The work of Sister M. Rosalia Walsh and the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart gave impetus to the reemergence of the use of story in catechetical materials designed and published in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. Focused on catechetical needs of Catholic children who did not attend Catholic schools, The Mission…

This article presents responses from Thomas C. Hunt, James L. Heft, S.M., and Ronald J. Nuzzi to the report of the Notre Dame Task Force on Catholic Education's (2006), "Making God Known, Loved and Served: The Future of Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in the United States." Hunt analyzes the 12 recommendations offered by Notre…

In Australia the separation of mind, body and spirit by secular society has had a significant influence on educational trends. An outcomes-based approach to education, with an emphasis on cognitive learning, has meant that the affective and spiritual dimensions of students' lives have often been understated. Classroom programs in religious…

Understanding how teachers' motivational levels respond to the course content is particularly relevant in Catholic schools, where instructors are routinely required to teach courses both within and beyond their certification area because of budgetary constraints. Students in the ACE alternative licensure program face this challenge during their 2…

Catholic schoolteachers face the pedagogical dilemma between remaining faithful to the doctrinal requirements of Catholic Church teaching while also respecting their professional responsibility to promote autonomous, critical thinking and consider the pastoral needs of their students. Although in practice many Catholic educators achieve a…

Author conducted a minisurvey of 50 Catholic educators, parents, nuns, pastors, and theologians to find out how educated people use the term avant-garde'' and to diagnose some of the problems of the Church and Catholic education. (Author/CB)

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…

Outlook is the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). Each issue contains information relating to private education such as: new legislation and regulations, the most recent research, court rulings, national trends, federal initiatives, private school news briefs, and more. This issue contains the following…

This article addresses teachers' understanding of spiritual development in public and religious schools in Boston and Chicago. It examines how teachers define spiritual development in different educational contexts and looks at the way they relate spirituality to a number of factors including community, identity, and character. The data from the…

The history of the Catholic Church and its schools in the United States is primarily a history of bishops' and priests' actions. Chapter 1 describes this history in terms of Catholic schools: (1) prior to the Constitutional convention; (2) during controversial periods from 1885-1917; (3) in U.S. society from 1918-1964; and (4) relationships to…

Discusses the General Directory for Catechesis' (GDC) statement that one of the roles rooted in baptism is the responsibility to evangelize, and that everyone involved with the Catholic church should be meeting this responsibility. Explains the GDC's definition of evangelization (to transmit the word of God) and catechesis (to put people in touch…

A content analysis of the journal Religious Education: An Interfaith Journal of Spirituality, Growth and Transformation was conducted for a 10-year period between 1993?2002 (Volume 88, 1?Volume 97, 4). A total of 325 articles (277 authors) were analyzed into 3 primary research directions (theoretical, qualitative, and quantitative). Author…

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…

Public policy questions such as public funding for Catholic schools, the extent of government involvement in private education, and church-state relations in general are not unique to the United States. This article discusses Catholic education in Scotland, with a view to explaining the ongoing need for cooperation and goodwill in church-state…

This article argues that we live in a culturally, politically and religiously diverse society and that faith schools are the "product", rather than the "cause", of this diversity. As an easy target for those with fears about social cohesion, faith schools are being "scapegoated". (Contains 4 notes.)