Office of Catholic Schools

41 Formation for Faculty and Leadership Faith, by nature, is something f ree that cannot be forced. It is not simple enough to go through a training to be prepared to form disciples. The life of discipleship stems f rom a decision to follow Jesus that is both f ree and inspired by God's grace. For this reason, it is important to look for and priori- tize candidates who show evidence of faith and its practice when recruiting faculty, knowing that pro- spective teachers will be able to share about their relationship with God. The Catholic school cannot have faculty who stand against its mission or are ambivalent toward it without undermining itself. The Catholic school, however, should support its teachers and administrators for growth in their life of faith and can invite them into a deeper life of dis- cipleship. It should be the expectation for every em- ployee of the school to strive for continued growth in faith and prayer. Although this cannot be as- sessed in an objective way, teachers can be asked to describe how they are working toward these goals. Teachers should be given the time and space to formulate goals for their own spiritual and personal growth at the beginning of each academic year. It is most important to offer formation for new teachers in the mission of Catholic schools. New teachers should read this framework to become fa- miliar with the nature and stages of discipleship and how it relates to their own role as teacher. This group will also receive four days of training through the Catholic Worldview Seminar, and a retreat focused on growing in discipleship is also recommended for their formation. Throughout the hiring process, their initial training, and any certification or licensing process, discipleship should be kept in focus as an

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