Unit rationale, description and aim
There has been a surge of research in the past decade into religious and spiritual development and the religious and spiritual dimension remains central to a range of Education settings. Within a religious context, such as a Catholic or Christian school or Child Care Centre, young children’s spiritual development is integral to their religious development. This unit examines religious and spiritual education in early childhood settings as distinctive and advocates that religious education both within and beyond the early years religion program requires an approach and pedagogy that reflect such a distinction. This approach and pedagogy are informed and underpinned by Church documents, key religious education theoretical understandings and frameworks, and contemporary early childhood theory and practice. Students will learn how to source and evaluate documents relevant to their profession. They will critically examine Church documents and their relevance for early childhood religious education, the nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood, spiritual and religious developmental theories of young children, early childhood theory and practice and appropriate pedagogy for the teaching and learning of the classroom religion program in early childhood. Students will develop an understanding of the nature and purpose of religious education beyond the religion program, that is, how to plan and celebrate relevant liturgical celebrations with young children consistent with the diocesan expectations.
The aim of this unit is to develop student skills in understanding, nurturing and critiquing young children’s spiritual and religious development. This raises significant implications for the design, development and implementation of religious education programs in those centres.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitLearning 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.
Classify the various ways young children can be po...
Learning Outcome 01
Interpret relevant Church, global and local docume...
Learning Outcome 02
Critique a variety of theoretical underpinnings an...
Learning Outcome 03
Evaluate the various contexts for religious educat...
Learning Outcome 04
Generate innovative curriculum responses in the re...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- An exploration of the contemporary image of child and construction of childhood and their implications for religious education in prior to school as well as school early years settings
- The relationship between young children’s spiritual and religious development and curriculum development for the early years religion program;
- Theoretical perspectives that inform religious education in the context of the church related school specifically in the early years and their relevance for teaching practices;
- The relationship between contemporary early childhood theory and practice and theory and practice of the early years classroom religion curriculum;
- The nature and purpose of religious education in a variety of contexts beyond the classroom including family, prior to school and school settings and parish, with emphasis on the place of prayer and liturgy in early childhood religious education.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks for this unit have been designed to contribute to high quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning), and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These have been designed so that they use a variety of tasks to measure the different learning outcomes of the unit. In order to pass this unit, students are required to achieve an overall score of 50% or more. The schedule provides scaffolded learning with opportunities for students to monitor their own progress, practice their skills and receive feedback.
The assessment will relate directly to the achievement of the learning outcomes. A variety of assessment procedures will be used to ascertain the extent to which the students achieve the outcomes. These will include seminar presentations, research papers, audiovisual presentations, electronic multi-media presentations, discussion papers and a range of other options.
The total assessment tasks will be the equivalent of 5,500 words.
Overview of assessments
A scholarly critique using digital media of a con...
A scholarly critique using digital media of a contemporary journal article on early childhood religious education.
This assessment piece includes a group component worth 30%.
50%
A written paper that outlines how young children’...
A written paper that outlines how young children’s spiritual and religious development can be nurtured beyond the religion program.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is taught in face-to-face classes and online mediums that feature active learning. Active learning strategies will be used to assist students to:
- build an understanding of the content covered in the unit. Students will participate in active learning activities such as class discussion and class group activities whose goals are to encourage understanding of class content and materials. Active learning activities like reading, writing, discussion and problem-solving to promote analysis, synthesis and evaluation of class content will promote a practice-led exploration.
- develop the knowledge and skills that will provide a foundation to identify several key characteristics or attributes of young children’s spirituality, as well as build their spiritual and religious developments.
All lectures, tutorials, workshops are designed to provide students with a range of opportunities to develop expert knowledge and skills that are necessary to demonstrate the learning outcomes.
Assessment tasks will allow students to apply these newly acquired skills.
Australian Professional Standards For Teachers - Highly Accomplished
On successful completion of this unit, students should have gained evidence towards the following standards:
Australian Professional Standards For Teachers - Lead
On successful completion of this unit, students should have gained evidence towards the following standards: