scholarly journals Inclusive second level Religious Education in Ireland today: what do teachers say?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amalee Meehan ◽  
Derek A. Laffan
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
International Research ◽  
Catholic Schools ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Knowledge Gap ◽  
Irish Context ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
Inclusion Results

AbstractThe Irish religious landscape is changing. Census data reveal that the percentage of those who identify as Catholic is in steady decline, while the proportion of those with no religion continues to rise. Christian religious practice in Ireland is also decreasing, especially among young people. Catholic schools, once the dominant provider of second level education, are now in a minority. This changing landscape has influenced Religious Education in second level schools. It is now an optional subject, and the historic tradition of denominational, confessional Religious Education has given way to an approach designed to be inclusive of students of all faith and none. Yet the surrounding discourse is unsupported by the perspectives of Religious Education teachers. This study attempts to address this knowledge gap by investigating their views and experiences, particularly with regard to inclusion. Results indicate that teachers are concerned about ‘religious students’. Whereas new to the Irish context, this reflects international research which suggests that in a rapidly secularising society, those who continue to practise any faith, especially the once-majority faith, are vulnerable. Findings signpost evidence of this, with RE teachers most concerned about the bullying of Catholic students and least concerned about the bullying of atheists.

scholarly journals Hospitality to difference: LGBT, religious education and the Catholic school

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roisín Coll
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Catholic Schools ◽  
Catholic School ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
School Sector ◽  
Key Driver ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Informal Groups

AbstractThere has been a rise in claims of LGBTI youth in schools generally across the UK with a surge in young people self-identifying. This is a ‘theme’ or ‘matter’ or ‘question’ that has been insufficiently ventilated in relation to the Catholic school. It is shrouded in inhibition, confusion, evasion or fear. Burying our heads in the sand is not helping us move forward and there is a potential political threat to the mission of Catholic schools from failing to engage. A key driver of this paper is the rapidly changing climate of opinion and activism around LGBTI experiences in schools and society. From an essentially rights based perspective, and supported by powerful equality legislation, people are campaigning vigorously through formal and informal groups for what they perceive as a redress of longstanding exclusion and discrimination. The concern in particular for LGBTI rights and recognition for under 18s has inevitably drawn schools into these national debates.  Three narratives are worthy of discussion around this theme and are inextricably linked: the legal, theological and pastoral narratives. This paper will consider these and suggest the impact that developments are having on the Catholic school sector, and in particular, the teaching of Religious education.

scholarly journals Catholic School Religious Education in a Secular, De-traditionalised Culture: The Formula that is Best for Both the Religious and Non-religious Students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Rossiter
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Catholic Schools ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Catholic School ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
State Institutions

Philip Phenix’s (1964) book Realms of meaning started the ever growing movement concerned with how school education might help young people in their search for meaning in times of rapid social change. Today, in globalised, digital, secularised, de-traditionalised culture, the importance and urgency of this role have never been greater. Cultural change has accelerated exponentially, and for many – including students in religious/Catholic schools – traditional religious sources of meaning are no longer prominent or plausible reference points. Catholic schools, whether independent or semi-state institutions because of government funding, can make a valuable contribution young people’s spiritual/moral education, no matter what their level of religious affiliation or practice. This article argues that such a contribution requires change to the discourse or narrative of Catholic school Religious Education, with corresponding adjustments to content and pedagogy. Its present trajectory, which is excessively concerned with promoting a Catholic identity in students, needs to be modified. Both the religious and non-religious students, especially in the senior classes, would derive greater spiritual and religious benefit from the inclusion of more life-relevant and issue-related content, together with a critical, research-oriented pedagogy. Such an approach proposes that the Catholic Church’s schools should offer unconditionally a meaningful spiritual/moral education that is relevant to all students, rather than a traditional one which seemed to presume that all students are, or should be practising Catholics. This does not minimise attention to the Catholic tradition, but it allows for a study of how people negotiate the task of constructing meaning and values in a complex culture. The article also looks at the ‘headwinds’ that hinder the implementation of this approach. The article is focused specifically on the Australian context where Catholic schools are semi-state institutions because they are funded by both state and federal governments. The issues are still likely to be pertinent to Catholic education in other countries, while taking into account significant contextual differences.

New Religious Movements in Brazil

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Selka
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Evangelical Christianity ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
Late Modern

This article provides an overview of the Brazilian religious landscape and an introduction to this special issue on new religious movements in Brazil. I stress how the Brazilian religious landscape, although often imagined as a place of religious syncretism and cultural mixture, is crosscut by an array of boundaries, tensions and antagonisms, including ones grounded in race and class. The article outlines the major topics and problems taken up by the contributors to this issue, including appropriation across lines of race, ethnicity and class; the growing influence of evangelical Christianity in Latin America and beyond; esoteric religious practice in the late modern era; and questions of purity and authenticity, syncretism and anti-syncretism. Through their engagement with these themes, the articles in this issue contribute to a number of important discussions that relate not only to the study of religion in Brazil but to the study of new religious movements in general.

Black-white mixed race young people in Ireland and their lived experiences of racialised exclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 079160352110684
Author(s):  
Patti O’Malley
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Mixed Race ◽  
Regular Feature ◽  
Black African ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
Irish Context ◽  
Irish Identity ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Shed Light

The multiracial family and the existence of mixed race children have come to be a regular feature of Irish familial life. Yet, nation-building discourses have promulgated notions of ethnic and religious homogeneity with Irish identity being racialised exclusively as white. Moreover, to date, there has been a dearth of academic scholarship related to racial mixedness in the Irish context. Through in-depth interviews, this paper sets out, therefore, to provide empirical insight into the lives of fifteen black (African) – white (Irish) mixed race young people (aged 4 to 18) with a particular focus on their experiences of racialised exclusion. Indeed, findings suggest that, as in other majority white national contexts, the black-white mixed race young people are racialised as black in the Irish public domain and as such, are positioned as ‘racialised outsiders’. In fact, their narrative accounts shed light on everyday encounters saturated by ‘us-them’ racial constructs based on phenotype. Thus, these young people, who are not fully recognised as mixed race Irish citizens, are effectively deprived of a space in which to articulate their belonging within the existing statist (i.e. inside/outside) framework.

Bring recovery to young people: the development of a “discovery college” in Ireland

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Costello
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Project ◽  
Irish Context ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
Recovery Education

Purpose Discovery Colleges are new, exciting innovations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of developing and implementing the first pilot of a Discovery College for young people in Ireland. This paper aims to assist in providing direction for future comparable projects. Design/methodology/approach The author takes a narrative approach to highlight the rationale for introducing the Discovery College model into an Irish context and to outline the project phases and participant feedback. Findings The pilot project is outlined and the key learnings are explained. Originality/value Recovery Education is a growing model both nationally and internationally, and this pilot was an innovative project, the first of its kind to bring Recovery Education to a younger audience in Ireland. This paper aims to assist in providing direction for future comparable projects.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

1927 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis M. Crowley∗
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Catholic Schools
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