian Brothers' Colleges in the United States. This study included an analysis of the philosophical and historical tenets of Lasallian pre-service teacher education, on-site field work, and interviews with educational leaders at selected Christian Brothers' Colleges. Four colleges were selected: Manhattan College, Bronx, New York; La Salle College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lewis University, Lockport, Illinois; and St. Mary's College of California, Moraga, California. The college catalogues, accreditation reports where possible, and any other published documentation on the teacher pre-service education programs provided by the selected colleges and Provincial and General Chapter Guidelines were subjected to content and descriptive analysis. Field collected data from the observations and scheduled interviews were subjected to content analysis by categories and placed in juxtaposition with the Lasallian tenets and philosophy of teacher pre-service education. The data were subjected to a balanced comparison, indicating equivalency, or a descriptive comparison, indicating no equivalency (Noah and Eckstein, 1969). According to the analysis of data, there is some correspondence between the Lasallian tenets of teacher preservice education and the current programs of teacher preservice education at the selected colleges in the areas of professional education and certification requirements. The Brothers receive a different training in their pre-service teacher education programs. These Brothers receive course work in the life and pedagogy of John Baptist de La Salle. Lay teachers at the selected colleges receive no training in the philosophy, methodology, and spirituality of John Baptist de La Salle. At present, little effort is being made to educate teachers for Catholic schools and particularly for schools conducted by the Christian Brothers. Implications were discussed and related to the design and conclusions of the study. Recommendations were made for further study.