Gellel, A. M. (2015). The Interdisciplinary Imperative of Catholic Religious Education. In Global Perspectives on Catholic Religious Education in Schools (pp. 23-34). Springer International Publishing. (original) (raw)

Putting Catholic religious education on the map

This article presents the work published by a publishing company called Catholic Religious Education in Schools (BUCHANAN & GELLEL, 2015). The volume brings together scholars from all six continents to reflect and discuss contextual, pedagogical and theoretical issues related to the teaching of the Catholic religion in a school context. In this sense, it is the first volume in the Catholic world to deal specifically with the theory and contextual issues of religious education as separate from Catechesis. While the former is understood that specifically occurs in formal education, the latter is understood that occur within the faith community environment. In an era of ecumenical and inter-religious and a society increasingly globalized and secularized, such a project may appear to be out of sync with reality. In addition to the work explains the construction of the project and its development proposed presentation of an international reality on the subject.

Authentic Religious Education: A Question of Language?

Religions

There is much emphasis today on inclusion and diversity in educational systems. As the place of religious belief remains a significant factor in such debates, there is a need for shared understanding of the language and purpose of Religious Education in schools. Given the substantial international footprint of Catholic schools, the conceptual framework of Religious Education in Catholic schools merits serious scrutiny. The Catholic Church’s written teaching on education has a strong focus on the contemporary school as a site of intercultural dialogue. The related teaching on Religious Education in schools, however, remains underdeveloped, with strong voices debating the desirability, or otherwise, of a strong focus on ‘faith formation and practice’ as an outcome of Religious Education. Problematically, terms like ‘Religious Education’ have inconsistent translations in the official documents of the Catholic Church, leading to a plurality of understandings internationally of the ultim...

A theologian's perspective on Vatican II's new thinking on Catholic education

Routledge eBooks, 2016

The reflections in this chapter were catalysed by the paper given at the International Conference on Catholic Education held in 2015 by Prof. Lieven Boeve that can be found in Chapter 7 of this collected volume. That process of development began in the form of a response to his paper at the Conference itself, and has continued as I have reflected further on the contents of his chapter. Here, I seek to put Boeve's context and my own into dialogue with each other, very much in the spirit of the Dialogue Schools project that he is working on for the Bishops Conference in Flanders. My aim, in these reflections, is to shed light on the similarities of our two situations, and also what is distinctive about them, so as to further the project of Catholic education in both contexts. I begin by looking at the current situation of Catholic education, and of the place of the church in a wider sense, in Belgian and British society. Recent studies have shown a decline in trust in churches in both of our countries, whilst it seems that there is still a lot of confidence in Catholic education. What this means for the project of Catholic education in Flanders in particular is something that Boeve raises, and I engage with his account of this pairing of mistrust and confidence as being paradoxical, suggesting that what it is that people have trust and confidence in may help unlock the relation between the two. I consider what it means to live in a post-secular and post-Christian culture in the light of Boeve's analysis, and how this offers two important possibilities at this point in history. On the one hand, it helps us to recognise the breakdown of the secularisation thesis that was dominant in the modern era. On the other, it offers us the potential to craft a relation between belief and unbelief in new and creative ways, which can better serve the educational development of young people in our two countries, and perhaps more widely, too. What this amounts to is seeing education as an invitation to a community of identity formation, in which each of the participants can journey towards fullness of life, whilst accompanying others on their journey seeking meaning and fulfilment.

Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Education and Religious Education

2019

It is commonplace for Catholic schools to claim to educate the "whole" person in the Catholic faith, yet exactly what this means and how to accomplish it is harder to say. Though these matters of holistic formation and Catholic identity are always important, they are especially so at present given ongoing efforts to implement the U.S. bishops' Framework for a high school religion curriculum. With these concerns in mind, this article aims to offer a traditionally-grounded, actionable answer to the following questions: Who do we hope our students will become? How do we help them toward that goal? The first half of the paper identifies and describes in detail four anthropological dimensions that have emerged as constants in Christians' attempts to articulate what we mean by the "whole" person. The latter half of the paper draws upon the work of a host of educational authorities and the author's personal classroom experience in order to suggest general pedagogical keys that might guide teaching practices and development of student formation outcomes.

The challenge of religious education to deal with past and present Catholicism

British Journal of Religious Education, 2018

Religious education (RE) in secondary schools in the Netherlands is challenged to redefine the educational aims. Concerning this debate, the preference for a cognitive approach is remarkably dominant, not only among scholars but among RE teachers as well. This appeal for a cognitive turn is based upon two hypotheses: first on the presumption of religious blankness among religiously unaffiliated pupils and second on a specific view on the way religious affiliation, religious reflectivity and religious tolerance are intertwined. The current article elaborates on a empirical research that questions both hypotheses. It first discovered the ongoing connection religiously unaffiliated pupils have with a former and conventional type of Catholicism, which impedes the development of their reflective personal religiosity as well as that of their interreligious openness. Second, this investigation revealed that personal connectedness with contemporary Catholic faith encourages these two developments. As such, this research contributes to a nuanced perspective on the chances and bottlenecks within religious learning by religiously unaffiliated and affiliated pupils. Concerning the redefinition of religious educational aims, it provides empirical arguments for a balanced combination of cognitive, attitudinal and experiential aims and advocates a preference for experiential and attitudinal aspects as a didactical starting point.

Rethinking Catholic Education: Experiences of Teachers of a Catholic University

Catholic education is closely linked to the evangelical mission of the Church. As such, the primary intent of Catholic education is to proclaim the message of salvation to all people. Accordingly, Catholic education aims to provide an integral formation with a religious dimension that will equip the human person to become life, work, and mission ready and attain salvation. But given the contemporary socioeconomic , cultural, political, and technological milieus characterized by a secular and consumerist view and praxis, the value of Catholic education may have been obscured or affected. Thus, this paper aims to investigate and analyze the views and practices of the faculty of a Catholic University about Catholic education. The purposive sampling method was used to determine the participants in the study. Using a qualitative research design, the data were gathered from the participants using the face-to-face interview method. Aided by the phenomenological method, the findings discovered semblance in the participants' views and practices of Catholic education with that of Catholic Church. Despite the observed undesirable elements that obscure and marginalize it, Catholic education faithfully remains a Catholic. But making religion as the core of the curriculum of Catholic education is still a great challenge for Catholic schools to realize. Thus, the collaboration of all stakeholders is vital to address this perennial challenge in Catholic education.