Religious Education

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.

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.