School chaplaincy in Australia is highly contentious. The federal government funds a chaplaincy programme in Australia's secular public schools, which, combined with the declining influence of institutional Christianity, places Christian chaplains at the nexus of debates on the public role of religion. Yet little is known about how these chaplains…

Religious education is queer. At first, it may seem as if "queer" and "religious education" barely belong in the same sentence; however, a fresh look at the definition of queer within the current understanding of religious education reveals a deep connection. Playing on the historical question of Harrison Elliott, "Can…

This article introduces us to the benefits of contemplative practices integrated to the RE classroom. The author promotes contemplative practices in religious education, investigating how these can be integrated to the curriculum and the multiple modes of inquiry already present. After accounting for contemplation in the West, and especially in…

Biblical worldview integration is a distinguishing mark of a Christian school (Burton & Nwosu, 2003). However, it is improbable that teachers will successfully integrate a biblical worldview if they do not first hold that worldview themselves. The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to enhance understanding of the professional…

As "justice natives," today's undergraduate students are motivated to engage directly with the world around them in ways unseen throughout most previous generations. Interestingly, secular humanistic perspectives on changemaking are in keeping with a wide variety of biblical teachings and principles of Christian social thought. At the…

A hermeneutic-communicative model of religious education is proposed which is grounded in a Christian anthropology. The human person is presented as a 'fragile hermeneutical space'--consisting of a radical openness to reality, an essential indeterminateness and an ability to transcend his or her own reality. This means that people have an inbuilt…

This qual-QUAN mixed methods study explores how significantly the theoretical and theological impetus of the seminary licensure focused counseling programs impact the actual practice of those who have received this education and training (Hall and Roussel, 2012). The theological and theoretical foundations, expert panel, and counselors' responses…

Four writings by the medieval theologian Bonaventure (c. 1221-1274) provide inspiration for the future of Christian education. His writings cast a vision for Christian education and provide insight into four key areas for hope in the future: a reclaiming of the purpose of Christian education; a recovery of the Great Tradition; a rediscovery of the…

The right of parents to withdraw children from RE was conceived as a protection for the rights of religious minorities at a time when Religious Instruction in the community school was of a Christian confessional nature, this paper questions whether this provision is still coherent or necessary for contemporary multi-faith RE. Based on a survey of…

English as a Second Language (ESL) students are often expected to read and use English translations of the Bible for academic and worship purposes. The purpose of this study was to explore the writing style of the King James Version and the New International Version in terms of each translation's formality, readability, and sentiment using…

Despite Christ's enduring command to make disciples, both researchers and church leaders express the beliefs that churches could be doing a better job of fulfilling this mission and that disciple-making is not a priority for many people who claim to be followers of Jesus. At a time when church leaders are lamenting the state of discipleship in the…

Informed by interpretive phenomenological analysis and sociocultural theory, this study examines the language experiences of seven Methodist youth. Analysis of 9 months of observations and 30 interviews yielded a set of experiences that represent the intimacy and complexity of youths' religious discourses. As an essential feature of this…

In this article, the authors reflect on the results of their previous research at cooperation schools in the Netherlands, where students and teachers from nonaffiliated and Christian backgrounds come together. Dewey's perspective on educating democratic values is combined with empirical results of this research, answering the question what Dewey's…

Conciliar and post-conciliar documents provide a consistent stream of inspirational and informative directions for Catholic Education. This study explores the thematic constants within and across these releases, specifically in relation to the mission of the Catholic school. A series of Leximancer analyses, digital data mining processes of…

Christian educators must regularly articulate the ways in which they add value to the learning experiences of students, recognizing that pedagogy and purpose are inextricably linked. This study investigates the relationship between constructivist teaching practices and the religious beliefs of Christian educators. Drawing on mixed-methods analysis…