Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitPrerequisites
NilUnit rationale, description and aim
Within faith-based 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 Christian tradition has been transmitted across generations. Religious education involves learning about religion as well as participating in the Catholic tradition, so as to develop students as people of faith.
In this unit students investigate the relationship between discipleship and mission. It explores the relevance of missionary discipleship from its scriptural foundations to its application in a contemporary context. Students also explore what is fundamental to sustain missionary outreach, in particular the spiritual development and journey of the minister. The unit includes a comprehensive study of the Church's missionary activity and new methodologies in missionary outreach including kerygmatic and social dimensions. The unit culminates in the application of these understandings in the development of a mission education program.
The aim of this unit is for students to develop their roles as missionary disciples and to enact this in practical ways within various situations.
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.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description |
|---|---|
| LO1 | Explain the relationship between discipleship and missionary outreach as paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity and the consequent implications for educational and ministry leaders |
| LO2 | Identify spiritual practices that deepen responses to discipleship and prepare and sustain leaders in missionary outreach |
| LO3 | Examine and reflect on models of evangelisation focused on the social dimension of the Gospel including the poor and marginalized |
| LO4 | Analyse and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of mission, its centrality to the Church’s identity and the relationship between evangelisation and culture |
| LO5 | Synthesise key concepts of missionary discipleship in order to construct a comprehensive mission education program |
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:
3.2 Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies. |
3.6 Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning. |
6.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs. |
6.3 Seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices. |
6.4 Demonstrate an understanding of the rationale for continued professional learning and the implications for improved student learnings. |
Content
The topics will include:
- Missionary Discipleship: leaders in a time of flux and transition; leaders as missionary disciples; the relationship between discipleship and mission; the missionary option; the Church’s missionary transformation.
- Forming spirit filled evangelisers: reasons for a new missionary impulse and participation in spiritual practices that enable and sustain effective ministry.
- The social dimension of evangelisation: the service of charity, the inclusion of the poor and social justice, the common good and peace.
- The Church’s current understanding of mission as expressed in Evangelii Gaudium; cross-cultural mission as an expression of the goals of evangelisation; developing a culture of mission within a Catholic community including activities such as immersion and mission experiences; service learning and justice outreach.
- Developing a Mission Education Program.
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 essential knowledge associated with educating people with the Catholic Christian tradition with a focus on mission and ministry. Students are able to explore the essential knowledge related to mission and ministry through a series of online asynchronous interactive sessions. Students also 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 their missionary contexts.
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 enables students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of mission and ministry in task 1 and then in task 2 to apply that knowledge to evaluate contemporary expressions of Christian education in a community of faith through the design and development of a missionary plan suitable for their context.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1: Critical Reflection Students complete an extended writing task focusing on the relationship between discipleship and mission. Students critically analyse and synthesise relationships between spiritual disciplines and sustained missionary outreach. | 50% | LO1, LO2 |
Assessment Task 2: Mission Education Program In the light of their research in task 1, students design a Ministry Education Program focused on developing a culture of mission within an education or Church community. The Program should be based on a well-articulated rationale that outlines how the learning activities contribute to building a culture of missionary outreach grounded in the evangelising mission articulated by the Catholic Church. | 50% | LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Representative texts and references
Barker, K. MGL (2001). Becoming fire: A spiritual journey of faith. North Melbourne, Australia: Freedom.
Barron, R. (2013). Catholicism: The new evangelisation video and study guide. Skokie, IL: Word on Fire.
Cantalamesso, R. OFM Cap (2014). Navigating the new evangelisation. Boston: Pauline Books and Media.
Hahn, S. (2014). Evangelising Catholics: A mission manual for the new evangelisation. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor.
Martin, R. (2013). The urgency of the new evangelisation. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor.
Pourteous, J. (2014) New evangelisation: Pastoral strategy for the Church at the beginning of the third millennium. Ballarat: Connor Court Publishing.
Weddell, S A. (2012) Forming intentional disciples: The path to knowing and following Jesus. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor.
Church Documents
Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975) [Encyclical letter]. Retrieved from
Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici (1988) [Apostolic Exhortation]. Retrieved from
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013) [Apostolic Exhortation]. Retrieved from