Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum Novarum" is considered one of the first major works to introduce Catholic social thought on a global level. A key message undergirding "Rerum" is the concept of supporting the needs of others, leading to empowerment and self-sufficiency. The purpose of this study was to create a list of…

This article presents analyses of curricula in religious education (RE) for public schools in Austria, Scotland, and Sweden. A curricula is the plan that outlines the goals, content and outcomes in education. A critical discourse analysis approach (CDA) is used to explore how each national RE curricula constructs (a) the aims, status and purpose…

What does it mean to teach virtue, or to learn it? We consider this question through an institutional review board (IRB) supported research study attending to student learning experiences in undergraduate ethics courses at a Catholic university with an explicit commitment to social justice. This essay draws on and interprets qualitative data…

This article reports on an innovative empirical research project, using a quasi-experimental trial, in which 9-11-year-olds learned about character and virtues through the exploration of four classic stories. The overall aim of the programme was to enhance virtue literacy. Virtue literacy is defined as the knowledge, understanding and application…

There are six oversized boxes in the New York Historical Society that contain the remains of the Public School Society (PSS), New York City's first experiment with publicly-funded education. They are filled with the detritus of the Society's nearly fifty years: recommendations for prospective teachers from their clergymen, student certificates of…

The author argues that morality can be taught in public schools without retreating into moral relativism and without compromising our cultural and constitutional principles of freedom of speech and the separation of church and state. The paper draws from philosophy and psychological theory to illustrate that concepts of the moral constitute a…

Using data from the High School and Beyond Study, compares Catholic high school students attending parochial schools with those attending other high schools in terms of their attendance at religious services, self-ratings of their religiousness, and ratings of the importance of certain life priorities. (DMM)

During 1999-2000, the writer carried out a survey of six randomly selected Catholic secondary schools in England to examine the attitudes of stakeholder groups towards Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education. Questionnaires were completed by six governors, 12 parents, 139 pupils, 12 teachers and six school leaders, providing insight…

Analyses the effect of religious schools on the moral education of English secondary school students. Derives four scales to measure students' general religious attitudes, specific Catholic beliefs, specific Jewish beliefs, and secular morality. Concludes that religious schools produce stronger, more uniform attitudes toward religion and morality…

Presents survey findings concerning the moral and religious attitudes of Northern Ireland's adolescents. Seeks to develop reliability and validity criteria for a scale of traditional Christian values. Concludes that Catholic school students are more likely to hold traditional values than are Protestant school students. (DK)

Recommendations for facilitating religious literacy programs in public schools are presented in this 1976 annual report. Written primarily for an audience of Catholic priests, the report aims at spreading understanding about the legal parameters of religious studies in public education and at increasing religious literacy of public school students…