Understanding lay leadership in Franciscan basic educational institutions

The phenomenon of lay persons taking on leadership roles in Catholic schools is emerging. Sectarian educational institutions lack qualified religious educational leaders to administer their own schools because of the decline in membership. Lay persons heed the urgent call or invitation to lead and rise to the occasion. In this paper, the case study method was used to explore how lay Principals conceptually understand their leadership role in Franciscan Basic Educational Institutions. The leadership frameworks of Franciscan charism and Franciscan spirituality (Higgins, 2009), characteristics of Franciscan leaders, (Smith, 2009) and blending of Franciscan and secular values (FCU, 2009) were used as tentative framework for the study. The researcher employed in-depth interviews using purposeful sampling. The interviews elicited responses from the participants on how they understand, deal with and experience their leadership role. The data was analyzed using constant comparison method. The findings of the study revealed four major themes: 1) criteria for selection, 2) Franciscan charism, 3) challenges and difficulties, and 4) interpersonal relationships which were used to develop and build a framework of lay leadership. The result of the study showed that aspects of lay leadership in Franciscan Basic Educational Institutions focused not so much on the academic and intellectual qualifications of the person but on their quality of life, moral standards, personality and behavior. The study can help religious congregations in their preparation of lay leaders who will eventually take on the leadership positions in their institutions. It is recommended that a larger qualitative study with the inclusion of the religious administrators and staff will add to a variety of voices for future research