Catechesis and Religious Education: A Case Study From Scotland

Franchi, Leonardo

doi:10.1080/00344087.2013.835640

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…On the other hand is a catechetical program for Catholic schools known by the standard nomenclature "RE" (Scottish Government 2009b). Notwithstanding the Catholicity of this RE program it gives some attention to "other" religions in-line with the Vatican II dictum on religious liberty (see Franchi 2013). However, unlike in England and Wales where RE operates outside the curriculum (Baumfield 2013), in Scotland the subject is offered as one of the eight core curriculum areas that include Expressive Arts, Health & Wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, and Technologies (Scottish Executive 2006).…”

Section: Scottish Contextmentioning

confidence: 95%

Mismatches Between Legislative Policy and School Practice in Religious Education: The Scottish Case

Matemba

2015

Religious Education

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Religious education (RE) is arguably one of the most legislated curriculum areas anywhere in the world, and yet in countries where legislation and educational policy exist to support its provision, how schools implement the subject in practice has not received much attention in the discourse. This article attempts to address this lacuna by analyzing the disjuncture between legislative policy and school practice in RE as it exists in Scottish non-denominational schools. The discussion offers possible explanations suggesting that this has to do more with the flexibility of the Scottish curriculum through the use of "open" national guidelines, and the relative autonomy schools have within the educational system. What is problematized in this article is that mismatches between policy and practice in Scottish RE are symptomatic of the complexity of interpreting and applying legislative policy in a contested school subject. This article highlights the increased contradictions and confusions of differential teacher and school experiences of and responses to legislative policy that govern Scottish religious education (RE), a contested and controversial subject (Matemba 2013b, 7ff), existing in an educational system where schools have increased autonomy regarding how the curriculum is delivered in practice (Teelken 1999, 289). Although this article is concerned with policy-practice issues in Scottish non-denominational schools, it is hoped that the discussion will inform the debate not only in the wider Scottish educational context but contribute to RE discourse in the rest of the United Kingdom and beyond. Informed by Stephen Balls' idea of policy as "discourse" (1997), I theorize on how non-denominational schools engage with legislative policy that govern Scottish RE in light of a recent government report ("Teaching Scotland's Future"), which has decried teachers' professional standards and called for an effective professional development regime for teachers as a way, inter alia, of minimizing the Religious Education

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Section: Scottish Contextmentioning

confidence: 95%

Mismatches Between Legislative Policy and School Practice in Religious Education: The Scottish Case

Matemba

2015

Religious Education

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“…Faith schools, for instance, that utilize religious narrative forms as a source of authoritative wisdom, may be challenged in religious education by the existence of these characteristics of children's spirituality [42]. If the religious education curriculum in a Catholic school still gives the impression that all of the students are, or should be, regular churchgoers (As an example, see the situation in Scotland with Coll [46] and Franchi [47]), it is not relevant to argue that school offers a form of spirituality in education that is relevant to the lives of pupils [43]. Even in faith schools, understanding contemporary spirituality (while it may be secular) is worthwhile in the sense that it is relevant for the pupils' needs and it informs both content and pedagogy [42,43].…”

Section: Questions and Challenges For Education In The Subjective Turnmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Subjective-Life of Spirituality and Its Impact

Ogretici

2018

Education Sciences

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This paper contributes to the discussion on how morality may be uncertain when life orientation changes, for instance, from religious belief to spirituality. Accepting the ‘subjectivation’ thesis as a key concept in understanding the contemporary world, the spiritual realm is treated as a site on which the subjective turn has made a tremendous impact. That turn is investigated particularly in a comparison between “subjective-life” spirituality and “life-as” religion. Then, this paper asks what happens to morality when people’s religious belief disappears, changes, or evolves into spiritual experience. Educational practices are also viewed as a resonant field where the subjective turn has impacted on morality. The context of this paper refers to the subjective turn, as explained by The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Then, the comparison of “life-as” and “subjective-life” is expressed according to their diverse values. Finally, the conclusion deals with the crucial points of morality in subjective life. In this regard, it is stressed that ‘subjectivation’ is a feature of our time, and presenting a remarkable challenge in the realm of values. Since their orientations are different, ‘subjective-lives’ have a different disposition in morality than the mode of “life-as”. Although it is impossible to generalize concerning whether or not spirituality is moral, nevertheless, it is expected that there will be challenges for religious education when dealing with spirituality.

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“…Such historical ideas are seeds of a profound debate within the Catholic community on the aims of Religious Education (Franchi 2013;Rymarz 2011). The issue is crystallised when we compare the English and Italian versions of important documents in the field of Religious Education.…”

Section: The Work Of the Congregation For Catholic Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Authentic Religious Education: A Question of Language?

Franchi¹

2018

Religions

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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 ultimate aim of the subject. A presentation of the linguistic inconsistency between English and Italian translations of documents of the Holy See reveals the scale of the challenge. This unsatisfactory arrangement needs reform. Rooted in a close critical study of Catholic teaching on education, the article presents two arguments designed to initiate the reform process: (a) the Catholic Church’s settled teaching on Religious Education must develop greater internal cohesion before it can make a meaningful contribution to intercultural dialogue, and (b) an International Directory of Religious Education, written collegially by qualified lay people and clergy, will build stronger foundations for shared understanding of the aims and scope of Religious Education among key stakeholders in Catholic schools. This shift in direction will harmonise Religious Education expectations in Catholic schools, and offer firmer ground for dialogue with those who manage and teach Religious Education in so-called ‘non-denominational’ schools.

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Catechesis and Religious Education: A Case Study From Scotland

Cited by 9 publications

References 14 publications

Mismatches Between Legislative Policy and School Practice in Religious Education: The Scottish Case

Mismatches Between Legislative Policy and School Practice in Religious Education: The Scottish Case

An Exploration of Subjective-Life of Spirituality and Its Impact

Authentic Religious Education: A Question of Language?

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