The aim of this research was to get a better understanding of the work of school-based religious education leaders (SBREL) by examining the issues and challenges they face as well as how they are supported. SBREL were surveyed and interviewed, and they took part in focus groups. SBREL, in general, felt supported in their role. A major issue…

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 paper examines Catholic RE curriculum documents from 2 jurisdictions to assess how well they present Jews and Judaism. It finds that their representations of Jews and Judaism rely on structures of thought, reinforced by normative Catholicism, that enable the conditions to reproduce supersessionist thinking and attitudes. Its conclusion argues…

Discusses changes in Catholic religious education since the second Vatican Council. Addresses the contribution of classroom instruction to young people's religious education and identifies some aspects of shared praxis and appropriation of the faith tradition. States that improvement of religious education requires an upgrading of its role in the…

Over the past thirty years, independent lines of research in the fields of classroom environment and student attitudes toward Christianity have been conducted. This research brought these two fields together by investigating the relationship between student perceptions of religion classroom environment and their attitudes toward Christianity. A…

Analyzes and contrasts a number of Roman Catholic documents, published in the United States and foreign countries, emphasizing theological themes which are presented as central to adult religious education. Focuses on the tension between church authority and adult education principles. Concludes that the optimism of the documents is diminished by…

Empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of young children in Australia is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding that emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of children's spirituality in Catholic primary schools. The characteristic has been…

This article brings together some of the literature on worldwide trends in religious education that have influenced the delivery of curriculum in this field in Australian Catholic schools. The approaches to religious education since the time of European settlement in Australia are surveyed in light of international trends and the pedagogical…