Unit rationale, description and aim
In this unit, participants will analyse the history and theories of religious education in Australia, including the magisterial (catechetical) approach, the kerygmatic approach, the life-centred (experiential) approach, the Shared Christian Praxis approach, the social science (typological) approach, and the educational approach. Participants will then examine the Hermeneutic-Communicative Model (HCM) of religious education. The theories will be evaluated utilising findings from the Melbourne Scale typology developed as part of the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) research, that is, as potentially reconfessionalising, secularising, correlational or recontextualising. Participants will then rehearse the practical application of the HCM through developing skills in dialogue and moderation. The knowledge and dispositions considered in the previous units in the course will provide participants with practice in articulating their informed, communicative and critical witness to the Christian tradition.
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.
Give a critical account of historical approaches t...
Learning Outcome 01
Describe, perform, and evaluate the Hermeneutic-Co...
Learning Outcome 02
Explain the Melbourne Scale typology and analyse t...
Learning Outcome 03
Identify and reflect critically on the teacher dis...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
- Theoretical and methodological frameworks for Religious Education: historical overview
- Bringing context into the foreground
- Hermeneutics in Religious Education
- The Hermeneutic-Communicative model (HCM) of Religious Education
- The Melbourne Scale and findings from Australian ECSI research
- Dialogue in Religious Education
- Theology and Religious Education
- HCM in practice: teaching and learning in Religious Education
- The Religious Education teacher as witness, specialist and moderator (WSM)
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to pass this unit, you are required to complete both assessment tasks and achieve an overall minimum grade of pass. The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for you to demonstrate your achievement of each learning outcome. They require you to demonstrate the nexus between your learning, dispositions, and teaching practice.
Overview of assessments
Critical evaluation of approaches to religious ed...
Critical evaluation of approaches to religious education.
50%
Religious education unit development
Religious education unit development
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
A number of learning and teaching strategies will be utilised in this unit. These include self-directed activities and readings; seminars; critical reflections; and collaborative work. The unit is delivered with the expectation that participants are adult learners, intrinsically motivated and prepared to reflect critically on issues as well as on their own learning and perspectives. THRE501will be delivered in multi-mode, that is, in combinations of face to face and mediated learning environments.