EDRE621 - History and Theories in Religious Education

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit sets out to help develop an informed, critical, panoramic perspective on the development of theory and practice in school religious education. Different approaches that emerged in the history of Catholic religious education in Australia are examined in relation to the sociocultural, religious and educational contexts in which they emerged. Consideration is given to the shaping influences on developments as well as to speculation about what can be learned from this history in relation to contemporary implications. Contributions from a range of theorists internationally will be evaluated, illustrating the different emphases that have developed in the different countries and contexts. Attention will also be given to ideas about how a relevant contemporary religious education might be able to address critically and constructively a number of issues that have arisen in current globalised, consumer-oriented, digitally savvy, Westernised cultures.