EDNE601 - Creating Centres of the New Evangelisation Catholic Schools Parishes and Church Ministries

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

This unit is offered in multi-mode (i.e. delivered online and in face-to-face contexts) and uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of the knowledge and skills associated with developing centres of the New Evangelisation in Schools, Parishes and Movements. Students are able to with a series of online asynchronous interactive sessions as well as attend synchronous online webinars to participate in the construction and synthesis of this knowledge. This approach allows flexibility for students who are largely engaged in full-time work.

Unit rationale, description and aim

Within Catholic schools, Religious Education is a key learning area and for Catholic schools in Australia, Religious Education has been one of the ways in which the Catholic tradition has been transmitted across generations. Effective Religious education involves learning about religion and also participating in the Catholic tradition, so as to develop students as people of faith.

In this unit postgraduate students explore the proposal that Catholic schools could become centres of the New Evangelisation. It begins with an exploration of Church documents and contemporary literature about the mission of Catholic schools. By identifying challenges for schools in achieving this vision students will examine and critique current approaches used to develop and promote the new evangelisation. Specific skills in planning and leading student, youth ministry and staff faith formation experiences (such as retreats, liturgy, staff and student prayer) are developed. An in situ investigation will be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches. In addition, youth evangelisation models and pathways from Catholic school to Church community (Parishes and Movements) are examined. Postgraduate students will also participate in a workshop designed to focus on the development of individual and system-wide school-based plans and Church based youth ministry plans.

The aim of this unit is to equip teachers, school leaders and youth ministry or Church leaders with the knowledge, skills and expertise to develop Catholic schools and Church communities as dynamic expressions of youth evangelisation.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:

Content

Topics will include:

• Catholic schools as centres of the New Evangelisation including post-conciliar Church documents and contemporary literature; challenges and implications of the contemporary cultural landscape; the critical role of teachers and leaders in staff and student formation.
• Creating favourable conditions for a formation process; Contemporary frameworks and interrelated components of evangelisation in Catholic Schools (explicit and implicit) including student retreats, liturgy and prayer, service and justice initiatives, WYD and other Youth Festivals.
• Catechesis student models incorporating Religious Education: a study of the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry 4 phase model including youth ministry pathways from school to parish and Church ministries. Contemporary catechesis models for primary school are explored including incorporating retreat experiences, regular formation in the classroom and peer-to-peer ministry.
• Animating evangelisation in Catholic schools, Parishes and Church ministries including contemporary skills in student ministry.
• Leading school(s) investigation including pathways from school to parish and Church ministries.
• The forming of teachers and leaders in evangelisation:
• Teachers and leaders – resources and professional formation programs; School based planning tools and exercise.
• Youth ministers and Church leaders – resources and professional formation networks: parish and movement planning tools and exercise.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is offered in multi-mode (i.e. delivered online and in face-to-face contexts) and uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of the knowledge and skills associated with developing centres of the New Evangelisation in Schools, Parishes and Movements. Students are able to with a series of online asynchronous interactive sessions as well as attend synchronous online webinars to participate in the construction and synthesis of this knowledge. This approach allows flexibility for students who are largely engaged in full-time work.

Where required by cohorts, part or all of the unit could be delivered face-to-face with students engaging in lectures and workshops as well as students accessing digital resources and activities available through the Canvas site.

This learning and teaching strategy facilitates active participation in pedagogical approaches that demonstrate alignment of teaching, learning and assessment and the strategy is responsive to the diverse contexts of individual students and cohorts.

This is a 10 credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video, workshops, and assignments etc. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to successfully complete this unit, postgraduate students need to complete and submit two graded assessment tasks.

The assessment strategy used allows students to progressively develop their knowledge, understanding and skills to the level of sophistication where they are able to evaluate ways to draw on foundational and contemporary expressions of Christian education in a community of faith and, with a focus on evangelisation in Catholic schools, Parishes and church based ministries, to further develop this community.

In order to develop this level of creativity the first assessment task consolidates key theoretical and contextual understandings through synthesising this factual and conceptual knowledge in an extended written response, and apply their understanding through the development of a resource or plan focused on a School or Parish or Movement becoming a centre of the New Evangelisation.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life. (2014), Anointed and sent: An Australian vision for Catholic youth ministry. Canberra, ACT: Australian Catholic Relief.

East, T., Aguilera-Titus., Coll, C., RSM, Eckert, A M., Kehrwald L., Lansing., Sean., Martineau, M., Roberto, J., & Tholcke, C M. (2015). Leadership for Catholic youth ministry. New London, CT: Twenty Third Publications.

Engebretson, K (2014). Catholic schools and the future of the church. New York/London: Bloomsbury.

Engebretson, K; de Souza, M; Rymarz, R; & Buchanan M. (2008). Cornerstones of Catholic secondary religious education: Principles and practice of the new evangelisation. Terrigal, NSW: David Barlow.

Ryan, C., Fini, C., Hart, M., Hodge, J., Rhynehart, T., Koper, M., Hart, M., Sinclair, G., Salmon, P., Woods, P., Toohey, S., Gigacz, S., Pirola, T., Bennett, S., Hasham, S., & Woods, P., (2014). Australian Catholic youth ministry: Theological and pastoral foundations for faithful ministry. Mulgrave, Vic: Garratt.

Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of NSW and the ACT 2007. Catholic schools at a crossroads. Retrieved from http://www.cecnsw.catholic.edu.au/db_uploads/catholic-schools-at-a-crossroads.pdf

Rymarz, R. (2013). The new evangelisation: issues and challenges for Catholic schools. Ballan, Vic: Connor Court.

Woods, P. (2014). Catholic schools and the new evangelisation in Australian Catholic youth ministry: theological and pastoral foundations for faithful ministry, 215-238. Mulgrave, Vic: Garratt Publishing.

Vatican Documents

Congregation for Catholic Education. (2007). Educating together in Catholic schools: A shared mission between consecrated persons and the lay faithful. Retrieved from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20070908_educare-insieme_en.html

Congregation for Catholic Education. (2014). Educating today and tomorrow: A renewing passion. Retrieved from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20140407_educare-oggi-e-domani_en.html

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013) [Apostolic Exhortation]. Retrieved from http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html