Brisbane Catholic Education

Religious Education Guidelines

(From the text - Religious Education - Archdiocese of Brisbane, 2013)

 

The Vision for Religious Education  emphasizes the complementarity of the two dimensions of Religious Education and articulates a school's aspirations for students in terms of their religious literacy and faith formation.  In that sense, the Vision begins with "the end in mind".

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The Vision for Religious Education challenges students to be a religious voice in the world.  The Vision gives greater prominence and a renewed orientation to the critical interpretation and evaluation of culture rather than passive consumers.  In this way, students are challenged to live the gospel of Jesus Christ in their everyday lives.  Pope John Paul II (1984) reminds Catholic schools to:

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Develop your culture with wisdom.  Ask culture what values it promotes, what destiny it offers, what place it makes for the poor and the disinherited, how it conceives of sharing, forgiveness, love.

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Religious Education seeks to develop the religious literacy of students in light of the Catholic Christian tradition, so that they might participate critically and authentically in contemporary culture.  Students become religiously literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to interpret and use language confidently in and for faith contexts and the wider society.

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Jesus Christ is the centre of this Vision.  While knowledge and understanding of religious concepts is important, the truths and beliefs to which a student adheres must have some consequence in their life.  Effective Religious Education requires teachers to be more than purveyors of knowledge and students to be more than consumers of the tradition - Be More.

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Through engagement with both dimensions of Religious Education, as seen within the Model of Religious Education, students are challenged to be cultural agents in light of the Gospel and obtain an authentic witness to the mission of Jesus Christ in the world today. The Vision for Religious Education and the Model for Religious Education take a big picture view; for while both take place within the physical and temporal context of a Catholic or ecumenical school, they presuppose a broader context and length of time not available to a school - a whole lifetime.

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School Administrative Priorities

 

for Religious Education

 

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Time Allocation for the Teaching of Religion

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It is a requirement that a minimum of 2.5 hours per week of religion teaching is provided in both primary and secondary schools from P-12. Liturgy, prayer, hymn practice and other religious practices are not included in this provision.  Effective timetabling of religion classes must be given high priority within the life of the school.

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Accreditation to Teach Religion in a Catholic School

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All teachers of religion in Archdiocesan schools are required to be accredited to teach religion.  Further information regarding the accreditation to teach religion can be accessed through the Brisbane Catholic Education website.

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Teachers as Professional Learners

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Religious educators engage in ongoing professional learning focused on enhancing individual and collaborative practices as well as the capacity to improve student learning.  Each school will engage in the ongoing process of consistency of teacher judgement, a key strategy for implementing the Religion Curriculum P-12 and monitoring its effect on students' learning.

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Through engagement with this process, within and across school communities, teachers build capacity to understand the curriculum intent, identify evidence of student learning, determine and develop appropriate pedagogical practices and moderate teacher judgments about student learning.

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