A systematic narrative review of literature on Catholic schools in Australia to better understand the role of School Leadership deploying and integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in this environment

Abstract

Research literature within school education present school leaders with a range of roles deploying and integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Roles range from being critically important for success, being needed but to a lesser extent, through to not being needed at all. Australian Catholic schools operate in the same political and social context as schools from other sectors but assimilate the Catholic mission in what they do. To determine if the role of school leadership deploying and integrating ICT in Australian Catholic schools reflected literature from the broader education environment, this study carried out a systematic narrative literature review of nine recent relevant articles published in peer-reviewed journals. None of the studies reviewed were specifically about the role of school leaders deploying and integrating ICT, however, four reasons emerged from further analysis, as to how literature on Catholic schools describe the relationship between school leaders and ICT. Firstly, the relationship is one of many contexts relevant to schools. Secondly, it is one of many contexts of leadership. Thirdly, the relationship may or may not be considered relevant to researchers and subsequently considered, inferred or ignored in research design. Finally, there is ongoing Professional Development (PD) to support teachers deploy and integrate ICT in the classroom, but it is not clear to what extent, if any, is carried out for school leaders. Further questions arising from the study may reflect a greater need to better understand the role of leadership in Australian Catholic schools and influences deploying and integrating ICT