Program Overview

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EDRE639 - School and Parish: Partners in Religious Education

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

In Catholic Schools, the learning area of Religious Education involves acquiring a knowledge and appreciation of the Catholic tradition. An understanding and evaluation of the nature and purpose of education in a Christian community is the foundation upon which strong partnerships can be developed between the school and the parish in the lifelong process of religious education.

This unit explores the relationship between the Catholic school, the parish, and the family and investigates the role of Religious Education within the broader faith community. Students are required to evaluate the dynamic nature of evangelisation, catechesis, and religious education in the context of active, ongoing, and co-responsible collaborations between the Catholic school and the Parish community. Students will explore pedagogies, programs, and processes to see how partnerships can be enhanced between school and parish.

The aim of the unit is to make concrete the relationship between school and parish and for students to generate programs which enhance partnerships between school and parish.

Campus Offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

1. Examine the nature and purpose of education in the Christian community from historical and contemporary perspectives (APST 1.1, 1.2 Lead)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC9, GC11
2. Appraise the relationship between catechesis, religious instruction, religious education, and evangelisation to enhance the development of learning and teaching activities in religious education in school and parish contexts
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC9, GC11
3. Critique contemporary pedagogies and programs for facilitating religious education in partnership in the Christian community, particularly in partnerships between the Catholic school and the parish community
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC9, GC11
4. Assess insights from educational and psychological theory and contemporary Church documents on Catholic education and catechesis that support the development of appropriate and responsive aims and processes of education in faith and worship at different stages of life, including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC11
5. Generate programs and processes for partnerships in religious education between the Catholic school and the parish community that respond to the contemporary context (APST 7.1, 7.3 Lead, APST 7.4 HA)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC3, GC5, GC6, GC7, GC8, GC10, GC11

Content

Topics will include:

• The nature and purpose of education in the Christian community from historical and contemporary perspectives
• The relationship between catechesis, religious instruction, religious education, and evangelisation linked to teaching learning in school and parish contexts
• The roles and responsibilities of the school, parish, and family as partners beyond the Religious Education classroom
• Contemporary pedagogies and programs for facilitating lifelong religious education in partnership in the Christian community
• Insights from educational and psychological theory and contemporary Church documents on Catholic education and catechesis linked to developmental theory and stages of life
• Generation of programs and processes linked to the above topics which help develop partnerships in religious education between the Catholic school and parish community, all responding to the contemporary context.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

The assessment strategy used allows students to progressively develop their knowledge, understanding, and analytical skills to the level of sophistication where they are able to evaluate ways to draw on foundational and contemporary expressions of Christian education in a community of faith and, with a focus on partnerships in religious education, to further develop this community.

To develop this level of creativity, the first assessment task consolidates key theoretical and contextual understandings through synthesising this factual and conceptual knowledge in an extended written response. The second task requires students to apply their understanding through the design, development, and justification of an original program for a partnership in religious education between the Catholic school and the parish community in the final assessment task.

Overview of Assessments

1. Assessment Task 1: Extended Written Response
   • Prepare a Discussion Paper to present to key groups in your local context as a religious educator that explores the nature and purpose of partnerships in religious education between the Catholic school and the parish community.
   • Weighting: 50%
   • Learning Outcomes: LO1, LO2, LO3
   • Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC9, GC11
2. Assessment Task 2: Designing an Original Program
   • Designing an original program for a partnership in religious education between the Catholic school and the parish community:
     • Drawing upon an appropriate pedagogy, developmental theory, and population cohort, generate a 'program' that:
       • Is relevant to the particular context; and,
       • Aims to develop an effective partnership between Catholic school and parish in religious education
   • Weighting: 50%
   • Learning Outcomes: LO4, LO5
   • Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC5, GC6, GC7, GC8, GC10, GC11

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

The unit adopts an "innovative, student-focused" approach, in line with ACU Vision 2033.

EDRE639 is taught in numerous modes (i.e., face-to-face, intensive, online, mixed) and involves 150 hours of focused learning. This consists of lectures and tutorials in the face-to-face mode, and recorded lectures (for asynchronous use), videoconferencing, and webinars in the online mode. The remaining hours are reserved for private research and cooperative learning through forums and reflective journals, leading to the completion of the required assessment tasks.

In the unit, students study the changing contexts in which education occurs in the Christian community. The unit proposes several partnership models that can be used to underpin parish–school relations and provides students with opportunities to consider suitable models that can lead to lifelong education in faith communities by drawing upon local contexts.

Representative Texts and References

• Bishops of NSW and the ACT. (2007). Pastoral Letter: Catholic schools at a crossroads.
• Catholic Education SA and Office for Renewing Parishes. (2018). Being Church together: A theology, vision and guiding principles for the Parish - School Relationship.
• East, T., Aguilera-Titus., Coll, C., RSM, Eckert, A M., Kehrwald L., Lansing., Sean., Martineau, M., Roberto, J., & Tholcke, C M. (2015). Leadership for Catholic youth ministry. Twenty Third Publications.
• Engebretson, K (2014). Catholic schools and the future of the Church. Bloomsbury.
• Mallon, J. (2014). Divine renovation: bringing your parish from maintenance to mission. Twenty-Third Publications.
• Ryan, C., Fini, C., Hart, M., Hodge, J., Rhynehart, T., Koper, M., Hart, M., Sinclair, G., Salmon, P., Woods, P., Toohey, S., Gigacz, S., Pirola, T., Bennett, S., Hasham, S., & Woods, P., (2014). Australian Catholic youth ministry: Theological and pastoral foundations for faithful ministry. Garratt.
• Rymarz, R. (2013). The new evangelisation: issues and challenges for Catholic schools. Connor Court.

Vatican Documents

• Congregation for Catholic Education. (2007). Educating together in Catholic schools: A shared mission between consecrated persons and the lay faithful.
• Congregation for Catholic Education. (2014). Educating today and tomorrow: A renewing passion.
• Congregation for Catholic Education. (2022). Instruction: The identity of a Catholic school for a culture of dialogue.
• Congregation for the Clergy. (2020). Instruction: The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelising mission of the Church.
• Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization. (2020). Directory for Catechesis. St Pauls.
• Pope Francis. (2013). Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium the joy of the gospel.

Appropriate Journals and Websites

Journals

• Australasian Catholic Record

Websites

• Lifelong faith
• National Centre for Pastoral Research

Credit Points

10

Year

2026