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 history of religion as a school subject, as with the history of the school curriculum in general and the history of individual school subjects in particular, tend to be neglected. As a contribution to that corpus of work, a study of religion as a school subject in Western Australian Catholic schools offers some interesting insights. In…

This paper discusses educational insights drawn from a mixed-methods study in Religious Education (RE). The study involved 238 teachers and school leaders, working in 65 Catholic schools in Western Australia (WA). The focus of the study was the educators' perceptions of a large-scale, standardised assessment (LSA) called "The Bishops'…

This article explores conditions and enablers for teacher professional learning in religious education in Catholic schools. It examines the impact on religion of the pluralising and secularising influences in Australia today and identifies what this asks of religious education and religious educators in response. New pedagogical approaches which…

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…

Background: COVID-19 has dramatically changed how school communities operate. Many schools have had to navigate enforced closures and modify their usual teaching and learning practices. Furthermore, they have had to rethink how they address student well-being issues. In Australian Catholic schools, there is little data on the concerns of Catholic…

The relationships between RE leaders in Catholic education and their schools and their religious communities may be ambiguous. RE leaders often appear disconnected from both 'ordinary' teacher issues and 'ordinary' leadership issues because of their religious responsibilities. In this innovative research project, the authors have explored RE…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the dynamics by which exposure to a moral rationale is given expression in schools, and how this is perceived as impacting on teaching, leadership practice and student outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 11 Australian schools were part of a project in which they were supported in applying a…

This package of training materials is intended for use in a professional development program for teachers of two courses in New South Wales: Human Society and the Environment and Technological and Applied Studies. The package consists of nine booklets and a course outline for each course. The first module contains the following: introduction to…