Religious Education

Curriculum Objectives

This unit develops students’ skills to use Biblical scholarship, contemporary research, and theories about how students learn to provide high-impact learning opportunities. It covers:

• Teacher readiness to teach the text, including exploring how to interpret the Bible from a Catholic hermeneutical perspective and the identification and teaching of key concepts;
• Informed pedagogical decision-making, including investigating learner needs, learning processes and characteristics of age-appropriate pedagogies; and
• Designing and monitoring Scripture learning for school-aged students.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will:

• demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding to use Biblical commentaries and tools to learn about Scripture
• demonstrate the ability to discover appropriate meaning from Scripture
• demonstrate the identification of age-appropriate content to teach Scripture
• demonstrate skills for informed pedagogical decision-making to plan engaging and innovative units of work, and
• demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills for analysing Scripture teaching to build stronger professional practice.

Assumed Knowledge

D8120 and D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

TBA

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute, we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study, each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This unit provides opportunities for students to develop knowledge and understanding of religious education in both its conceptual and practical aspects. Theoretical insights from research in general education contexts will be explored for their relevance to prominent theories of religious education. The importance of historical, philosophical and theological insights to current religious education practices will be examined for their significance to particular settings and the practical context(s) of the students in question. The unit will ultimately challenge students to relate their knowledge of religious education to a specific setting in which religious education is practised.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit, students will be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of the conjunction of religious education theory and educational research and theory in general
• understand prominent religious education theory in formal religious and public education contexts, and
• demonstrate knowledge of current models of religious education to be found in religious and public education settings.

Assumed Knowledge 

Not applicable

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Assoc Prof Kath Engebretson

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This unit introduces the discipline of religious education in Catholic schools in Australia, in its history and current practice. Attention is paid to the current context of religious and cultural pluralism, and the challenges that this presents in religious education contexts. The unit provides overviews and practical approaches to key topics in religious education.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this course unit, students should be able to:

• utilise a general understanding of religious education as a diverse field in developing their own personal philosophy of religious education
• demonstrate an advanced understanding of, and capacity to critically evaluate, some of the major debates that characterise religious education as a field, and some of the most prominent scholars associated with various schools of thought, and
• identify practical issues and problems associated with the current context of religious education, including in the areas of religious and cultural pluralism, and synthesise their skills and knowledge in religious education.

Assumed Knowledge 

Not applicable

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Associate Professor Kath Engebretson

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This graduate unit allows students to focus at an introductory level on an area of study within a discipline or subdiscipline not available elsewhere in the curriculum. It stimulates the analysis of a current or emergent issue that presents contemporary challenges to Religious Education, distinct from a more general overview. The issue to be investigated will be determined in consultation between the student and the teacher.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• articulate clearly the major elements of challenge involved in the topic
• analyse the factors that have shaped the current form of the issue
• incorporate a range of relevant primary and secondary scholarship into a study of the issue
• analyse the likely impact of the issue in its immediate context, and
• produce a recommendation for action as a response to the challenges presented within the issue

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 & D8121

Lecturer

Associate Professor Kath Engebretson

Study hours

11 hours per week for 11 week session, comprised of:

• At least four hours per week of reading.
• At least seven hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Teaching Methods

Key notes and workshops at the National RE Symposium; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Unit overview and content

In this unit, students will study, at an advanced level, contemporary theories of Religious Education and their intersections with the discipline of Theology. Furthermore, students will explore in detail the current context for Religious Education, including its status in contemporary political discourse and educational theory, as well as the realities of religious and cultural pluralism in which it finds its expression.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• utilise the methodological tools of religious education and theology to analyse the context for religious education in the 21st century
• demonstrate an advanced understanding of, and capacity to critically evaluate, the work of a number of significant thinkers within 21st century religious education theory, and
• identify complex issues and problems associated with religious education in the 21st century, and synthesise their skills and knowledge in religious education and theology to propose creative responses to these.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 and D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Mark Craig

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute, we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study, each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

In this unit, students will be exposed to updated pedagogical theory and associated practices emanating from a range of disciplinary research, including psychology, sociology, philosophy and neuroscience. The aim of the unit is to challenge students to make links between the pedagogical thinking that is driving educational innovation generally and the particular ramification for religious education.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• utilise general pedagogical theory in analysing relevance to religious education as good practice pedagogy
• demonstrate an advanced understanding of, and capacity to critically evaluate pedagogical theory as an essential underpinning of effective religious education, and
• identify practical issues and problems associated with the pedagogical dimension of religious education, and synthesise their skills and knowledge in religious education and theology to propose creative responses to these.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 & D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Dr Amber Calleja

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

Advanced studies in the areas of Religious Education and Theology require students to have knowledge of, and to be able to apply, a diverse range of research principles and methodologies in order to propose, justify and interpret theoretical propositions, conclusions and professional decisions in their leadership roles. Furthermore, graduates of the Master of Religious Education course need to demonstrate their ability to communicate and implement these disciplines, so the unit will provide an overview of research methodologies used within the disciplines of Religious Education and Theology and provide the opportunity to apply them to selected issues.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• demonstrate advanced understanding and critical evaluation of at least two methodological approaches to research in religious education
• demonstrate a capacity to use at least one methodological approach to plan, propose, and defend a minor research project which will apply advanced skills in religious education and theology to identify a problem or issue in the area of religious education and respond to this creatively, and
• demonstrate skills in research and time management.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 & D8121

Study Hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Associate Professor Kath Engebretson

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This advanced graduate course unit provides an opportunity for students to integrate what they have previously learned in the major area of study, in other course units that formed part of the degree, and in their life experiences beyond the formal course of study. Its integrative nature incorporates reflection (on what they have learned), introspection (on where their understanding is currently) and projection (where the study may lead). It enables students to demonstrate a broad mastery of learning across the curriculum, to consider its application in future life situations, and to plan further learning experiences designed to complement and extend their current levels of understanding. It normally introduces little new content, although it may introduce new methodologies and techniques.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• identify and analyse the core disciplinary assumptions and principles of the range of units in their course Major
• assess the degree of alignment of these assumptions and principles with those of course units beyond their course Major
• formulate a statement of wholistic integration of their core learning across the curriculum
• establish a personal plan for the integration of their studies beyond the period of study, and
• design an approach for leading a specific group of people into the implementation of the major learnings from their studies.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120, D8121, D9121, D9231 & D9233

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

TBA

Teaching methods

Online lectures; one-to-one supervision.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Unit overview and content

In this unit, students will study, at an advanced level, contemporary theories of  leadership in religious education.  A key aspect of the unit is how leadership in religious education are informed by theology and canon law and church governance.  Students will explore in detail the current context for leadership in religious education as well as the realities of religious and cultural pluralism in contemporary culture.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• utilise the methodological tools of religious education and theology to analyse the context for religious education in the 21st century
• demonstrate an advanced understanding of, and capacity to critically evaluate, the work of a number of significant thinkers within 21st century religious education theory, and
• identify complex issues and problems associated with religious education in the 21st century, and synthesise their skills and knowledge in religious education and theology to propose creative responses to these.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 and D8121

Study hours

11 hours per week for 11 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least four hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Associate Professor Prof Kath Engebretson

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Unit overview and content

In this unit, students will be exposed to a range of key theoretical positions that inform practise in contemporary religious education. The aim of the unit is to challenge students to make links between their own thinking and major conceptual thinking in the discipline.

Unit content includes:

• • Review of different curriculum/teaching orientations in Religious Education: Understanding the range of issues that influence pedagogy and content
  • A big picture perspective on the historical development and evolution of Australian Catholic school religious education: An essential requirement for the critical evaluation of contemporary theory and practice
  • Perspective on Catholic Church writings that have had a bearing on religious education: From the Second Vatican Council to Evangelii gaudium
  • Issues with the language for religious education in normative Catholic writings and in the writings of theorists
  • The ‘critical’ dimension to Religious Education: RE as the critical interpretation and evaluation of culture
  • International perspective on religious education (Part A): RE in state schools in the United Kingdom and RE in Europe
  • International perspective on religious education (Part B): Religious education in the USA and Canada
  • International perspective on religious education (Part C): School religious education in Australia and New Zealand
  • Religious education in a media-saturated world: Studying the potential spiritual/moral influence of film/TV/Advertising/Social Media
  • How the personal beliefs and professional commitments of the religion teacher have a bearing on classroom religious education

Assumed Knowledge 

REDU800 & REDU801

Study hours

11 hours per week for 11 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least four hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

A/Prof Kath Engebretson

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Unit overview and content

This unit is an advanced study into the relationship between religion and young people in Australia. It begins by exploring empirical research studies of youth and religion internationally, and turns to focus on studies in the Australian context. The unit enables students to develop a critical understanding of how various religious organisations such as churches and educational institutions, approach the intellectual and spiritual development of young people.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• utilise general sociological theory in analysing data related to religion and young people
• demonstrate an advanced understanding of, and capacity to critically evaluate, sociological theory related to religion and young people in the Australian context, and explore implications of this, and
• identify practical issues and problems associated with the findings conveyed through objective 1 and 2, and synthesise their skills and knowledge in religious education and theology to propose creative responses to these.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 and D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Dr Tracy McEwan

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute, we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

In this unit, students will study how the Godly Play approach can influence the development of religious education pedagogy in Catholic schools. The contributions of Maria Montessori, E. M. Standing and Sofia Cavalletti to religious education will be examined, as will the influence of the Montessori Method on Jerome Berryman’s approach to religious education, known as Godly Play. Students will apply key principals of Godly Play to contemporary religious education to create new stories and materials, as well as identify some of the challenges this approach poses for pedagogical practice in Australian Catholic classrooms.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• critically evaluate the work of significant thinkers who have contributed to the development of Godly Play as an approach to religious education
• discern and articulate particular challenges the Godly Play approach may pose for pedagogical practice in contemporary religious education in Australia and suggested creative ways in which these might be addressed, and
• apply key principals of the Godly Play approach to create new materials for religious education which have relevance for their own particular contexts.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 & D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of

• At least 1 hour per week for online lectures
• At least 4 hours per week of reading.
• At least 6 hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Associate Professor Brendan Hyde

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments. Opportunities for face-to-face offerings also exist.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute, we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study, each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This unit focuses on issues of theological concern for religious educators. It enables students to critically analyse theological conceptions of Religious Education; develop skills for articulating the relationship between Theology and Religious Education; and explore issues of practice which arise out of their study in this area.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• demonstrate advanced understanding of the relationship between theology, theological reflection, and religious education
• critically analyse theologies of religious education
• critically evaluate key pedagogical categories to religious education in particular school settings, and
• apply implications of their findings for praxis in religious education.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120, D8121 & T8106

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Mr Mark Craig

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This unit provides students with critical insights into early childhood theory and practice and how that relates to and informs effective early years religious education. Students have the opportunity to explore and understand the notion of childhood, the image of the child in contemporary times, and how these assist early years religious educators to respond to students in the religion classroom. Students will also investigate young children’s spiritual promotion, religiosity, and religious education. Finally, specific teaching and learning practices that enable access to key early years religious education topics, such as children’s literature and biblical storytelling, will be evaluated.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the notion of childhood, and how that contributes to effective early years religious education
• analyse critically the spiritual aspects of young children’s lives and learning, and what opportunities exist for religious education
• demonstrate specialised knowledge and critical understanding of contemporary early childhood education theory and practice, and how that can inform and shape early years religious education
• evaluate critically the effectiveness of specific teaching and learning practices in the early years religion classroom, including children’s literature and biblical storytelling

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 & D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Dr Beth Nolan

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

Travelling Inwards, Travelling Outwards is intended to help nurture the interior lives of teachers and thus assist them in meeting the complex challenges of their profession. The unit explores contemporary discourse on topics such as vulnerability and wholeheartedness and considers ways in which this discourse connects with and is extended by the Christian mystical tradition. Contemporary perspectives on the process of interior flourishing are discussed alongside the wisdom for flourishing contained within classical images such as the dark night and the interior castle. Moreover, practices for cultivating interior growth are presented and explored, and the consequences of developing one’s inner life for areas such as leadership and social consciousness and action are considered. Throughout the unit, daily life in the classroom and beyond is regarded as not peripheral to, but rather at the very heart of, interior growth.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• Articulate a sound understanding of key anthropological and theological insights from the Christian mystical tradition and their relevance to educators.
• Reflect upon and critically analyse fundamental anthropological concepts from contemporary discourse on the interior life and their relevance to educators.
• Contemplatively and critically examine the process of interior growth as presented by both contemporary discourse on the interior life and traditional mystical sources, with particular reference to how this growth can unfold within the lives of educators today
• Describe and evaluate practices for cultivating interior growth presented by both contemporary sources and the Christian mystical tradition, with particular reference to how these practices can be enacted within the lives of educators today.
• Demonstrate a creative and critical understanding of the implications of interior growth for leadership and for social consciousness and action.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120 & D8121

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least one hour per week for online lectures.
• At least three hours per week of reading.
• At least six hours per week of directed study, including optional and assessable online activities.

Lecturer

Dr Michelle Jones

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.

Curriculum Objectives

This graduate course unit provides students with demonstrated initiative and creativity an opportunity to focus at an advanced level in a particular area of Religious Education, under the tutelage and guidance of a specialist in the field. The unit is designed to refine the skills of independent study by allowing the student to define their own study, and to set their own goals by means of an extended guided reading program.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit students will be able to:

• develop a focused topic for independent scholarly investigation
• conduct independent research, under supervision, in terms of locating, utilising and referencing a wide range of appropriate primary and secondary sources
• analyse and evaluate with critical empathy a range of disparate scholarly positions
• defend an independent perspective on the topic of the investigation, and
• produce a cogent set of researched findings in an extended piece of academic writing.

Assumed Knowledge 

D8120, D8121 & D9291

Lecturer

Associate Professor Kath Engebretson

Study hours

10 hours per week for 12 week session, comprised of:

• At least 10 hour per week of directed study, including reading, research, consultation with tutor and writing up of assessment tasks.

Teaching methods

Online lectures; online activities; guided reading; scaffolded assessments; feedback on assessments.

Indicative Assessment

At the Institute we use a range of assessment tasks, including essays, research papers, online posts, critical reflections, projects and praxis exercises. Within a unit of study each set of assessment tasks is designed as an integral part of your learning experience. These tasks vary across units and programs. All assessment tasks are aligned to the Australian Qualifications Framework level appropriate for graduate awards.