Research Is Moving Mercy Education Forward

Tania Hicks is an outstanding teacher of English. She is also our much-loved Dean of Students, Year 7. These roles are time consuming and emotionally intense. So, it is a wonder that over the last three years, Tania has also managed to complete a Doctorate.

In mid 2017, Tania began her Doctorate at Notre Dame University. She is very close to the end of that journey so we asked her about her thesis, motivation and the impact this intense study has on her personally and professionally.

Why was a doctorate a priority for you?

Pursuing further study seemed a natural progression for me. As a young child I loved doing school projects and researching interesting topics!

I remember sitting at the graduation ceremony of my Master of Education in 2016 and thinking, there’s more I’d like to learn to contribute to the education of our students.

My area of research is in spiritual growth. As teachers we make assumptions about how student spiritual growth is fostered in the school environment….we base our assumptions on anecdotal evidence. I wanted to make a contribution to the empirical literature in this area – as little is known yet much is assumed about the topic, and I was keen to honour the voice of students – to hear what they think fosters their spiritual growth throughout the school journey.

The study arose from a desire to know how spiritual growth occurs in the context of Mercy girls’ secondary schools in WA.

What is the subject of your thesis?

The influence of Mercy schooling on student spiritual growth: The perceptions of post-school women.

The process involved a fine-grained analysis of a small sample of alumni from the three Western Australian Mercy Education secondary girls’ schools. I am indebted to these young women who gave of their time and personal thoughts, reflecting on how their secondary schooling influenced their spiritual growth.

In the context of this study, spiritual growth is a positive force propelling a deepening awareness of a sense of meaning and purpose that may stem from connectedness with oneself, others, the wider world, and possibly with God.

The great thing about spiritual growth is that it’s an intensely human experience. My study considered what lies at the heart of spiritual growth occurring in the school setting; and explicitly, how does Mercy schooling influence student spiritual growth?

I think it’s especially significant that spiritual growth results in positive health outcomes, such as an improved sense of self-efficacy, that provide protective factors in facing life challenges. Spiritual growth strengthens human development, builds resilience and aids identity formation during adolescence. The capacity for spiritual growth is inherent in every human being, yet it needs activating and awakening – especially during childhood and adolescence…and this is where education can make a remarkable contribution to students’ lives.

We are privileged in the Catholic school to be well placed to offer this spiritual nourishment to those students in our care, and of course, it underpins our mission as educators.

Spiritual growth may protect students from contextual factors that erode their mental health. Many young people in today’s society suffer from spiritual poverty, and perhaps we need look no further than the mental health problems many young people face on a daily basis – so research in this area is pertinent.