“Passing the baton”: legacy and leadership in convent schools in India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

ABSTRACT This article examines the historical backdrop to the involvement of teaching Sisters in convent schooling for girls in India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, since the late nineteenth century. It then explores how, as a consequence of a range of social changes, leadership in convent schools has changed in both countries, across the twentieth century. The Irish Sisters who founded and established these schools commenced “passing the baton” of convent school leadership to Indian and Pakistani women. The article draws on interviews to examine ways in which successive generations of women in the study refer to the legacy of the past, and the issue of women in education leadership.


Introduction
This article uses both historical research and data derived from a series of recent interviews, to develop an account of the involvement of Irish teaching Sisters in female education in India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 1 It outlines how the Sisters arrived in Madras and the Punjab as part of a wave of missionary activity that commenced in the nineteenth century.It then surveys some of the main changes, both within the institutional Catholic Church and within India and Pakistan, that impacted on the Sisters and on their convent schools.
Preparations by Irish Sisters to hand over the management of their convent schools to Indian and Pakistani women began in the 1970s.To understand the process of change that Irish Sisters have undergone in these convents, and to develop a nuanced account of how they are "passing the baton" of educational leadership to local women, we examine relevant historical developments that have influenced the power dynamic of social and gendered structures affecting both the Irish and indigenous Sisters.We recognise that historical analysis of gender reform exposes the "complex interface" between different CONTACT Deirdre Raftery deirdre.raftery@ucd.ieUniversity College Dublin 1 Mary Peckham Magray, The Transforming Power of the Nuns: Women, Religion and Cultural Change in Ireland, 1750-1900  (Oxford University Press, 1998), 138.In the nineteenth-century Catholic Church, women in religious "orders" took solemn vows and received the title "nun", while women in "congregations" took simple vows and were called "Sister".Throughout this article, the terms nun, woman religious, and Sister are used interchangeably as is common in scholarship.
structures, processes, and cultural movements.Such analysis helps us to "learn how gender inequalities operate differently in different contexts and spaces". 2 Our research is influenced by feminist scholarship that calls for "refocusing the feminist gaze away from numerical representation of women in leadership to the social relations of gender and power locally, nationally and internationally". 3This article provides an analysis of how Irish, Indian, and Pakistani Sisters have been agents of local change, despite being constrained by the patriarchal Church to which they belong, and the patriarchal culture within which they run their schools.Through a study based on interviews with participants from both countries, we discuss ways in which Sisters, under the control of a patriarchal Church, worked with Indian and Pakistani girls and women, across a period of over a century, to develop a ministry that challenged hegemonic femininity. 4The transfer of responsibility and leadership from Irish missionary nuns to indigenous Sisters opened new educational pathways for women who were not expected to take up leadership roles in society.We are particularly interested in how, during interviews, the participants regularly referenced the history of the teaching Order, its eighteenth-century Irish foundress, and its legacy to the education of girls and women.
In the article, we note how the "long history" of the Order emerges as a touchstone, and the women evince a sense of being part of a bigger picture.

Operational context: historical overview
The nineteenth century witnessed a wave of missionary activity, by evangelical Protestant societies and Catholic religious Orders of priests, brothers, and nuns.This activity has attracted the attention of many scholars, and there has been substantial focus on the connections between missionary work and British imperial education policy in India. 5The Charter Act of 1813 officially allowed missionaries to preach and teach, removing a previous policy of religious neutrality pursued by the East India Company.Up to this point, indigenous schooling belonged to two separate groups: elite religious schools, and village schools offering elementary education in the three Rs. 6Gauri Viswanathan has shown that from the 1820s to the mid-1850s, English literary studies had a predominantly religious and moral function in the Indian curriculum. 7Macaulay's Minute of 1835 also asserted . . .that the natives are desirous to be taught English, and are not desirous to be taught Sanscrit or Arabic . . .that it is possible to make natives of this country thoroughly good English scholars, and that to this end our efforts ought to be directed. 8efore 1947, the missions received considerable direct and indirect government support.Harber notes how "formal education was initially introduced in many developing countries during colonialism through the educational activities of Christian religious missionaries". 9Concerned colonial wives, and women such as those in the Calcutta Ladies Society for Native Female Education, established in India in 1824, highlighted the need to provide schools for illiterate Indian girls and women. 10By 1850, Christian missionary groups had spread throughout India, and accounted for 354 day schools with 11,549 pupils, and 91 boarding schools for 2346 pupils. 11The impetus to 'save souls' through conversion relied on a mobilisation of people and resources.
The involvement of Protestant evangelical organisations is arguably the most thoroughly researched area in the history of Christian missionary education. 12Research on the history of Catholic missionary education in India suffers in comparison, though male Catholic missions date from the arrival of Jesuit priests in 1542. 13There is also a literature on gender relations within the European missionary effort, and "missionary imperial feminism". 14However, the history of Irish teaching Sisters has received very little attention, despite their large numbers in Orders around the world.Irish missionary priests and brothers have fared better in attracting the attention of scholars. 15While there is some work on Catholic Sisters involved in education in the Anglophone world, it mainly focuses on those who provided education for Catholic migrants, who had left Italy, Poland, and Ireland, to settle in Australia and North America. 16Although Leung and Wittberg noted in 2004 that, "no researchers have studied the role of Catholic religious orders in non-Western settings", some scholars are now turning their attention to this area. 17istorians agree that the conversion of indigenous people to Christianity through education was the "purest" form of missionary activity.Srivastva's research considers the process of education as "the cause and end of Proselytisation". 18Allender's work has indicated that the racialisation of female groups served to highlight the plight of Eurasian children in particular. 19Throughout the eighteenth century the East India Company had consolidated its control over large territories in India, through the commission of private armies. 20The number of Irish soldiers working in the British army in India increased significantly, leading to intercultural relationships with more mixed-race marriages and illegitimate children. 21Eurasian children were particularly vulnerable to abandonment or becoming orphaned, as European soldiers were removed or retired from India.Allender suggests that: "In the 1850s, partly out of embarrassment and partly out of a need to control, Eurasian girls were given preference over Indian girls in accessing colonial schools." 22he perspectives of Allender, and others, demonstrate new developments in the historiography of gender and mission.Increasingly scholars are seeking to "transcend binaries between victimhood and agency, colonized and colonizer". 23Studies of women and gender increasingly "see the status of agent and victim not as two poles and mutually exclusive". 24Instead, they see that both exist in an "inter-related space". 25Rather than seeing missionary Christianity as a reflex of imperialism, scholars are noting "its ambiguous effects and the ways in which it was shaped by its subjects". 26Additionally, as Atwal has noted, education as a woman's right had not evolved in the colonial period, with the result that for a long time women's education as an agenda remained in the domain of social reform. 27Research on the reception of Irish-born nuns who missioned in British colonies suggests that their national identity was a positive factor which distinguished them from Anglican missionaries.The historical relationship between Britain and Ireland meant that Irish missionaries could present themselves as allies against oppression.Additionally, they were often found to be more willing to "refashion" their practices to embrace and adapt to local customs. 28rotestant missionary efforts throughout the nineteenth century contrasted with Catholic institutional missionary activity, most notably through the absence of convent schooling.Single religious educational enterprises provided education for girls, or individual female missionaries provided independent missionary outreach.They sought not only to influence education but to change the social mindset of native Indians.Protestant women took up missionary roles in partnership with their husbands following the charter of the Female Education Society (1834).They were instrumental in running the Zenana missionary societies, designed to educate and cultivate Indian women in western traditions of literacy and household skills. 29Unmarried missionary women became involved in India as they were without employment in nineteenth-century England and America.These teachers focused more closely on preaching to guide Indian women towards Christian salvation. 30ontributions made by other female Protestant missionaries have been documented by Barbara Ramusack, who questioned their influence as "Cultural Missionaries, Maternal Imperialists or Feminist Allies". 31The Ladies Auxiliary Association for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) urged and financially supported women to travel to India to work in missionary outposts.At the turn of the century, it was estimated that women outnumbered men in the missionary field by over 1000, with those who answered the call increasing year on year. 32The Ladies Association for the Promotion of Female Education among the Heathen (1866) attracted lay missionary women such as Fanny Williams, Jane Johnson, and Bridget Thorpe, who shared accommodation in Delhi and Calcutta.Their applications were vetted by the Association's Honorary Secretary, Louisa Bullock, who "guarded the organisation carefully: from male dominance, from democracy within the organisation, and from any possible charge that its goals, values and personnel were not ladylike".Like the Catholic nuns, many lay missionaries were called "Mother", suggesting a maternal or protective bond between the indigenous women and their western teachers. 33

The "call" for Catholic missionaries to work in India
The religious Order profiled in this study was originally established to provide education to the poor in Ireland.By the mid-nineteenth century, Catholic bishops in British India had begun to consider how to provide education for their Catholic flock with the Irishborn in India accounting for 21% of the Anglo-Indian population. 34While the impulse towards missionary expansion came from Propaganda Fide, the arm of the Catholic Church responsible for the spread of the faith, some bishops became particularly energised by missionary activity and understood that they needed the support of women to run schools.The ways in which the Church hierarchy relied on -and often exploited -the work of nuns has been examined by many scholars. 35The broad consensus is that in the nineteenth century nuns were often at the mercy of controlling bishops, though some managed to retain ownership of their convents, and control of the money they brought with them when they entered the religious life. 36The Order at the centre of this study responded to Bishop Carew's invitation by sending a small group of nuns to Madras in 1842, to found the first Catholic school in British India.The first convent in India belonging to the Order was an extension of their mission at home in Ireland, and it focused on provision for poor girls.The Sisters opened orphanages, boarding schools, and "poor schools", and some found themselves working in contexts that challenged their health.Though several of the pioneering group in the 1840s died, more Sisters were sent from Ireland to continue the work.The Order expanded its mission to Kodaikanal (1901) and Vepery (1906) in response to the educational and social challenges it faced.
In 1884, the colonial government of India accepted a new code of rules and regulations for schools and colleges, redirecting funding towards institutions for Eurasian and European females, away from Indian girls. 37This Order continued to commit itself to poor children and, by 1895, the community at the Madras convent was in a position to respond to an invitation to send a group of nuns to the Punjab.A convent was established in Rawalpindi, where the nuns taught the children of Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs.The convents relied on relocating additional Sisters from Ireland during the first half of the twentieth century, as they opened schools in areas including Peshawar (1895), Murree (1917), and Kashmir (1936).So great was the demand for Sisters that a mission novitiate was established in Ireland for the purpose of preparing young women for religious life in India.Between 1933 and 1965, 76 Irish Sisters were trained there, before being sent to Rawalpindi.
Educational reform in colonial India continued to focus on literary rather than vocational education, supporting the elite segments of society.Furthermore, traditional preferences for single-sex schools reflected social taboos and exclusions based on class, caste, or creed. 38By 1950 such divisions had become more acute, as India and Pakistan became independent states, with mass movement of Hindus from Pakistan to India and Muslims from India to Pakistan. 39Religious tensions became more apparent, and left a lasting legacy of suspicion and distrust between the countries.At this time, the Irish Sisters had five convents in Pakistan.The use of the term "missionary" was no longer allowed, and the nuns were classed as "expatriates", and signed themselves as "teacher" on their passports. 40They continued their work, providing education to indigenous Christians, and to increasing numbers of Muslim girls.
Critics from subaltern and postcolonial standpoints interrogate the underlying power relationships between missionaries and the communities they work with and question whether missionary organisations can help the poor and the downtrodden.Ramusack asked the pertinent question: "Is it possible for women from one race or ethnic group to promote effective reforms or institutions designed to modify or improve the conditions of women from another race or ethnic group?" 41 While the initial foundations mentioned in this research may have been established by outsiders, over time, changes within the Order took place.Up to the 1950s, convents comprised mainly Irish-born Sisters, but the middle of the century marked a new era for them: Pakistani women began to enter the Order in the 1950s. 42hese women gradually took on leadership roles as the handover process evolved and fewer Irish Sisters were needed to support mission foundations.In an Imperialist environment, Ramusack suggests that this transfer process engages questions of power and authority, race and ethnicity.It challenges established institutions in their ability to modify social and employment conditions for women.Cudd rejects the label of "imperialism" in this missionary context, arguing that intentions matter."Imperialism", she argues, "is characterised by a reckless use of power by militarily and economically more powerful nations, without regard to the consequences of their targets" and is therefore "morally problematic". 43hile the partition of India in 1947 precipitated colonial change, the Second Vatican Council (1963-1965) heralded a new era for nuns everywhere and emerged in interviews as having a direct impact on our respondents.

Impact of the second Vatican council
In 1963, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council, to commence a process of re-evaluation and renewal in the Catholic Church.Orders were asked to engage in discussion, and to reconsider the original purposes for which their Order had been founded.For the Sisters in India and Pakistan, the changes that followed were farreaching; practices that had regulated convent life for centuries were modified or changed completely.Sisters were encouraged to study, take examinations, learn languages, and study the culture of the country in which they worked.Missions in India and Pakistan had been established as self-sufficient foundations, and nuns who arrived from Ireland before the Second Vatican Council fully expected to spend the rest of their lives in the convent where they had entered.They were now free to travel home to visit family and friends.Some Irish nuns in Pakistan chose to study Islam, and took formal lessons in Urdu, supporting further assimilation into the society where they worked.Their studies gave them a new language to describe and define their work.
While change in the operational aspect of convent life was to be expected after the Second Vatican Council, in Pakistan the Order was already a few steps ahead.As Schneider has argued, the roots for change within women's Orders were planted at least a decade before the Second Vatican Council, and this earlier turning point was brought about by women themselves, rather than by Rome. 44In the 1950s, the Sisters in Pakistan had already adopted 41 Ramusack, "Cultural Missionaries," 310. 42Ibid., 73. 43 Ann Cudd, "Missionary Positions," Hypatia 20, no. 4 (2005): 168, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3810894. 44 For a discussion of the earlier turning point for women religious, see Mary L. Schneider, "Transitions in Catholic Culture: The 1950s," U.S. Catholic Historian Winter (1988): 55-72.
the practice of collaborative meetings and an open exchange of ideas.As early as 1936, they had identified a need for higher education for indigenous women, and established colleges in Rawalpindi and Peshawar.They also decided to widen their ministry in 1957, by visiting people in their homes and villages.
As the Order adapted and changed, they expanded their involvement in free education for the poor, and introduced Urdu-medium schools.The Pakistani Sisters -though small in number -had been attending teacher training college in Rawalpindi since the 1950s, and had begun to take more management responsibility. 45Even the outward signs of traditional religious life had changed: the Sisters in Pakistan -including some of those from Ireland -had adapted their dress, and instead of the traditional habit (veil and dress) they now wore a kalwar shameez.Pakistani and Indian Sisters moved into congregational leadership roles, participated in international meetings, and were given the opportunity to attend courses and leadership training in different parts of Europe."The Catholic school system is the world's largest faith-based educational network", and one of the ways it can contribute to education development is by training leaders. 46To gain insight into how the "baton" of leadership responsibility is being passed to Pakistani and Indian women, we examine the social contexts in which the schools operate, and listen to the views of the women themselves.

Operational context: contemporary issues in Pakistan
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan ranks 152 in the Gender Inequality Index (UN GII 2018) where women are disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination, and exploitation. 47li, Krantz, Asad, Johansson, and Mogren identify widespread "gender inequalities and human rights violations against women in the Pakistani society", where "women routinely faced serious restrictions and limitations of autonomy". 48Ali and Gavino write of cultural rules and values that define and limit behaviour by gender. 49Overall, women's participation in the labour force is almost 24% (UN GII 2018), with the majority working in the low-paid, informal sector (SPDC 2009).Across all employment sectors in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, just 4% of women are in senior and middle management. 50he women in this study operate in a context where teaching is a feminised profession, yet leadership roles are usually occupied by men. 51India ranks 39 out of 40 OECD countries with available data in relation to its share of female participation among teaching staff. 52In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the figures for women teachers are 55% of primary teachers and 61% at secondary level, and teaching is the largest field of female employment in the country. 53Explanations for the feminisation of teaching vary; often teaching at primary level is associated with caring roles and domestic work, as well as being connected to deep-seated ideological views of women's roles in public life. 54These same explanations are often used to justify women's lack of leadership roles and principalships.While the opportunity to work and earn an income can give women independence from family, and some autonomy in life decisions, it can also lead to a diminution of value placed on the work.The segregation of women into particular employment areas can lead to that form of employment remaining low paid and undervalued. 55rudy describes the feminisation of teaching as a "cumulative historical and social process" involving "subtle patterns of socialisation". 56To some degree, working with children can be seen as a natural extension of women's work within the home into the public sphere.It could be argued that working as a teacher does not challenge dominant social practices and cultural beliefs on the role of women in Pakistani society. 57eadership, however, has a different status.Ashraf states that despite the high rates of women teachers in all schools, there is "under-representation of women in leadership in the education system of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan". 58he legacy of schooling by Orders of nuns in Pakistan may be seen as another "cumulative historical process", in the creation of single-sex schools for girls, in which the overwhelming majority of teachers are women, and all leadership roles are occupied by women.The roles of principal, assistant principal, and school coordinator are the leadership positions available to teachers within the schools in this study.The degree to which this all-female context can challenge hegemonic leadership patterns depends on there being a continued supply of women who will take on leadership roles.

Operational context: contemporary issues in India
Literacy rates in India are gradually improving but significant gaps remain.School enrolment at primary level is over 90%, reflecting compulsory education for children up to age 13. 59 Some 28% of the total population is under 14 years of age. 60Statistics for school attendance at secondary level are more troubling, particularly for females.The last census which took place in India identified a steady decline in the number of girls progressing from primary to secondary and on to tertiary level. 61General literacy levels for females were recorded as 65.46%, with male literacy statistics at 82.14%. 62India's female population falls far behind world literacy rates for women, recorded at 82.65%. 63A new National Education Policy (NEP, July 302,020), introduced by the government to prepare India for the future will have to address issues such as inadequate funding for schools, absenteeism among poorly paid and under-qualified teachers, high pupil-teacher ratios, and school withdrawal of female pupils. 64Recent complications due to the global pandemic, Covid-19, have seen over 160 million girls affected by school closure. 65esearch conducted on gender comparatives in Indian schools concludes that girls are less likely to be sent to private schools than boys, generally remaining in an inadequate public system. 66As primary caregivers, educational aspirations for girls are highly gendered, with research demonstrating a clear link from one generation to the next. 67esearch also indicates that "social, religious and cultural orthodox stereotypes within the larger societal framework have an impact upon the representation of women within the education system". 68Recent indications of positive change are discernible in bridging the gender divide.The annual status of education report published by Prantham, in association with UNICEF and the World Bank, suggests that while girls traditionally do not compare well with boys, levels are now becoming more equitable, with girls outperforming boys in some states. 69rogress has also been made in addressing gender inequality within the teaching profession, although problems regarding teacher training remain.Female teachers are frequently employed without suitable qualifications from tertiary education programmes, reported at 11.07% in 2018. 70Domestic responsibilities and family commitments often prevent women from taking up employment.From an early age they become conditioned to understand that they have a responsibility to their husband and family, which can lead to early school withdrawal. 71Based on these statistics, implications for the future female teaching profession are self-evident.Studies on the representation of women in school leadership positions are relatively unexplored in an Indian context. 72ithin this larger systemic context, the representation of women's leadership needs to be positioned for a meaningful intervention to improve gender equity. 73

Research approach
This article draws on qualitative interviews with principals and educational leaders within the schools and colleges founded by the religious Order, in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in India.Eight are Pakistani women, eight are Indian women, and six are Irish women.Some of the participants were purposively sampled due to their years of experience in leadership in convent schools in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and India, and the names of other participants were suggested by the initial interviewees, using snowballing sampling technique.The participants range in age from 25 to 90 years; all the participants taught in schools managed by the religious Order, all held principal positions, and six also had leadership roles within the Order.These interviews cover a span of years from the late 1950s to the present day, giving insight into women's experiences over some 70 years.The research process was approved by the university ethics review board, before commencing.The participants were contacted to request an interview, and an outline of questions was shared, along with a detailed information sheet describing the overall study.The interviews were audio-recorded with the informed consent of the participants.The questions were open-ended to allow participants to speak freely.They addressed changes in education provision by the Order; the wider structural factors that impacted upon education provision; the ways that the Order shaped or reacted to changes; the ways in which the Order supported the professional development needs of its women teachers over time; and the challenges for women teachers who may assume leadership roles in the future.
The researchers adopt a feminist perspective, recognising that, despite widely held assumptions regarding education and women's empowerment, schooling often privileges traditionally masculine structures, practices, and gendered pedagogies both in the Global North and the Global South. 74School practices tend to sustain the gendered, hierarchical organisational patterns, as opposed to feminist practices of management, which are frequently described as "consultative and collaborative". 75Feminist epistemology also informed our approach to data analysis and the use of the voice-centred relational approach known as the Listening Guide. 76The Listening Guide examines interdependent social relations, allows for a participant's voice to emerge clearly from the data, and creates a respectful space for all voices and viewpoints to be considered. 77he Listening Guide approach involves multiple repetitions of interviews, with each listening informed by a particular aspect such as their personal story, what is said and unsaid, the wider social context, and relationships. 78The first stage of listening brings the analytic focus onto the participant, her narrative and worldview, and the overall story of the participant's life and work.Further stages highlight emotional responses and more nuances in their actions, using "I poems" created from the sentences beginning with personal pronouns.This stage describes the "struggle between knowing and not knowing, between having and not having, a possible hidden desire". 79Later stages of listening examine the broader contexts that condition the participant's situation and narrative, examining what is said and not said, while the final stage examines relationships between participants and the wider social structures, plus historical and political contexts, and brings beliefs to the fore.The several stages of listening allow for an uncovering of details within respondents' narratives, their viewpoints, and relationships, and an opportunity to gain insight into the wider context of their work. 80The methodology proved fruitful in helping us gain insights into ways in which the history of the Order, and its legacy in education, was transmitted across generations.

Analysis and discussion
For the purposes of this article, we focus on aspects of the data that illuminate a discussion of how the participants viewed the legacy of leadership that has been transmitted via the convent schools in which they worked, and how they envisage the future of leadership in their schools.Historical "moments" in the lives of the participants, such as their experience of different leadership styles after the Second Vatican Council, and new developments in leadership education that they witnessed over the years, are also discussed.

Legacy of education as empowerment
Blackmore has noted that feminist leadership involves "knowing and working towards a shared purpose . . .informed by social justice principles". 81The participants who were members of the Order were united by a shared purpose.This purpose was derived from being a member of an Order which, since its foundation over 200 years ago, has had a commitment to social justice and to the education of the poor.A clear understanding of the history of the Order and the legacy that has been inherited was demonstrated by several of the Indian interviewees.While their schools now embrace all religions, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Sikh, the Catholic traditions and values imparted by earlier generations are still alive.Some of the participants directly referred to the foundress of the Order by name, saying "it feels like [she] is still alive in our school" (Assis, India).Others discussed how they first found their own sense of "purpose" through a desire to work in education in the developing countries.Intergenerational communication between Sisters was a factor in passing on the mission and vision of the Order.
Sr Evangeline, who was in Pakistan for 14 years, had initially heard about the schools in Pakistan through letters to Ireland from other Sisters who were already there: So [the nuns] would come home on holidays . . .they would be telling us different things that they were doing and so on.And I thought, that seems worthwhile . . .and I volunteered. ... Because those Sisters went to Pakistan . . .because they were corresponding with home, they were telling you the needs, you know, you get encouragement. . ..79 Gilligan and Eddy, "Listening Guide," 3. The fact that this Order works with the poor, and tries to empower poor girls and women, was important to the participants, and several used the term "empowerment".Sr Joan is an Irish Sister who said she knew she wanted to work with "the poor".Joan spent 27 years in Pakistan.Having a unified purpose and a way to contribute to social justice was important to her.Joan said: . . .education is the real avenue to social transformation.I could even see maybe in the generation that I was there, girls beginning to be educated, able to go to college.Being able to take up teaching.Things began to change completely.Be[ing] able to do nursing.
Sr Kala, a Pakistani Sister, similarly said: . . .I have seen the children are given the opportunity . . . it is not just learning from a book but . . .other talents. ... People are encouraged to find out what they are interested in. ... Sr Elizabeth, an Irish Sister who spent 24 years in Pakistan as both a teacher and a principal, similarly emphasised the transformative nature of education, especially for poor girls and women.She was asked whether or not there was still any need to have convent schools in Pakistan.She replied: . . .if we really believe in empowering a Christian minority, and also building Christian-Muslim dialogue -because we hold in balance the number of children [of each religion] in the schools -then I think we will stay in education.I believe if people are educated and have their voice, they don't need us.While people are poor and you just give them handouts . . .that's not going to empower anybody.Education empowers.
The historical connection with Irish Catholic education was recognised not only by the Indian and Pakistani religious Sisters but by several lay teachers in their schools.This connection has been facilitated by Irish sister schools founded by the same Order, extending hospitality to Indian students and their teachers.One Indian teacher had visited Ireland and was visibly moved by her experience, visiting the foundress's grave: . . .when I visited [name removed to maintain anonymity] grave, I was into tears. ... Then with that experience I told my daughter also, "you should go and visit and take all the blessing".(Faiza, India) Her daughter was also given the opportunity to engage with the exchange programme; she visited Ireland to learn about the history of their institution and differences in global education.The transformative effects of education on girls' lives were elaborated further by Sr Elizabeth (Pakistan), whose personal and emotional reflections on her life as a nun included saying that she would happily live the same life over again: I've seen family circumstances changing in the space of ten years.Two places that I was in, for almost ten years, I saw people coming out of poverty because their sons or daughters were educated, managed to get a good job, so now the rest of the family could get on . . .it's a way to empower people and that's why I would do the same thing all over again.
The need for social outreach programmes, which historically motivated missionaries to travel, has been handed down through schools, extending to staff communities who engage on a voluntary basis.Teachers from India spoke of opportunities for personal development afforded to those who wish to engage: So, through that, I have been exposed to so many things like outreach, this and that. ... I've heard of being kind, being generous, but experiencing it has really changed me.There were places we have visited, which has really affected me.(Assis, India)

Changes in power, relationships, and leadership
Sisters in India were conscious of the women who went before them and the struggles they faced.One principal in charge of a relatively new school in a remote area of northern India described how she was learning to be a "pioneer", establishing a school in an isolated area and encouraging engagement with education among the local people.She was reminded of the educational inheritance passed down from previous generations of Irish nuns: . . .there are problems, challenges, now also but they are different from what was there beginning.The beginning stages are always difficult.We are all enjoying the fruit of their hard work.So, now we are going through how it is to be a pioneer.(Rose, India) The participants discussed their views of leadership within their schools, and how it could be developed.Older Sisters experienced a more rigid form of leadership in religious life in the 1960s and 1970s, though the impact of the Second Vatican Council was noted as relevant for some.Sr Magdalene (Pakistan) described organisational changes such as the introduction of community meetings.She said: . . .when the effects of Vatican Two trickled through and we began to have community meetings to talk about things that are important to us . . . it took time before we kind of learned how to really dialogue with each other.She felt this period "opened up the world to us if you like, which was wonderful and brought new ideas, new life as well".The study of behavioural psychology and feminist theology, as well as leadership training, became part of religious life for Sisters between the 1960s and 1980s.By the end of the 1960s, one Sister in Pakistan recalled that they were "bombarded" with new theologies around ministry: "solidarity with the poor . . .discernment, liberation, enculturation". 82esearch suggests that women's approach to leadership can be participative and at times transformational. 83This includes an understanding of power as enabling, where management practices can be based on care and collegiality, rather than authority or control.Empowerment and solidarity came from within the organisation.Participants spoke of informal training and mentoring as part of their experience, which was both intergenerational and cross-cultural.While Irish Sisters held the leadership roles in their Pakistani and Indian convents before the late 1970s, some of those who went to Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s worked under the leadership of Pakistani Sisters.When Sr Regina arrived from Ireland, she worked for a Pakistani Sister principal, before becoming a principal herself.Later, she went back to teaching, where there was a Pakistani Sister as principal in the school.She thought that the Pakistani Sisters were "kind of natural leaders", who benefited from knowing the culture, and who had used an informal mentoring system very effectively, during the handover decades.She said: If you are lucky, you may have an older Sister, Irish or Pakistani . . .who will become your mentor.And you'll really learn from that person's experience.
Maintaining a connection between the past and the present was identified as an important factor in preserving the ethos of the schools. 84One Indian Sister stressed the importance of educating lay teachers about the ethos and charism of the Order.Support groups have been formed within the staff for this purpose: The group which we have in our school, they are all teachers.And so, we meet once a month, or sometimes once in two months, according to the time constraint and availability that we share.So, like, we Sisters go out once in a while, they also go visiting the needy, helping.(Sr Lina, India) Interviewees seemed critically aware of the arguments regarding the feminisation of the teaching profession but accepted the reality of social norms and restrictions.Indian and Pakistani interviewees commented on wider perceptions of the suitability of teaching as a career for women.Sr Regina observed that "in general, there isn't a whole lot of scope really for women to be leaders -so perhaps the school is the safest place for many of them where they feel they could be".Working in an all-girls school is "a very acceptable job for women" in Pakistan, Sr Eithne commented.Women can "do that, [because] they might not be in the public sphere as much . . .a girls' school is fine".There was an underlying awareness that there are cultural limits to the opportunities presented to women in Pakistan, but openings and new roles in administration and school leadership are emerging.Sr Magdalena articulated the need to hand down responsibility: It had to be the Pakistani teachers, Pakistani Sisters, there's no point in an Irish person doing it yourself.
Passing the baton of leadership on to the next generation is not only a consequence of the desire for new forms of indigenous leadership, it is also a practical response to the continuing fall in religious vocations.There are, quite simply, fewer Sisters to fill all of the various roles: In India, we are very few in the province here to take up education leadership or any other leadership. ... We are only about sixty sisters here.And we have three big schools like this school. ... (Roseti, India) Addressing these challenges inevitably includes the promotion of lay women to management positions, traditionally held by women religious.Sisters in India were mindful of the pressures that lay Indian teachers face in pursuing their careers, while also fulfilling family obligations.The Sisters considered their own responsibility in supporting future lay leaders: So, my only desire is that as leaders and followers that we could walk side by side . . .there is a hesitation to go to them or approach them, that tends to happen.So how we as leaders can break that barrier.(Sr Rachi, India) Planning for this transfer of leadership in India was described by Sr Terry as a form of "collaboration", in which lay women would work "hand in hand with us and then [we can] teach them our way of dealing, teaching, policies".This kind of mentoring emerged as a favoured way of passing the baton of leadership.

Conclusion
Since 1895, Irish teaching Sisters have been working and living in various parts of India, and in what is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.Many changes over the past 50 years have resulted in Irish Sisters removing themselves from much global missionary work, and local women (both lay and Sisters) have assumed responsibility for teaching and leading in schools that originally were Irish missionary foundations.A new generation of women are stepping into school leadership, resulting in a handover of power from foreign missionaries to local indigenous women.In this article, we drew on a series of interviews to examine ways in which leadership has been passed from Irish to Indian and Pakistani women.The interviews indicated a strong sense of the "long history" of the Order, that connects women (nuns and lay) across generations.There was evidence that contemporary teachers are aware of the "legacy" of the Irish Sisters, and that contemporary Sisters (Indian and Pakistani) want to work in solidarity and partnership with lay teachers.Sisters were highly conscious of the social and gender-based pressures on lay women, especially pressures concerning family commitments, that make it difficult for them to assume leadership roles.Nonetheless, the value of role models and mentoring -"walking side by side" -emerged as important in transferring leadership.Similarly, the "long history" of the Order also emerged as important at a time when the baton is being passed.
The label of "maternal imperialists" has been used by researchers to describe women missionaries, suggesting that they sought to "westernise" Indian women through education. 85From a post-colonial standpoint, it could be argued that the Irish nuns who were invited to Madras in the nineteenth century to provide education for the children of Catholic soldiers fitted this historical profile.Indeed, Barr has argued that nineteenth-century Irish missionary Orders of men and women were "agents of empire". 86While the complex interaction between the Irish and Indian communities of women religious is poorly understood, this study indicated some ways in which each autonomous convent began to create a new authority, one which embraced diversity and difference.Structural changes in the teaching Order enabled a transfer of leadership from Irish to local Sisters; this process has also evolved to include lay indigenous women.Unsurprisingly, the novitiate that opened in Cavan in Ireland specifically to train missionaries to support the Indian mission (1933) was closed, and the building was repurposed in 1965 to serve the needs of the local Irish community.While some Irish nuns remained in Indian and Pakistani convents, they did so by choice, and these establishments are now self-sufficient.The participants in this study were aware of the challenges at each stage when the "baton" of leadership was being passed from one generation to another.They also shared an interest in the "long history" of their Order, in its foundress, and in its commitment to the poor.Though it is outside the scope and purpose of this Jill Blackmore, "A Feminist Critical Perspective on Educational Leadership," International Journal of Leadership in 2 Madeline Arnot, "Education, Feminism, Gender Equality and School Reform in Late Twentieth Century England," in International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy, ed.Richard Teese, Stephen Lamb and Marie Duru-Bellat (New York: Springer, 2007), 207-26. 3Education Policy, Part I: India," History of Education 34, no. 3 (2005): 315-29; Parna Sengupta, Pedagogy for Religion: Missionary Education and the Fashioning of Hindus and Muslims in Bengal (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011); Tomila Lankina and Lullit Getachew, "Competitive Religious Entrepreneurs: Christian Missionaries and Female Education in Colonial and Post-Colonial India," British Journal of Political Science 43, no. 1 (January 2013): 103-31. 6Latika Chaudhary, "Determinants of Primary Schooling in British India," Journal of Economic History 69 (2009): 269-302. 7Gauri Viswanathan, Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule in India (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015), doi: 10.7312/visw17169.
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