This study investigates current teaching practice of the classroom religion program in two preschool settings in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. It also examines the approach to, and construction of, religious education in key Church and Brisbane Archdiocesan documents. Since the first Catholic school opened in Australia in 1820, research and scholarship have elucidated deeper understandings of the nature and purpose of religious education. Over time, a variety of approaches and curriculum models for the classroom religion program have been implemented in both primary and secondary schools. Broadly speaking there are two approaches to the Catholic primary school classroom religion program: educational and catechetical. The educational approach does not presume students' faith, and aims to develop students' religious literacy. The catechetical presumes student faith and aims to develop it. Currently, the Brisbane Catholic Education Religious Education Guidelines (Barry & Brennan, 1997a, 1997b; Barry et al., 2003) adopts an educational approach to the classroom religion program. However, while the approach to religious education in Catholic primary and secondary schools has received scholarly and professional attention over the years, the nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood education in the context of the Catholic preschool, have received minimal attention. Although the first preschools in Catholic schools in the Brisbane Archdiocese opened in 1988, there is no set curriculum for the classroom religion program for the preschool sector. However, Brisbane Catholic Education is presently preparing such a document in preparation for the introduction of the preparatory year of schooling into all Archdiocesan Catholic schools in 2007. The specific focus of the study is to use teachers' talk-in-interaction with their students during classroom religion lessons, as a means to exemplify their approaches to, and constructions of, their classroom religion programs. Underpinned by an Ethnomethodological methodology, the study gathered data in the form of lesson recordings from two preschool teachers. The lesson transcripts are analysed using the ethnomethodological analytic tools of Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorisation Analysis. These analyses reveal deep insights into teachers' practices: the nature of the content they present, their approaches to, and constructions of, their religion programs, as well as the ways in which they construct their students. In addition to classroom practice, this study also investigates relevant sections of the key Church documents The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1988) and the General Directory of Catechesis (Congregation for the Clergy, 1997), as well as the Archdiocese of Brisbane Catholic Education document, 'Religious Education in Preschools', which is part of the Preschool Handbook: Towards Continuity of Learning in the Early Years (Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane, 2002b). Together with the Ethnomethodological methodology, this part of the investigation adopts a functional linguistic methodology using the analytic technique, Systemic Functional Linguistics. Both Systemic Functional Linguistics and Membership Categorisation Analysis are used to explicate these documents. The two Church documents are critical documents, as they contribute to curriculum development and implementation of the classroom religion program in all Australian Catholic schools, whilst the Brisbane document outlines the current policy for religious education in Catholic preschools in the Archdiocese. These analyses elucidate key insights into how the classroom religion program is approached, and reveal that whilst the Church documents maintain an educational approach, aspects of the documents are ambiguous. Analysis of the Brisbane Archdiocesan preschool document reveal it to be at variance with the current educational approach taken by the Archdiocese in its classroom religion curriculum for primary and secondary schools. This study contributes significantly to the nature and purpose of religious education in the early years. It has implications for the theory and practice of the classroom religion program in early childhood, and for preservice and inservice teacher education programs. It also contributes to policy design that guides and shapes curriculum development and implementation. The use of analytic techniques drawn from two different methodologies, Ethnomethodology and functional linguistics, enables a detailed and in-depth analysis, showing them to be effective techniques to be used together in research. These methodologies complement each other to reveal critical insights into both the document studies and teacher classroom interaction. The nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood education is evolving. As Catholic dioceses continue to expand into early childhood education, the focus on religious education in this sector becomes more critical. This study provides a significant foundation for future research.

This thesis aimed to study the perspectives of religious education coordinators’ in secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne regarding their management of a particular curriculum change in religious education. The change in question involved a “top down” (Morris, 1995) change to a “text-based curriculum” (Pell, 2001) directed by the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is responsible for religious education in Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese. Situated within a qualitative paradigm this research utilised grounded theory as a means to identify and analyse the theory generated from interviews with religious education coordinators who were responsible for managing the change. The emergent categories were used to generate new theory in relation to how religious education coordinators managed the curriculum change. Key theories generated from this study included factors that impeded the change such as an inability to understand the theoretical position underpinning the curriculum innovation, and inadequate qualifications to teach religious education. It also generated theory about factors that assisted the management of this change such as time to reflect on practice, and support from school leadership teams. The theory generated was analysed against the existing knowledge about curriculum change in education, textbook use and leadership in religious education. A distinguishing aspect of this research is that it linked the general literature on educational change as it applies to curriculum change, with curriculum change in religious education.The study also proposed some recommendations for future directions and practices concerning the management of curriculum change in religious education in Catholic schools.

To Know Worship and Love is the religious instruction curriculum produced and mandated for use by the Archdiocese of Melbourne. The primary series comprises a Teaching Companion and Student Text for every level of education, Preparatory to Year 6. This study undertakes examination of the series to determine if biblical metaphors for God which contain a physical vehicle are used and presented within it in accord with the accepted exegetical practices of the Church. The study begins by examining Church documents that pertain to both religious instruction and Scripture to determine a set of principles which should guide the use of Scripture. Notable among the six principles elucidated is the expectation that the use of Scripture should reflect accepted exegetical practices of the Church. These are defined as those which enable a clear understanding of the literal sense of Scripture, as ascertained through use of the Historical-Critical method. In order to come to a sound understanding of the literal sense of metaphors, the study reviews how they work and what results from their use. Such a review is important for two reasons. First, in the finding that metaphors for God prompt the formation of a concept of God, the need for their valid interpretation in religious instruction is stressed. Second, it enables the articulation of eight specific requirements for the interpretation of biblical metaphors for God. Subsequent examination of the series against what is required reveals that of the eight requirements, only one is provided within the series. No unit or activity identifies the sixty-three biblical metaphors cited in the series and no unit teaches students how they work to communicate meaning. No unit provides information of the vehicles used within their historical setting and no unit explains the historical circumstances which gave rise to the dominance of certain metaphors. In order to explain why biblical metaphors for God are presented so poorly in To Know Worship and Love, the use of Scripture generally in the series is examined against the six principles drawn from Church documents. The finding that the series does not observe the principles which should guide the use of Scripture, in particular, the finding that the series does not use accepted exegetical practices of the Church, provides significant insight into the inadequate presentation of metaphors. The study concludes by making three recommendations. First, it recommends that a process of rewriting To Know Worship and Love must be undertaken immediately. Second, it recommends that the use and placement of Scripture in religious instruction programmes in the future adhere to the six principles of the Church outlined in this study. Third, it recommends that the clear and accurate teaching of what metaphors and how they work be made a priority in religious instruction programmes.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Teachers College, Columbia University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-236) Also available on the Internet.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the lower secondary school teaching in religion leads to a positive understanding and openness, concerning different religions and cultures. We want to study how pupils in grade eight and nine in two lower secondary schools in a multicultural community comprehend different religions. Since we choose a pupils perspective we decided to do a questionnaire to get a wide ground. As a complement we interviewed twelve pupils and also did observations during their religion classes. During our study we focused on three different themes. These themes are the abrahamitic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) Hinduism & Buddhism and attitudes to religion. Our theoretical point of view is the intercultural perspective. Therefore we have studied government’s documents and propositions about intercultural education and we have also used an anthology by Pirjo Lahdenperä called Interkulturell pedagogik i teori och praktik (2004). We aim to investigate if the teaching in religion is compatible with the intercultural education. The thesis reveals that there are lots of prejudices among the pupils in these two schools. We think that it is important that the teaching in religion must focus not only at the Christianity in younger ages. The subject must contain other religions like Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism in much earlier age. Otherwise the pupils will create their own picture of the different religions through media. The Swedish governments goals about school (LPO 94) and the document about the teaching in religion (kursplanen i religionskunskap) both can, according to us, be used as tools for intercultural education. The problem is that the teachers do not know how to use these tools. The methods of intercultural education must be clearer and the teachers more conscious. Before that happens, we can not state that the education is totally intercultural. We have a big challenge in front of us when we finally will step out on the labour market!

Solving global environmental problems requires a major change of values. As relates to environmental education, worldview, ethics and spiritual issues are important elements. But how are environmental issues included in such school subjects that especially discuss values and ethics? In this article I examine 24 Finnish religious education and ethics textbooks to analyze, to what extent environmental issues are integrated and discussed in them. I conclude that there is confusion about what environmental education can be in societal school subjects. The environmental texts in textbooks do not always draw on the specific content of the societal subject in question but repeat content from the natural sciences. Therefore, I suggest contexts and perspectives for discussing environmental issues that would comport with these subjects and supplement existing environmental education at school.

Thesis (Habil.)--Münster, Universiẗat, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [371]-395) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1931. / Published also by the Westminister press with title: Measuring certain aspects of faith in God. On cover: University of Pennsylvania. "This study was undertaken primarily as a project of the Department of educational research of the Presbyterian board of Christian education."--Introd. Bibliography: p. 114-118.

Thesis (M.R.E.)--Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary, 1957. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [68]-70).

Swedish students in the upper secondary school will recieve informaition regarding religion from multiple sources. If we look past the students surroundings like the family, friends or multimedia school is still the primary arena for religous education. Discussions about religion will take place in other lessons than just the subject religion. History is in my opinion the subject closest related to religion and the two makes up for a lot of the values work in swedish schools. Textbooks is still one of the most important tools for education and that makes them important as objects to study. This essay examines how religion is portrayed in textbooks for the history courses in swedish upper secondary schools. By using a qualitative text analysis I have been able to identify and discuss a few important issues that future teachers have to be aware of. The most apparent issue is how the presentation of Islam differs from other religions. Knowledge about how the textbooks present religion makes it possible for teachers and students to critically analyze the texts they are working with.