EDRE101 Religious Education 1

10 cp

Religious Education in both its faith and educational dimensions defines and distinguishes the Catholic school. It is therefore a core and essential key learning area within the primary school curriculum, as well as foundational to the religious life of the school. The Catholic school system in Australia is and has always been a critical and integral element of the Australian Catholic Church. As Australian society becomes increasingly diverse and pluralist, the place of religion within society must be acknowledged and appreciated in the context of the Catholic school, parish and Church. This unit is an introduction to Religious Education in Catholic primary schools, with a focus on Religious Education in the early years of schooling. When considering effective Religious Education pedagogy in early years’ settings, learning and teaching need to be informed by contemporary early childhood theory and practice. Therefore, key aspects of this unit will include: the nature and purpose of Religious Education in Catholic primary schools; approaches to Religious Education in the early years as outlined in relevant diocesan guidelines; the development of basic teaching and learning strategies for early years’ primary Religious Education.

 

EDRE102 Religious Education 2

10 cp

As students move through the Catholic primary school their awareness of the society in which they live increases. The classroom teaching of religion needs to reflect such awareness. This unit focuses on religious education in the middle and senior years of primary schooling. It has specific emphases on students’ understanding and awareness of the Catholic Church tradition including the role and place of sacraments and scripture as well as religion’s place in Australia’s multi-cultural and multi-faith society. When considering effective religious education pedagogy in middle and senior primary settings, learning and teaching needs to be informed by contemporary theory and practice that reflects an understanding of the ways in which students in these primary years have developed. Therefore key aspects of this unit include: curriculum development and evaluation processes, sacramental education, Eucharistic liturgical preparation, moral/values education, the exploration of Scripture with students, an appreciation of Indigenous spirituality as well as multi-faith and multi-cultural perspectives, and an evaluation of religious education resources.

 

EDRE105 Religious Education 3

10cp

This unit focuses on Australian diocesan curriculum documents for Religious Education. It continues to develop the foundational content for teaching Religious Education in contemporary classrooms in the early and middle years of schooling. The unit also explores pedagogical practices and critiques current approaches used to teach beliefs, morality and scripture in the early and middle years of schooling.

 

EDRE106 Religious Education 4

10cp

This unit focuses on sacramental education. It explores the Catholic school’s distinctive role and function in the partnership of parish, family and school in preparing and educating early and middle years’ students in the Sacraments. It applies curriculum development theory to planning and teaching in areas such as sacraments, prayer and liturgical celebrations.

 

EDRE201 Ethics in Habilitation

10 cp

This unit examines ethical issues that arise in the professional sphere of people involved in Habilitation. The students will be exposed to and exercised in the principles, values and habits of thought relevant to moral dilemmas that arise in the provision of service to people with disabilities so that they will be more sensitive in identifying ethical dimensions of their professional practice and be more skilled in analysis, problem solving and ethical decision making.

 

EDRE300 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching 1

10 cp

This unit is an introduction to Religious Education in Catholic or other Christian secondary schools. Key aspects of the unit are: theories about the nature and purpose of Religious Education in secondary schools and evaluation and critique of these various approaches; approaches to Religious Education in relevant diocesan curricula/guidelines; the development of basic teaching and learning strategies for secondary Religious Education.

 

EDRE301 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching 2

10 cp

This unit is designed to extend the knowledge and skills developed in Curriculum and Teaching: Religious Education 1. Key aspects of the unit are: further curriculum development and evaluation processes applied to the teaching of major areas of the Catholic faith tradition; historical and contemporary approaches to Religious Education; the multi‑faith and multi‑cultural classroom in Religious Education; the teaching of State religious studies courses in Catholic secondary schools; moral/values education, and the Religious Education curriculum beyond the school.

 

EDRE306 Indigenous Spirituality 1

10 cp

The course is designed as an introduction to the area of Indigenous spirituality. The content of the unit will be mainly drawn from those Aboriginal writers, artists and elders, past and present, whose work represents an attempt towards defining or expressing their spirituality. In examining this material, emphasis will be given to developing the skills of empathetic interpretation. Attention will also be given to the idea of art as a form of spiritual expression, and the on-going dialogue between Indigenous spirituality and the formation of an Australian identity.

 

EDRE309 Ethics in Professional Practice

10cp

This unit will examine ethical issues that arise in professional work with people with disabilities. The student will be exposed to and exercised in the principles, values and habits of thought relevant to the sort of moral situations that arise in the provision of supports to people with disabilities.

The unit will consist of two main ingredients. The first will be an examination of several cases of ethically interesting situations. These will be issue-raisers and foci for attempting to achieve some systematic rigor in moral reflection. The second segment of the course will be a look at some of the elementary ethical theory, principles and their application important in the analysis and resolution of moral problems in your professional life. This will be more theoretical and will be pursued in lectures and wider reading.

A central aim of the unit is to integrate detailed consideration of concrete cases with helpful theoretical, analytical skills. Both are important abilities in the mature moral thinker.

 

EDRE421 Indigenous Spirituality 2

10 cp

This unit is designed to develop an understanding of various dimensions or components which constitute a community's spirituality. These dimensions will be presented as representing a particular vision of reality for a particular community of believers. A typological methodology will be employed when examining material from both Aboriginal and other Indigenous spiritual cultures as well as from a variety of religious traditions. Emphasis will be given to understanding the dynamic inter-relationship between the dimensions of story, ritual, symbol and socio-cultural concerns.

 

EDRE427 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 3 

10 cp

This unit provides opportunities to study issues related to leadership in religious education in the school, the teaching of senior school religious studies units, curriculum co-ordination in religious education, the place of religious education in the school.

 

EDRE428 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 4

10 cp

This unit examines the role of religious education in relation to other subjects. Other issues that fall within the responsibilities of a specialist religious education teacher, such as teaching difficult concept areas, developing teaching materials and coming to terms with issues that impact on contemporary youth.

 

EDRE434 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1 

10 cp

This unit is an introduction to religious education in Catholic or other Christian secondary schools. Key aspects of the unit are: theories about the nature and purpose of religious education in secondary schools and evaluation and critique of these various approaches; approaches to religious education in relevant diocesan curricula/guidelines; the development of basic teaching and learning strategies for secondary religious education.

 

EDRE435 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2 

10 cp

This unit is designed to extend the knowledge and skills developed in Curriculum and Teaching: Religious Education 1. Key aspects of the unit are: further curriculum development and evaluation processes applied to the teaching of major areas of the Catholic faith tradition; historical and contemporary approaches to religious education; the multi-faith and multi-cultural classroom in religious education; the teaching of state religious studies courses in Catholic secondary schools; moral/values education, and the religious education curriculum beyond the school.

 

EDRE515 Principles of Religious Education 

10 cp

This unit explores issues foundational to religious education in the school as well as the parish or other settings. It situates religious education in a historical, social and cultural context. It describes the nature and purpose of religious education and analyses the philosophical, theological and educational assumptions that lead to distinct perspectives.

 

EDRE516 Religious Education Curriculum

10 cp

This unit focuses on developing and extending the students’ understanding of the principles and processes of religious education curriculum. It applies curriculum development theory to planning in religious education. It examines a range of resources and strategies appropriate to religious education.

 

EDRE517 Liturgy and Prayer in Religious Education

10 cp

The unit introduces students to some approaches to teaching prayer and Christian worship. It provides opportunities for students to develop skills in preparing and implementing liturgies, both sacramental and non-sacramental, based on principles drawn from official Church documents. The unit explores issues of readiness and context for prayer. It highlights the link between liturgical participation and Christian life.

 

EDRE518 Professional Practice in Religious Education

10 cp

This unit provides the opportunity for students to extend their competence and confidence in the practice of religious education. It requires students to plan, implement and evaluate religious education programs in a specific context. The practicum draws upon studies undertaken in the preceding units of the course and the particular interests and needs of the individual student.

 

EDRE519 Religious Education and Values

10 cp

This unit explores the personal, spiritual and moral dimensions of education. It examines the distinctiveness of areas such as personal development, citizenship, self-esteem and values and moral education as they contribute to the full personal and spiritual education of people. It investigates the nature, rationale and curriculum implications of these areas together with their relationships with religious education.

 

EDRE520 Religious Education Seminar

10 cp

This unit provides the flexibility to make use of the occasional presence of visiting lecturers or provide special study arrangements for additional topics that contribute to the objectives of the Graduate Certificate/Diploma course but are not covered within the existing units. It will be developed and advertised for specific topics at different times.

 

EDRE521 Teaching Religion Studies

10 cp

This unit is designed to provide a basic introduction to teaching Religion Studies at post compulsory school level. It gives a brief account of the historical and philosophical background to the development of religion studies courses in Australia and the United Kingdom. It introduces teachers to topics and themes found in religion studies courses and provides a starting point for further studies in these areas. It also explores ways in which these topics can be resourced and taught.

 

EDRE522 Leadership in Religious Education

10 cp

This unit is designed to provide an exploration of contemporary theories and practice of leadership in religious education. It will introduce coordinators and others who are called upon to exercise leadership in religious education, to contemporary theories of leadership; and their implications for the field of religious education; and to the skills needed to implement these in their own context.

 

EDRE523 Religious Education and Social Justice

10 cp

This unit assists students to explore the Catholic Church's tradition of social justice and apply it to their own context of religious education. Biblical, ecclesial, educational and contemporary cultural resources are examined. These resources are used to develop themes and concepts relevant to issues of social justice.

 

EDRE524 Religious Education in Early Childhood

10 cp

This unit is designed for those involved in the care and education of young children. The unit introduces students to some of the literature, issues and themes that arise when considering the religious dimension of early childhood. Students will explore the role of family as the primary experience of religious education. Church documents on catechesis and religious education will be examined for their insights and relevance for early childhood religious educators. The contribution of a range of educational agencies to the religious development of young children will be a major focus of this unit.

 

EDRE525 Personal Development and Religious Education

10 cp

This unit explores the interface between personal development education and religious education. It examines the distinctive contribution of areas such as personal development, sexuality and relationships education to the full personal and spiritual education of the person. It investigates the nature, rationale and curriculum implications of these areas together with their relationships with religious education.

 

EDRE527 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1

10 cp

This unit is an introduction to religious education in Catholic or other Christian secondary schools. Key aspects of the unit are: theories about the nature and purpose of religious education in secondary schools and evaluation and critique of these various approaches; approaches to religious education in relevant diocesan curricula/guidelines; the development of basic teaching and learning strategies for secondary religious education.

 

EDRE528 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2

10 cp

This unit is designed to extend the knowledge and skills developed in Curriculum and Teaching: Religious Education 1. Key aspects of the unit are: further curriculum development and evaluation processes applied to the teaching of major areas of the Catholic faith tradition; historical and contemporary approaches to religious education; the multi-faith and multi-cultural classroom in religious education; the teaching of state religious studies courses in Catholic secondary schools; moral/values education, and the religious education curriculum beyond the school.

 

EDRE529 Teaching the Catholic Tradition 

0 cp

For religious educators working in Catholic schools and parishes, a broad overview of the Catholic Church is a required foundation. This unit provides religious educators with a survey of the Catholic Church, its foundations, historical development, key teachings and sacramental and liturgical expressions. The unit will focus particularly on those aspects relevant to the work of Catholic religious educators, namely the Church’s teachings on social justice, the development of the Church in Australia with particular reference to Catholic education and the preparation of prayer, sacramental and liturgical experiences.