TeachingRE Issue 4.pdf - the Second Level Support Service

TEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONThe inspirational professor of Theology andReligious Education,Thomas Groome, describesreligious education activity as ‘a deliberateattending to the transcendent dimension of lifeby which a conscious relationship to an ultimateground of being is promoted and enabled tocome to expression. Religious education focusesspecific attention on empowering people in theirquest for the transcendent and ultimate groundof being. It leads people to consciousness of whatis found, relationship with it, and expression ofthat relationship.’ 1 He explains that it is bothspecific in its own right, yet shares a commonalitywith all education – like all education, it is aboutthe human person developing and reaching fortranscendence.The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed thatwonder was the source of all human learning.Perhaps this is a worthy point of departure for allthat constitutes Religious Education. Since our lastissue of ‘Teaching Religious Education’ (December2008) life has certainly provided ampleexperiences at which to wonder, on various levels:globally, nationally, communally and personally.Recent months have seen events such as theinauguration of President Barack Obama in theUS, Ireland’s historic rugby Grand Slam victory,the untimely death of both Jade Goody andMichael Jackson, the horrors revealed through theRyan Report, the G8 summit in Italy and ofcourse the harsh economic downturn which hasinflicted unemployment and hardship on so many.These are only some of the key events whichhave made headlines in recent times. Our youngpeople are exposed to an unprecedented seriesof events which reveal a narrative of(predominantly) struggle, interspersed withglimmers of joy and happiness. The challengebefore R.E. teachers at this time is immense.Yet itis a challenge that gets to the heart of allworthwhile Religious Education: that ofawakening ever-increasing depths of humandevelopment among our students, andaccompanying them through the quest formeaning and transcendence in it all – the good,the bad and the ugly! Sources of wonder areplentiful, as events such as those mentionedabove indicate.Those of us who remember ourlives as secondary school students in theunemployment and depression of the 1980s maybe particularly well placed to remind studentsthat economic recessions are survivable, and thatwe need to touch base with our innate sense ofhope and purpose.I am confident that our Junior and LeavingCertificate Religious Education courses offer amagnificent educational framework in whichstudents are afforded the opportunity to reallyengage with the substance of life, and to realisethat the religious and non-religious traditions haveprovided a rich means of attending to thatexistential longing, and the desire for relationshipto an ultimate ground of being. Even a cursoryglance at the findings of my recent questionnaireto some Leaving Certificate R.E. students suggeststhat there is genuine engagement and educationhappening at a rich and deep level in our R.E.classrooms. In all the challenges that lie ahead thisyear in our schools and beyond, let us not losesight of the importance of empowering peoplein their quest for transcendence. Let us continueto find opportunities that will spark wonderamong our students, and teach students not justknowledge, but the understanding and wisdomthat are born from engagement with life itself.Issue 4 contains a mix of academic articlesdesigned to support teachers and students ofLeaving and Junior Certificate R.E., as well as acloser look at what is happening at grass-rootslevel in some of our R.E. classrooms. I’m hopingthat further explorations of teachers’ classroomexperience, and students’ perceptions of howtheir learning is being shaped, will move us in thedirection of increasing collegial support in theenterprise of Religious Education. I welcome yourfeedback on any aspect of Issue 4 and alsowelcome your suggestions for Issue 5, which isplanned for Spring 2010. I look forward also tomeeting many of you at our upcomingprofessional development courses, which will besupported and facilitated for the most part byour new local facilitators.Lorraine GillespieNational Support OfficerReligious Education1Groome,T.H.‘Christian Religious Education, Sharing Our Story and Vision’, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1980, p22.TEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ISSUE FOUR SEPTEMBER 20093