Teaching Religious Education in the Midst of Diversity

1. Teaching Religious Education in the Midst of Diversity Professor PetaGoldburgrsm Professor of Religious Education Associate Dean Catholic Identity and Partnerships Australian Catholic University

2. Global village now a reality • Diversity within and among religions not new • Balance our teaching so that it does not restrict the tradition nor relativise the tradition

3. Religion not a private matter • Religion is matter for public square • Religion is important cultural, social and political phenomenon • Teaching about religions is central to inter-cultural education

4. Religious Diversity in Australia • 300,000 Aboriginal people, 600 language groups, many spiritualities • First Fleet: 8 -14 Jews • Convicts: Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists • 1850s Gold Rushes: Buddhists • 1860s: Afghan Muslim camel drivers • Post 1945: European immigrants • Post 1960s: Asian, Middle Eastern immigrants

5. Religious identity • Religious symbols • Religious clothing • Ritual requirements – praying • Dietary requirements

6. Stephen Prothero

7. Religious Literacy • What, how, and why of religion • Critical Religious Literacy • Mary Boys - self-critical scholarship • It does not refer “to one’s attitude toward the content, but to ways of thinking that enable us to recognise the assumptions and bias that we might impose” (Boys 2004, p. 150).

8. 3 phases • Recognition literacy • Reproduction literacy • Reflection literacy

9. Critical pedagogy • Paulo Freire – evaluate and critique received ideas • Ask: • What view of knowledge am I presenting? • What or whose knowledge is seen as valuable?

10. Empowerment • Dialectical teacher-student relationship • Student agency • Student subject of learning rather than object of learning • Dialogic methodology

11. Buzz • Think about what you have heard • One point of interest • One question

12. Three components of RE

13. Catholic Christianity • Sacred Texts • (Old and New Testament; Christian Spiritual Writings &Wisdom) • Beliefs • (Trinity: God, Jesus the Christ, Spirit; Human Existence; World Religions) • Church • (Liturgy &Sacraments; People of God; Church History) • Christian Life • (Moral Formation; Mission &Justice; Prayer &Spirituality)

14. Textured Particularism • characterised by a deep religious self-understanding and a desire to learn from differences without adopting or absorbing the other

15. RE Beyond the Tradition • We need to know and be able to teach about the exterior diversity of religions and the interior complexity of religious traditions. • In learning about the religious other we develop the ability to enter another’s religious tradition without losing our own boundaries.

16. Inter-religious Education & Engagement • Sound knowledge of religion as a foundation for dialogue • Does not compare religions

17. Litmus Test • How do we educate within our communities of faith so that people can engage with religious diversity and with the religious other?

18. New RE Curriculum P-12 • Religious literacy • Firm foundation in Catholic Christianity • Introduces students to major world religions • Foundation for inter-religious relations in religiously diverse world