Vision for Religious Education
The Vision for Religious Education emphasises the complementarity of the two dimensions of Religious Education and articulates a school’s aspirations for students in terms of their religious literacy and faith formation. In that sense, the Vision begins with “the end in mind”.
The schools and colleges of the Archdiocese of Brisbane aspire to educate and form students who are challenged to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and who are literate in the Catholic and broader Christian tradition so that they might participate critically and authentically in faith contexts and wider society.
The Vision for Religious Education appropriately aligns with the goal for learning and teaching as articulated in the Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) Learning and Teaching Framework (2012):
As a Catholic Christian community, we educate all to live the gospel of Jesus Christ as successful, creative and confident, active and informed learners empowered to shape and enrich our world.
Model for Religious Education
Since 2008, the distinct and complementary nature of both dimensions of Religious Education has been conceptualised in the following Model for Religious Education.
In the schools and colleges of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, teaching people religion and teaching people to be religious draw upon the Catholic Christian tradition in ways that are mindful of local contexts and the ecumenical and multi-faith realities of contemporary culture.
Religious Education Prep – Year 2
In the early years of schooling, students have a natural curiosity about their world, and their desire to make sense of it provides a platform to construct and review their learning through interactions with others, experimentation, scaffolding, explicit teaching and practice and play in the classroom and beyond. This helps them make sense of a world that is outside their immediate experience, as they connect new knowledge with what they already know or believe. This also provides an opportunity to challenge what they know or believe.
The Religion Curriculum enables students in Prep to Year 2 to learn about Jesus’ life as a Jew, his family and friends and his teachings and actions. They learn about God’s loving relationship with people and all of creation, and the many ways in which communities of believers nurture their loving relationship with God, others and all of creation.
Religious Education Years 3-6
During these years of schooling, students begin to understand and appreciate different points of view as they move from an identity centred on the family to a wider world of relationships. They draw on their growing experience of family, school and the wider community to develop their understanding of the world and their relationships with others, past and present. Students increasingly look for and value learning they perceive as relevant, consistent with personal goals and leading to important outcomes.
The Religion Curriculum enables students in Year 3 to Year 6 to develop their understanding of community and its significance for sharing and developing faith. They learn about the experiences of different communities, past and present and the many ways in which faith is lived out and celebrated in their lives. Students learn about the particular communities for whom the human authors of sacred texts shaped their writings. They learn about the relational nature of God as a Trinity and the significance of Jesus’ law of love.