Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Shaliach has embodied at least one aspect of the tangible expression of the symbiotic relationship between Israel and its Diasporas. This article discusses the educational Shaliach sent from Israel to the Jewish Diaspora in Australia, and is based on a research study carried out between 2006 and…

This paper seeks to address a gap in the literature regarding lay teachers and their role and status within Catholic schools, studies have been carried out investigating this from the perspective of teaching religious and the Catholic Church but have yet to fully investigate this from the lay teachers' perspectives themselves. The period 1940-1980…

Australia is a culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse country, however, learning about the religious dimensions of this superdiversity is inadequately reflected in the national school curriculum, notwithstanding recent attempts to address this at the state level in Victoria. Debates regarding the role of religion in school have raged…

The characteristics of a spiritual direction formation program as part of a postgraduate course were compared with a range of standard higher education academic agendas of learning. The formational characteristics included acknowledgment of prior experience, cooperative community approaches to learning, teachers as partners in learning, reflective…

This article considers the ways through which the Marists in Australia are enhancing their charismic vitality and the structural viability as a movement of Christian educators within the Church. A theoretical context is described, focusing on the nature of the concepts of charism, "communio," discipleship, the spiritual families of the…

At a time when the faith-based identity of schools is facing serious challenges, the researchers undertook a longitudinal study of the relevant opinions, beliefs and values of student-teachers at a Catholic university campus in Australia. The focus of the current paper is on the responses of first-year students to a survey regarding their choice…

This qualitative study, examining seven communities in the globalized Asia Pacific area, aimed to investigate Jewish community attitudes toward Hebrew, their heritage language (HL), as influenced by the social environment. The main finding was that the "complex ecology" of context influences attitudes to Hebrew. The article delineates…

As a result of globalisation, the boundaries that once limited the trade of ideas and culture have largely dissolved. In Australia, the fruits of intercultural exchange have largely been enjoyed, yet this expansion of Australian interaction with diverse Others has posed a perceived threat to some. This parallel expansion and contraction of…

This article explores the cognitive processes by which Year 7 students (aged 11 to 13 years) use personal viewpoints to interpret and resolve life-issues. A Christian school located in the North West of Sydney wanted to find out if the proportionally higher occurrence of discipline issues in newly enrolled Year 7 students could be explained by…

This article reports on a practitioner action research project focused on developing, trialing, and reflecting upon a continuous and formative-assessment plan for a foundational New Testament survey course. Three pedagogical convictions are discussed and drive the design of the assessment. Seven to nine assessment items (depending on level of…

The number of people applying for school based religious education leadership positions is scarce in most regions throughout Australia as well as other geographical regions. Drawing on the insights from key stakeholders associated with religious education leadership in schools this qualitative study aimed to identify factors which militated…

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety among (12) Iraqi refugee children, 6 males and 6 females (aged 7-14) who had fled ISIS and are residing in Jordan awaiting resettlement. The authors used four scales to measure depression, field observation, and structured interviews with the mothers to examine exile-related…

In a shrinking world where events across the globe become relevant for the lives of masses of people regardless of the distances that divide them, some serious issues have arisen which have particular significance for education policies and practice. Too many children are growing up against a backdrop of polarised views and attitudes which is a…

This article explores the nature of leadership as expressed in literature and workshop commentary on the identity of the Catholic school within an Australian context. Employing a qualitative methodology, data from workshops designed around school mission were compared and integrated with data from texts of selected Post Conciliar documents on the…

Alphacrucis College, Australia, has developed a Clinical Teaching Model (CTM) as an option within the initial teacher-training awards. The Alphacrucis College model intentionally combines the pre-service teachers' spiritual formation with their professional development. This article reports on an evaluation of the CTM students' experience compared…