Researching spiritual capital in Catholic education: on the need for theoretical frameworks and more empirical work

Gerald Grace's work in the field of Catholic education is based on the understanding that Catholic education is fundamental to the mission of the Catholic Church, His work offers a vision of a theoretical framework for Catholic education, supported by systematic research. This chapter considers the value of one critical element of Grace’s theoretical framework, his articulation of the concept of spiritual capital. The first part offers an analysis of Grace's development of the Spiritual capital, from its roots in Bourdieu's theory. The second part considers the significance and impact of empirical research of spiritual capital in Catholic education in England research which has the potential to illuminate the changing Catholicity of school and inform policy and practice. The chapter concludes with a look at some examples of empirical research, and highlights key areas still in urgent need of research.