Education Commons^™

Practices For Sport-Coach Mentorship: A Historical Case Study For Coaches In Catholic Schools Today, Matt Hoven

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

Sport-coach mentorship is perhaps the raison d’etre for the inclusion of sports programming within Catholic schools. Coach-educators can have significant and even lifelong impact on student-athlete growth and development. But, how, exactly, should coaches act as mentors in faith-based, educational contexts? Drawing upon an extensive archival and interview research project, this paper presents a historical case study of the sport-coach mentorship of Father David Bauer, csb (1924-88), an educator and exceptional Canadian ice hockey player, coach, manager, and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. Bauer mentored and spoke out for young sportspeople over many decades. The first part of this paper …

Bullying Prevention And Mediation: The Role Of Values Education, Janine Brown, Boris Handal, Liz Mckenna, Sandra Lynch

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

The growing incidence of bullying in schools calls for alternative prevention and mediation approaches in which values are integrated into current practices. This study explores educators’ and parents’ beliefs about the explicit application of a values-based approach to bullying intervention and mediation in Catholic schools. Individual and focus group interview among teachers, principals and parents were held in three Catholic primary schools in the Sydney Metropolitan area. The study also served to identify current anti-bullying practices employed as well as to examine specific values perceived to be relevant by parents and educator in preventing and solving bullying conflicts. Respondents showed …

Ways Forward In Religious Education: Reflections Of An Australian Colloquium, David Hall Fms, William Sultmann Am

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

Within a changed and changing context for Religious Education, scholars and practitioners (n = 57) across Australia gathered to share and discern ways forward in Religious Education (RE) within Catholic schools. A Constant Comparative Analysis process identified five pathways (ways forward) in support of RE (Formation, Pedagogy, Curriculum, Partnerships, and Research). Each pathway was underpinned by foundations in faith, summarised by an integrating principle and advanced through strategic intentions. Faith foundations for Formation were centred in Christ, acknowledged Church tradition and focused on mission as part of one’s faith journey. The arena of Pedagogy was reinforced as dependent on dialogue, …

Catholic Schools, Accompaniment And Subsidiarity: Some Teacher Observations From A Small, Regional School System, Richard M. Rymarz

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

This research uses subsidiarity, a key principle of Catholic social teaching, to better understand teachers in a small, regional Australian diocese. Nine teachers with at least three years’ experience working in Catholic schools in the diocese were interviewed. The interviews focussed on three research questions: How do teachers come to work in this Catholic school system? What is their experience of working in Catholic schools? How do they feel supported in Catholic schools especially in regard to teaching religious education and identifying with the ethos of the school? Results indicated that the life journeys of teachers that brought them to …

Have You Gone To Galilee? Spiritual And Religious Formation For Catholic School Educators In Western Australia, Margaret Scharf, Chris Hackett, Shane Lavery

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

This paper explores the personal and professional perceptions of twenty-two Catholic school educators in Western Australia who participated in a spiritual and faith formation program called Galilee. The paper initially outlines the background of the program followed by a review of the literature that focuses on five concepts: people are spiritual and religious beings; a desire to belong; the place of prayer; a journey of faith; and spiritual and faith formation. The research methodology is then provided. Specifically, the research was based on qualitative and quantitative data derived from an on-line survey. The results are reported in four sections. The …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives On Teaching Scripture In Primary Religious Education, Sharon Law-Davis, Christine Robinson, Jessica Fic, Rebecca Mola

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

One of the challenges for pre-service teachers in Catholic primary schools is the teaching of scripture stories within Religious Education. Research states that Catholic teachers in the 21st century require tertiary training in teaching the Religious Education curriculum and they need to learn effective strategies to teach specific content in this learning area, including scripture. Godly Play includes an approach to teaching scripture that was intended for use in parish and hospital settings. Godly Play is now promoted by Catholic Education Western Australia as a meaningful approach for influencing the teaching of scripture in RE in early childhood and primary …

Theological Foundations Of Pastoral Care In Catholic Universities, Thomas V. Gourlay

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

One defining element of life in any Catholic educational institution, whether it be primary, secondary, or tertiary, is the focus on pastoral care for staff and students. This paper provides a distinctly Catholic definition of the term ‘pastoral care’ and briefly examines the theological foundations that underpin this concept, particularly, in relation to its application in the Catholic university. The paper traces the motif of pastoral care through the Scriptures and, building on insights from St. Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution on Catholic Universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (1990) and the broader theological anthropology of the Vatican II Council. The …

Spiritual And Religious Capabilities For Catholic Schools, Christine Mcgunnigle, Chris Hackett

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

The Australian Curriculum articulates the role of general capabilities across all learning areas in the schooling years. The function of these general capabilities is to ensure that students have the dispositions and skills that provide for deep learning and the ability to function successfully in the 21^st Century. Within Catholic schools, these same general capabilities apply. Catholic schools, in recognising the mission of the Church, are however, called to ensure that not only are students able to participate in the 21^st Century context, but that they are able to evangelise through the integration of faith, life and culture. …

Catholic Teachers’ Postgraduate Qualifications And Students’ End Of Schooling Outcomes: A Large Scale Queensland Based Comparative Study, Judy Smeed, Beryl Exley

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

Abstract

A key feature of the current era of Australian schooling is the dominance of publically available student, school and teacher performance data. Our paper examines the intersection of data on teachers’ postgraduate qualifications and students’ end of schooling outcomes in 26 Catholic Systemic Secondary Schools and 18 Catholic Independent Secondary Schools throughout the State of Queensland. We introduce and justify taking up a new socially-just measurement model of students’ end of schooling outcomes, called the ‘Tracking and Academic Management Index’, otherwise known as ‘TAMI’. Additional analysis is focused on the outcomes of top-end students vis-à-vis all students who are …

Religious Education Leadership And The 21st Century: Overcoming Disconnectedness, Michael T. Buchanan

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

The role of the religious education leader is a relatively new role within Catholic education in Australia. This leadership position has evolved since the time of its emergence in the decades following Vatican II; however, there appears to be a lack of clarity and understanding about the role and its impact upon a school. While the religious education leader plays a significant role in building a school community, a recent study which sought to discover the kinds of support these leaders need found that many religious education leaders encountered experiences of disconnectedness in their own school communities. Drawing on the …

Leading The Way: Catholic School Leaders And Action Research, Anthony C. Holter, James M. Frabutt, Ronald J. Nuzzi

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

Recent research extols the value of problem-based learning strategies in exemplary school leadership preparation programs as one way to provide school leaders with the appropriate tools to systematically use data to make important decisions. The purpose of this study was to address the current gap between the noted importance of problem-based learning strategies in leadership preparation programs, and the demonstrated effect these strategies have on the knowledge, skills, behaviours, and values of school leaders. The study employed a longitudinal mixed-method research design to examine discrete action research skills, behaviours, and values of 44 candidates enrolled in a Master of Arts …

Historical Inquiry Into The Construction Of Religion As A School Subject For Catholic Schools In Australia, Thomas A. O'Donoghue, David Byrne

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

One of the most distinctive features of Catholic schools, both past and present, is their religious character. In Australia, as in many other parts of the world, the Catholic community invested significant energy developing and preserving this character. Central to this has been the teaching of Religion. Yet, from a historical perspective, there has been little effort undertaken to understand how Religion as a subject in Catholic schools has been constructed. This paper takes its lead from the latter observation. It is in three parts. First, the general historical background is outlined. Second, the importance of producing historical analyses of …