EDRE515 - Religious Education: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

A central task for Christian Communities for over two thousand years has been the education and formation of its members. This unit explores issues foundational to religious education in Catholic schools as well as parish and other settings. It situates religious education in a social, historical and cultural context. It describes the nature and purpose of religious education and examines philosophical, theological, theoretical and educational perspectives.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - describe the nature and purpose of religious education (GA4, GA5, GA10; APST2.1) 

LO2 - explore a broad history of the development of religious education, especially in the Australian context (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA10; APST2.1) 

LO3 - appraise the contribution of Catholic Church documents on religious education and catechesis to the theory and practice of religious education (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA10; APST2.1) 

LO4 - critique the relationship of school, family and parish in religious education (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA10; APST2.1) 

LO5 - analyse some contemporary approaches to religious education in light of philosophical, theological, theoretical and educational perspectives (GA4, GA5, GA8,GA10; APST2.1). 

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:

Content

Topics will include: 

• historical developments in Religious Education with particular focus on shifts in language and terminology in Religious Education; 
• Religious Education, its nature, purpose, current emphases, as presented in Church documents since the 1960s;   
• Exploration of the implications of a partnership of parents, parish and Catholic school teachers in Religious Education. 
• examination of a range of contemporary approaches to Religious Education and criteria for making choices about their suitability in a variety of contexts; 
• Cultural influences on and social processes of Religious Education in various contexts. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The learning and teaching strategy in this unit is informed by the seven principles that are enunciated in the University’s Strategic Plan (2015 – 2020). In particular, the learning and teaching strategy seeks to develops knowledge, skills and personal values through active learning that draws upon the real-world experiences of the students (Principle 5). Therefore, the learning and teaching strategy adopts an inquiry framework that places the student at the centre of the learning experience.  

 EDRE515 is taught in numerous modes (i.e. face to face, intensive, online, mixed) and involves 150 hours of focused learning. This consists of lectures and tutorials in the face-to-face mode, and recorded lectures (for asynchronous use), videoconferencing and webinars in the online mode. The remaining hours are reserved for private research and cooperative learning through forums and reflective journals, leading to the completion of the required assessment tasks. 

 The learning activities are designed to enable students to acquire and deepen understandings of the ongoing relevance of historical perspectives to contemporary approaches in Religious Education. The unit does this by introducing students to various theoretical perspectives about the nature and purpose of Religious Education. Having established critical issues in relation to the nature and purpose of Religious Education, students are then provided with an analysis of the historical evolution of Religious Education before considering a variety of contemporary approaches that are used in dioceses around Australia. Based on this foundational work, students explore contemporary issues in Religious Education and consider the relationship of the learning area to the overall religious and spiritual development of children and young people. The learning activities are supported by, but not restricted to, lectures (or recorded lectures for asynchronous use in online format), tutorials (webinars in online format) and opportunities for peer to peer interaction.  

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to demonstrate achievement of all five learning outcomes and achieve an overall mark of 50% or higher  

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to progressively demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome.  

Task 1 is an extended written response that requires students to demonstrate learning outcomes 1, 2 and 5. Students do this by engaging with the resources contained on LEO to evaluate the nature and purpose of Religious Education today (LO1) by reflecting on relevant historical (LO2) and contemporary approaches (LO5) that are used in dioceses around Australia. The principal purpose of the task is to assist students to gain an understanding of the evolution of approaches to Religious Education and the way in which aspects of historical approaches are still evident in shaping contemporary approaches both positively and negatively.  

Task 2 is a document analysis of ecclesial and contemporary literature that requires students to demonstrates learning outcomes 3, 4 and 5. In this task students appraise the contribution of Catholic Church documents on Religious Education and catechesis to the theory and practice of Religious Education (LO3, LO5) by critiquing the relationship of school, family and parish in Religious Education (LO4). The principal purpose of the task is to assist students in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the contribution that the learning area of Religious Education can make to the overall religious and spiritual development of children and young people.   

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Barnes, P., Wright, A., & Brandon, A-M. (Eds.) (2008). Learning to teach religious education in the secondary school: A companion to school experience (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. 

Buchanan, M., & Gallel, A. (2015). Global perspectives on Catholic religious education in schools. Cham: Springer. 

Buchanan, M., & Gallel, A. (2019). Global perspectives on Catholic religious education in schools. Volume II, Learning and leading in a pluralist world (1st ed. 2019. ed.). Gateway East, Singapore: Springer. 

Groome, T. (2011). Will there be faith?: A new vision for educating and growing disciples (1st ed.). New York: HarperOne. 

Jackson, R. (2012). Religion, education, dialogue and conflict: Perspectives on religious education research. London: Routledge. 

Lovat, T. J. (2009). What is this thing called religious education? (3rd ed.). Terrigal, NSW: David Barlow Publishing. 

Moran, G. (2016). Missed opportunitie: Rethinking Catholic tradition. Bloomington: iUniverse. 

Pollefeyt, D., & Bouwens, J. (2014). Identity in dialogue: Assessing and enhancing Catholic school identity: Research methodology and research results in Catholic schools in Victoria, Australia (Christian religious education and school identity; v. 1). Zurich: Verlag. 

Rossiter, G. (2018). Life to the full: The changing landscape of contemporary spirituality - implications for Catholic school Religious Education. Kensington NSW: ASMRE 

Ryan, M. (2013). A common search: The history and forms of religious education in Catholic schools. Hamilton, Qld: Lumino Press.