Search

The purpose of this paper is to provide curriculum support to religious educators working in Catholic schools. The paper provides a practical response to research advocating serious attention be given to religious educators because they are at the "coalface" of Catholic education, increasingly confronted by content and policy decisions, the diverse values and needs of their students, and other competing cultural and social challenges. Religious educators play a significant role in the evangelising mission of the Catholic Church as interpreters of Scripture and Tradition and can positively or negatively influence the quality of their students' learning and its application. Entitled RECALL, the support offered to religious educators in this paper is research-led and utilises educational, standards-based principles. It is a community-minded approach that aims to build religious literacy and deepen the religious educators' awareness and connections to the legacy of the Catholic Faith Tradition. The desired outcome is to inspire evidence-based conversations encompassing faith and reason, the perceived value and reality of the identity and mission of the Catholic Church, and its impact on Catholic culture and education. Intended to enhance rather than replace existing professional formation, the approach has structures, pedagogical processes, and practices that draw from a set of overarching theoretical considerations. Furthermore, the approach employs three guiding questions for categorising and analysing Catholic content. The questions are: (i) "Who are we as Catholics and what is our mission?" (ii) "What do we believe?" and (iii) "How do we practice?" The proposed curriculum support to religious educators may foster a culture of learning in Religious Education that is focused on improving and progressing the quality of educational outcomes for students. The premise is that if religious educators are supported to engage with the great Gospel narrative, their students may do the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to deepen the understanding of religious plurality using a range of conceptual lenses and then to draw out some implications for a dialogical approach to religious education in Catholic schools. While what was, until very recent times, seen as conventional religious affiliation has certainly weakened in Australia and elsewhere, this does not necessarily lead to a multiplication of communal beliefs, practices and values. Following Smith, Inglehart and others, what has emerged is a dominant cultural hegemony which has a range of characteristics, but the most pertinent for the discussion here is the loss of the transcendent imperative and the subsequent decline in the knowledge of, and identification with, narratives associated with once-dominant religious communities. An understanding of diversity in the current cultural milieu in Australia needs to consider this hegemony as expressed in a commonality of beliefs, values and practices regardless of expressed affiliation, religious or not. Understanding diversity in this framework establishes a basis for better considering what a dialogical approach to religious education would involve. A dialogical approach to religious education is taken as a settled norm and not one that is heavily contested. A number of the implications of the proposed understanding of diversity for religious education are given. These include following a Vygotskian scaffolded approach to pedagogy and seeing an important place for the articulation of the home religious tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For historical reasons, the vast majority of primary schools in the Republic of Ireland are under the patronage of the Catholic church. Patronage involves a number of responsibilities, including the provision of a Patron's Programme. Traditionally in the form of Religious Education (RE), such programmes should satisfy the curricular requirement for religious/ethical education and act as an expression of school ethos. In order to meet this responsibility, the Irish Episcopal conference in 2015 published its first curriculum in Religious Education, which forms the basis for the Grow in Love programme for pupils from Junior Infants to Sixth Class in all Catholic primary schools. However, effective teaching and learning of RE is dependent on the 'buy in' of those teaching it. The religious beliefs, understandings, and practices of those teaching RE are influential in this regard. Drawing from the data of a large-scale, multi-phase study, this paper describes the religious identity and beliefs of first-year students entering an Initial Teacher Education programme in Ireland—in this case, the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree—to qualify as primary-level teachers. It situates the data in the wider context of religious identity and beliefs in Ireland and goes on to explore how the religious profiles of these students fit with the required understanding, knowledge and ability to teach Religious Education in Catholic schools. Findings indicate that the majority of these students identify as Catholic and believe in God. For most, God is important in their lives. However, there is a complexity to these beliefs, with a significant number who do not know what to think. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the teaching of Religious Education and for the patrons of Catholic schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a set of educational initiatives in Religious Education (RE). The paper addresses RE as an academic learning area and reserved for Kindergarten to Year 10 classrooms in Catholic schools. The initiatives described in the paper are evidence-based; they are guided by research and student achievement data addressing contemporary assessment reforms within the Australian educational context and considering the implications that the reforms have on the quality of student learning in RE. The reforms include quality assurance measures such as large-scale, standardised assessments (LSAs) and social moderation tools. The purpose of the measures is to establish standards that support the alignment of teaching and assessment practices. Such an alignment in the RE learning area has the potential to strengthen and improve student, as well as teacher, knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Faith Tradition. The paper draws from the Catholic RE school curriculum in Western Australia (WA), assessment principles outlined for schools in WA, an Australian Research Council Linkage project and local research about teacher perceptions of an LSA in RE. The paper supports local and national policy expectations recommending a review of the quality of RE as a learning area. Furthermore, given the prominence of the Catholic Church's mission of evangelisation and the nature and role of RE in Catholic schools as part of that mission, the paper endorses the Church's current stance on thoughtful dialogue and renewed efforts to bring a better understanding about Catholic culture and education to the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western Australia (WA), Religious Education (RE) is a mandated learning area within the compulsory years of the Catholic school sector. RE is advocated as a curriculum subject, timetabled for and assessed alongside other subjects and focussed on developing religious knowledge and understanding. In addition to the RE lesson, faith development, or catechesis occurs through the intersection of RE and other faith-based activities in the Catholic school. In the early learning centre that caters for children prior to compulsory schooling, there is no formalised RE curriculum and educators are tasked with raising the religious awareness of children as opportunities arise. This paper presents findings from research that explored educators' understandings of, and practices in, promoting children's spirituality specifically in connection to RE. As a result, the paper advocates for spirituality as the starting point for developing young children's religious beliefs. In addition, it become evident through this investigation that understandings of spirituality, religiosity and RE continue to be complex and educators require assistance to disentangle these if they are to intentionally promote children's spirituality, and subsequently, their religious beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Francis's dream for a synodal Church has implications for Catholic schools globally, but what exactly are these consequences? This paper explores Francis's vision in the context of Canadian Catholic schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories (NWT), where these schools are fully-funded by the government and enroll nearly a quarter million students. Ten exploratory interviews with chief superintendents from these schools—which formed the basis of a larger study—were analyzed to understand potential connections to Francis's vision and his four commitments to synodality: focusing on relationships, a culture of encounter, the essentials of the Christian faith, and local decision-making. The pope differentiates synodality from democratic forms of leadership and demands a communal form of listening and discerning God's Spirit. While the superintendents' style of leadership appeared to mirror synodality in many ways, predominant issues remain to be explored: an emphasis on relationships upends the status quo and gives new directions for the schools; encountering others will inevitably demand prophetic leadership by the system leaders; leading with the essentials of faith will not please everyone in Catholic schooling; and shared authority among the superintendents, bishops, and trustees requires further dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STEM has become a pervasive part of global education reform. The STEM discourse positions the purpose of scientific education as being to prepare young people for work in a hyper-competitive 21st century knowledge economy, pushing aside alternative approaches focussed on interrogating social, moral and political issues in context. This narrative does not always sit comfortably with the holistic ambitions of many state and faith-based education systems. In this paper we will argue that these tensions emerge from deeper conflicts in the cultural-discursive arrangements around education in the advanced democratic states through an exploration of the response to a STEM curriculum project in a Catholic education system. The exploration is based on a phenomenographic analysis of reflective interviews conducted with participating teachers. We conclude that while the teachers are aware of the tensions, they may benefit from access to a language for discussing the various pressures on learning design and meaning making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catholic Church has a long history of conducting schools as part of its mission to evangelize. This paper will contend that in order for teachers to implement the evangelistic mission of Catholic schools, they themselves need an integral formation that puts every dimension of their human nature—body, emotions, will, and intellect—in ongoing communion with Christ and His Church. A brief examination of the impact of secularization in the United States on the Catholic school mission indicates that teachers are inadequately formed to fulfill that mission. Contemplative practice, a common faith formation practice used for Catholic school teachers, will be evaluated as insufficient for achieving its goal because it does not fully account for the way God created human beings. Contemplative practice relies heavily on the work of John Dewey, who applied inadequate anthropological principles to the task of human learning and teacher education. By contrast, faith formation efforts that account for human nature engage both the intellectus and the ratio, and in so doing engage the teacher's whole integrated person. Teacher faith formation can facilitate the teacher's encounter with God, allowing Him to form her, by providing analogical encounters with Him through the transcendentals and sacramental encounters with Him in the liturgy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synodality is described as a mentality that esteems three actions: encountering, listening. and discerning. This mentality is applied to a discourse on Catholic education premised on three illustrative narratives. Narratives are used as a suitable instrument to gain deep insights into the lived experience of teachers working in Catholic schools. Several concurrent themes are identified as emerging issues for a more synodal church. These include challenges in providing enough teachers to animate the religious identity of schools. This is linked to profound changes in patterns of religious affiliation that have been evident for several decades. Considering this, acknowledgement needs to be made that the lived experience of teachers entering Catholic education today is distinctive and different from previous generations. In light of this, a number of points of discernment are made. These include the need for ongoing, nuanced teacher recruitment and formation, as well as a reconceptualization of religious education (RE) to take into account changing cultural dynamics and providing more practical support for teachers, especially RE teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of human dignity postulates that every individual inherently possesses intrinsic worth. This means that upholding human dignity demands an end to war and violence. Rooted in Catholic social teachings, human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human being is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This becomes instrumental in educating students about the imperative nature of respect, empathy and compassion towards all, irrespective of sociocultural backgrounds and individual beliefs. Given the profound implications held by the concept of human dignity, through their influence on their students, Catholic educational institutions can wield substantial influence in fostering peacebuilding initiatives and mitigating conflict. This research article presents a comparative study between California and Slovenia, highlighting variations in the autonomy of Catholic high schools in terms of teaching and curriculum development and implementation. Qualitative research into private Catholic high schools in these two states shows that those with greater autonomy tend to foster a more comprehensive grasp of human dignity. These schools also demonstrate students' enhanced ability to swiftly detect violations of human dignity, even when such breaches are not immediately evident. These observations emphasise the crucial role Catholic educational settings thereby play in the realm of peacebuilding and conflict deterrence, underscoring the need to embed a profound comprehension of human dignity in the educational framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irish Catholic primary education operates within a context increasingly marked by detraditionalisation and secularisation. As religious belief and identity recedes in Ireland, Catholic schools face challenges in enabling the children they serve to develop a personal relationship with God and nurturing their faith formation and development, an important element of the mission of the Catholic school. At the same time, mindfulness practice has grown exponentially in popularity across many sectors of society, including in Irish education. A growing body of research supports mindfulness practice in schools, citing benefits such as improved academic performance and enhanced wellbeing. This review examines the development of mindfulness practice in Irish Catholic primary schools. Curricular reform in primary education regarding the growing role of wellbeing is explored. The review also addresses opportunities and challenges to mindfulness practice in these schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Josef Pieper hoped to persuade his contemporaries to rebuild European society into a civilization of leisure. Catholic schools can make themselves into schools of leisure, and the approach they take to the study of history can facilitate this. In this essay, after looking to Pieper's "Leisure, the Basis of Culture" for educational principles that would guide a school of leisure, I explore the educational plan of one Catholic school that has embodied them. The study of history fills the primary integrating and formative role in this school, so I look to The Religious Dimension of Education and contemporary Catholic teachers of history to see how the study of history can be formative while remaining true to the principles of its discipline. Finally, I suggest that studying history from a Catholic perspective performs an important service for the Church as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ireland's education system at primary level is renowned for its lack of diversity, with most schools falling under the patronage of the Catholic Church. This homogeneity of school type is problematic from a number of perspectives, not least the changed demographics in terms of religious affiliation in Ireland. There is a desire for change by all; however, the pace of change is slow. Whilst the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) determines the curriculum for all subject areas in primary schools, this body has no remit over the subject of religious education (RE). The responsibility for the provision of RE has rested with the patrons of schools since the inception of the national school system. This review focuses on the provision of early years' Catholic RE in schools and pre-schools in the Republic of Ireland. In recent years, the importance afforded to the subject of RE and its status in schools has been eroded. The impact on early childhood religious education of this diminution is outlined. The review also addresses the training and support of teachers to work in the Catholic school sector and concurs with other writers in the field that current programmes of preparation require reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports findings from a study that examines the factors which influence early childhood and care (ECEC) early career teachers' confidence in teaching Religious Education (RE) and how it impacts their teaching of RE in Catholic primary schools in Western Australia. Teachers' confidence is a teacher's belief in their ability to accomplish a goal and refers to strength of belief. Research in this area has shown that confidence is correlated with the sense of teaching efficacy and responsibility for student learning. Whilst there has been some research into teacher confidence, there has been insufficient research into early childhood teachers' confidence to teach RE in Catholic schools in an Australian context. Literature supports the notion that if early childhood teachers have a strong teacher confidence for a subject, they are more motivated to teach the subject and this has a positive correlation with positive student outcomes. The epistemological approach underpinning the research is constructivist in nature; therefore, it is based on understanding the constructed realities of what humans know of the world and themselves as produced by communications and systems of meaning. Three case studies follow teachers from their early career to second-year experience in Catholic schools. This study investigates support structures and aspects that contribute to teacher confidence in the teaching of RE. The main themes identified by the data that contributed to confidence or lack of confidence included training, family and religious backgrounds, teaching and learning, mentoring and support in the first year of teaching. The implications of the results for pre-service teacher training and support for graduate teachers are discussed and some suggestions are offered about the courses provided by universities and what schools and education systems can do to support early career teachers to teach RE effectively in Catholic schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious adherence, church attendance, and economic ideology have long been intertwined. We discuss the compatibility between Catholic doctrine and individual-based free market systems and then examine the effect of Catholic school attendance on an individual's belief in and support for a capitalist economic system. Using individual level survey data, we find a positive relationship between attendance at Catholic schools and capitalist ideology as measured by an index that contrasts individual versus government action and responsibility in the economy. While attendance at Catholic school is associated with a stronger emphasis on individual, rather than governmental, responsibility in the economy, the effect is driven largely by Catholic high school or college attendance, reflecting an increased exposure to Catholic faith during the formative years of late adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines public–Catholic gap in STEM opportunity to learn in the US using Mahalanobis-distance matching and adjacent categories models. Consistent with prior studies, there are significant public–Catholic differences in math and science course sequence level and total credits earned. However, we find that these gaps are largely accounted for by selection processes among students of differing family background. Moreover, we find that the Catholic school advantage in STEM opportunity to learn differs by subject; Catholic school students are more likely to enroll in advanced math courses relative to middle-level courses, while their advantage in science is concentrated in the middle of the course-taking hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Church education boasts a rich history of achievements. European church education (referred to as Catholic) was already present at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries and in Poland at the end of the 11th (schools educating future members of the clergy). In Poland, the collapse of church education was marked by the communist system (1945–1989), and a dynamic revival was possible thanks to the democratic change in 1989. At present, Catholic schools, i.e., schools run by church legal entities and schools run by other legal or natural persons recognized as Catholic by decree of the diocesan bishop, entertain the same possibilities with respect to setup and operations on equal rights. Their number and proportion of the overall student population remain relatively stable. As the results published by District Examination Boards and rankings of Catholic schools show, the teaching efficiency of Catholic elementary schools is higher than average. High schools reach a very good level of education as well, although in their case, the dominance of Catholic schools is not in place. Teaching efficiency is one of many factors that influence the well-established position of Catholic schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding the educational endeavour of their schools, Catholic school leaders are challenged to maintain "mission integrity", and to remain faithful to the principles of Catholic education. While their daily praxis is characterised by multiple interruptions, even school leaders with profound theoretical knowledge and extensive experience do not automatically know how to deal with them in a way that aligns with the distinctive and authentic principles of Catholic education. This article argues that a practical, wise leadership practice based on Christian discernment practices provides a kind of executive function that helps Catholic school leaders to decide and act wisely and purposefully. A generic design for interrelated strategies of practical, wise school leadership is presented that in a profound way does justice not only to the ethical but also to the transformative nature of the endeavour of Catholic education. The design consists of four clusters of strategies, characterised by practical wisdom and well-chosen reflective questions to activate these strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catholic schools. has articulated There are concerns that the curriculum of Catholic schools has been increasingly dominated by pressures to conform to a programme of education legitimised by an intrusive secular state and designated as a 'national curriculum'. Accordingly, the curriculum of Catholic maintained schools is regulated within a standardised framework that is directed by government. Contentiously, it has been asserted that, as a result, the curriculum in Catholic schools in England has effectively been 'de-Catholicised'. This claim has been contested. For example, it is maintained that the matter is more nuanced than this and the situation cannot be interpreted in such an unequivocal way. However, it might well be asked: what should a Catholic curriculum look like? In the face of this question, leaders in Catholic schools are encouraged to consider renewing and restoring a distinctive curriculum by permeating it systematically with the principles of Catholic social teaching. Ultimately, the writer argues, the curriculum of Catholic schools should provide students with an understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deficit in empirical studies regarding the role of the Diocesan Advisor at second-level schools in the Republic of Ireland prompted research in this area. The findings of a study carried out by the authors are outlined in this article. Perspectives of 19 Diocesan Advisors were gathered qualitatively. The concept of "visible" and "invisible" maps provided a framework. In Ireland, State inspection relies on visible mapping of inspection processes that are accessible to all stakeholders. The Diocesan Advisor, on behalf of the bishop, uses invisible maps, observing how the school is living out its Catholic remit and how religious education is carried out within the curriculum. The study identified that the role is under-resourced and lacks clarity, resulting in a widespread deficiency in the monitoring of Catholic schools' identity and the non-examinable religious education currently on the curriculum. The study further revealed an uncertain future for the role of the Diocesan Advisor in a changing landscape. A discussion on the implications of the findings is included, and possible options for the role in the future are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant challenge facing leaders of Catholic schools in Ireland today is to ensure an appreciation for, and understanding of, the Catholic identity of the school among members of staff. A first aim of this research project was to create a 'vital idea' to re-present Christian faith to people working in Catholic schools, in a way that might resonate with the real world of teaching and learning and with their own lives. Drawing from Fratelli Tutti), we used the phrase 'A Love that impels towards communion' as the 'vital idea'. A second aim was to present it to principals of second-level Catholic schools and garner their responses to it. We did this with twelve principals, using a focus group methodology. We first explained the thinking behind the 'vital idea', and then gathered their responses to it. The reaction of the principals was favourable. It made sense to them personally and chimed with much of what they are doing professionally. However, the word 'communion' was found not to be helpful. A further finding relates to values: while the values in the 'vital idea' were embraced and talked about easily, there was little explicit reference to God, the source of those values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several studies looking into the differences between state-run and church-run schools in the recruitment and retention of their teachers. In Hungary, where teachers of church-run schools do not have to meet any special official requirements, church-run education has seen a rapid expansion since 2011. The denominational schools in Hungary are faith-based government-dependent private schools. The number of both Catholic and Protestant schools has increased twofold, and the expansion is still continuing. The vast majority of the newest denominational schools used to be run by the state and were taken over extremely rapidly, along with all their teachers and students, by the church. In our present study, based on our analysis of the survey "Teachers in church-run educational institutions" (2015–2017, N = 1134), we compare Catholic and Protestant teachers from church-run schools. Our results show that there are only slight differences in teachers' values in the different denominational schools, which implies that the value systems of those schools are highly similar. The detected differences do not depend on the denominations that operate the schools but rather on the individual teachers' religious affiliation. The most marked differences, however, have been detected between the value systems of religious and non-religious teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the effect that private religious schools have on gender attitudes in students. Using data collected from twenty-one private schools in Guatemala, gender attitudes are assessed using latent class analysis. The results indicate that students’ gender attitudes can be categorized into three distinct profiles. These are non-egalitarian, publicly egalitarian, and generally egalitarian. Subsequent analysis reveals that religious schools and specific religious beliefs are correlated with different gender attitude profiles. For instance, Catholic school students are more likely to be generally egalitarian than students in evangelical or secular schools, and biblical literalists are most likely to be publicly egalitarian. Overall, this research highlights the need to develop new conceptual models to provide more accurate and nuanced descriptions of gender attitudes. It also provides new insight into correlations between religious schools and religious beliefs and gender attitudes formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]