Ever since its promulgation, in the late 1960s, the
curriculum document entitled The Melbourne Religious Education Guidelines for Primary Students in the Archdiocese of Melbourne
has attracted strong criticism from various members of the Roman
Catholic community. This adverse criticism has prompted me to
undertake an evaluation of the 1984 edition of this document.
To enable me to analyze the document, both theologically
and educationally, I have constructed classifications of theologies
and education models. These classifications have been used to
identify the dominant theological basis of the suggested curriculum
and the religious education model used in its implementation.
My analysis established that the theological basis of
the document was Propositional, tempered by some of the characteristics
of Heilsgeschichte theology. The content of the program
contained both secular and religious material but, since they
were not integrated, they gave the impression of two separate
syllabi, used independently of each other.
The methodology commenced with the students' experience
but proceeded to the transmission of doctrinal religious knowledge.
The language used in the expression of aims and goals contained
characteristics of Heilsgeschichte theology and the Kerygmatic
model of religious education. It was, therefore, seen to be in
tension with the teaching methodology which emphasized transmission
of doctrine, thus causing internal tensions and inconsistencies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218984 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Haddock, Francesca, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Francesca Haddock |
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