Unit rationale, description and aim
For generations, religious education has been one of the ways in which the Catholic Christian tradition has been transmitted across generations. In Catholic Schools, Religious Education involves learning about religion and also participating in the Catholic tradition. Catholic education plays an integral part in contributing to building a world of justice and peace. Catholic schools in a particular way incorporate the social doctrine of the Church into their curricula and assist parents and families in the formation of young people with Catholic consciences, who are able to discern the teachings of the Church on issues of justice and peace.
In this unit students will reflect on and critique foundational documents from the Catholic Social Teaching (CST) Tradition. These include texts from the Old and New Testaments, as well as encyclicals and other documents related to Catholic Social Teaching. Students will use this critical reflection to develop and evaluate programs related to education for justice, peace, human development, human rights and dignity and ecological responsibility. The unit also assists postgraduate students to gain skills in teaching about social justice and in developing social justice programs for schools and other faith-based contexts.
The aim of this unit is for postgraduate students develop a sophisticated understanding of the social justice tradition of the Catholic Church and subsequently teach about social justice and critique curricula and school operations in the light of CST principles.
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.
Examine the history and contemporary application o...
Learning Outcome 01
Articulate the foundations of social justice in th...
Learning Outcome 02
Analyse contemporary social structures and social ...
Learning Outcome 03
Critique foundational documents concerned with the...
Learning Outcome 04
Generate appropriate programs for a variety of com...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Social justice content from the Old and New Testaments
- History and contemporary application of Catholic social teaching.
- Specific study of one or more documents of Catholic social teaching.
- Investigation and analysis of a range of social justice issues in light of Scripture and Catholic social teaching. These may include ecology and the environment, poverty and development, social inclusion, asylum seekers and refugees, development, justice and peace.
- Approaches to curriculum development for educating for social justice
- Multimedia and information technology approaches to educating for social justice
- The development of a programme of educating for social justice for a specific religious education context, drawing when appropriate on diocesan religious education guidelines.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to progressively demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome. For this reason, a range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. Such procedures may include, but are not limited to: essays, reports, examinations, student presentations or case studies. In order to pass this unit, students are required to submit all assessment tasks and achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50/100.
Task 1 requires students to develop an understanding of the role of Scripture in shaping the Catholic Social Teaching tradition (LO1) and demonstrate familiarity with some of the texts that form the deposit of Catholic Social Teaching (e.g. documents from the Second Vatican Council, papal encyclicals) (LO2). Students draw upon their developing understanding of the Catholic Social Teaching tradition to critically examine, analyse and evaluate a local social justice program in the light of these teachings (LO3, LO5).
Task 2 requires students to demonstrate their professional competence by developing a teaching/learning sequence that could be used in their local context (LO5). In designing their presentation, students are required to implement creative approaches to education for social justice by including the use of information technology (LO4). The task also gives students the opportunity to critically examine, analyse and evaluate existing social structures and social justice issues in their local context by considering Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching (LO3).
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1 Extended Written Response: Draw...
Assessment Task 1
Extended Written Response:
Drawing on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and relevant scripture texts, students explain and explore how these may be applied to contemporary social issues
50%
Assessment Task 2 Developing a Social Justice Edu...
Assessment Task 2
Developing a Social Justice Educational Resource
Students are required to create an educational resource about social justice for people in a specific context.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
The unit adopts an "innovative, student-focused" approach, in line with ACU Vision 2033, p. 13. EDRE627 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.
In the unit, students are introduced to the various sources of the Catholic Social Teaching tradition (e.g. Revelation, Tradition, Natural Law, Experience). By developing an understanding of the theological and theoretical bases of the Catholic Social Teaching tradition, students are then able to investigate a number of contemporary social justice issues that are relevant to global and Australian contexts. Based on their consideration of contemporary social justice issues, students develop skills for incorporating the social doctrine of the Church into the school curriculum and reflect upon possible future directions.
Australian Professional Standards For Teachers - Highly Accomplished
On successful completion of this unit, students should have gained evidence towards the following standards: