James Ifeanyi Okafor

Lay Educators of Catholic Schools: Leading and Teaching Through Wisdom and Witness: a Case of Catholic Secondary Schools in Awka Diocese, Nigeria James Ifeanyi Okafor

The Church has always used its schools as one of the ?privileged environments? for the integral formation of young people, which primarily is dependent upon well-prepared educators. Consequently, this work utilized a mixed methodology- Survey and Interviews, to examine (a) The theological literacy of lay educators of Catholic secondary schools in the Awka Diocese, Nigeria, regarding the six tasks of catechesis (knowledge of the faith, liturgical life, moral formation, Prayer, communal life, and missionary spirit), (b) Their Beliefs, attitudes, and Practices regarding these tasks, and (c) Their interested theological topics for future formation. This work revealed that respondents scored high regarding their literacy, beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding these tasks and showed strong desire for future formation through their choice of theological topical interests. The author concluded by urging the leadership of the Church to continue to provide opportunities for the formation of these lay educators who are the ?teacher-catechists? of the Catholic schools.