The development and implementation of a trial Religious Education (RE) curriculum within a Catholic diocese of Australia was characterized by the scriptural metaphor "into the deep." Commentary (5300 words) from teacher developers (n = 40) and implementers (n = 85) were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings…

This essay explores a tension in the Catholic theological classroom brought about when teachers aim at dismantling racial injustice with resources from antiracist pedagogy. Where Catholic social thinkers package together reflection, judgment, and action, antiracist educators recommend forestalling the last step--action. The essay's primary aim is…

This article begins with a brief autobiographical depiction of my religious education. It then charts the ways in which the inadequacies of that religious education caused me to treat my family's traditional religious expressions with suspicion rather than appreciation, undergirding coloniality as a phenomenon within my religious education.…

Undergraduate, entry-level theology instruction at Catholic universities is expected to meet a wide range of learning outcomes. This article asserts that courses can and should be designed for learning outcomes not only in the cognitive domain, but in the affective domain as well, which in turn may impact personal choices and faith practices of…

Cultivating a disposition of critical thinking among students and faculty can provide a means of addressing troubling cultural trends like breakdowns in public discourse, academic siloing, and disengagement from religion. This article expands the concept of critical thinking by engaging the work of John Henry Newman and Bernard Lonergan. The…

Young people living in conflict-ridden areas in the southern part of the Philippines, Mindanao, experience hostility from communities motivated by religious ideologies and political beliefs. With this premise, this study will uncover emerging themes on the way students form their views towards people who have a different faith based on three…

The progressive spirit of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) spawned a myriad of graduate departments of religious education in American Catholic colleges and universities. These departments evolved to include other master degrees (e.g., pastoral studies, pastoral counseling, divinity, spirituality, and social justice). As the numbers of…

How do race and lived experiences of this construct impact student theological understandings? We embarked on a joint pedagogical venture spanning two continents about race and theology with groups of students whose encounters with race and its impacts on theology were markedly different--including students whose lives and education have been…

This article examines how the field of religious education informs religiously based colleges and universities as they teach about their institutional missions. A discussion of the audiences, languages, and the temporal orientations of institutional mission education is intended to provide insights and parameters as mission offices chart their…

This article attempts two tasks. First, to clarify how the claim that colleges and universities may "shove religion down students' throats" has a historical background. Second, to indicate how pedagogical strategies--like service learning, discussions, paper revisions, and "Just in Time Teaching" exercises--can be used in ways…

Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. (aka "Father Ted") is one of the leading living figures in the philosophy of Catholic higher education in the United States. He is not only recognized for a long and impressive tenure as president of the University of Notre Dame, but also revered as a priest whose intellectual and critical leadership blends a practical…

For decades researchers assessed sense of community (SOC), inclusion, and pluralism within academic settings. In the present study, 2,220 undergraduate students (1,442 women, 778 men; M age = 23.42 years; SD = 7.84) at two Catholic universities responded to perceived levels of school sense of community, inclusion, and religious pluralism. Analyses…

This article presents an overview of how "Christian religious education" as a "polydoxical" discipline is being taught, based on a survey of 24 syllabi of graduate courses offered by scholars teaching in Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, and Catholic theological schools. The review offers an account of how the scholars frame the…

Respecting religious diversity while also staying true to the role of faith in theological practice remains a challenge in contemporary education. This is made more complex by the role of learning outcomes to assess student learning. This article first emphasizes the role of faith in theological discourse and then raises questions about the nature…

This article is the author's reflection on forty years as a religious educator. Vocation reveals itself to be the distinctive life and work of an individual in so far as it contributes to the service of others in community and society. Vocation has both an individual and a social meaning; it can be viewed in religious or secular terms. It is…