Unit rationale, description and aim

As students move through the Catholic primary school their awareness of the wider society in which they live increases. The classroom teaching of religious education needs to reflect such awareness. This unit focuses on religious education in the middle and senior years of primary schooling. It has specific emphases on students' understanding and awareness of the Catholic Church tradition including the role and place of sacraments and scripture as well as religion's place in Australia's multi-cultural and multi-faith society. When considering effective pedagogy in the middle and senior primary religion classroom settings, teaching and learning need to be informed by contemporary theory and practice that reflect an understanding of the ways in which students in these primary years develop.

2025 10

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  • Professional Term 5Online Scheduled
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  • Semester 2Multi-mode

Prerequisites

EDRE290 Religious Education Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment 1 OR EDRE101 Religious Education 1: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment OR EDRE161 Religious Education 1

Incompatible

EDRE102 Religious Education 2: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment , EDRE162 Religious Education 2

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.

Critically apply knowledge about curriculum develo...

Learning Outcome 01

Critically apply knowledge about curriculum development, preparation, implementation and evaluation to the classroom teaching of religion (APST 1.1, 1.2)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC7

Identify various approaches to sacramental educati...

Learning Outcome 02

Identify various approaches to sacramental education and develop appropriate teaching and learning strategies for the middle and senior primary classroom (APST 1.1, 2.1)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC8

Prepare creative Eucharistic and non-Eucharistic l...

Learning Outcome 03

Prepare creative Eucharistic and non-Eucharistic liturgies using expertise and appropriate skills drawn from contemporary curriculum and liturgical documents (APST 2.1, 2.2)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC4, GC9, GC11, GC12

Identify and implement critical teaching and learn...

Learning Outcome 04

Identify and implement critical teaching and learning processes to the teaching of scripture with middle and senior primary students (APST 2.2, 3.2)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC7, GC11

Identify the many expressions of faith within the ...

Learning Outcome 05

Identify the many expressions of faith within the multi-cultural and multi-faith contexts of Australia, including the distinctive contribution Indigenous spirituality makes to religion within the Australian context and develop appropriate teaching and learning strategies for the primary religion program (APST 1.1, 1.2)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC4, GC5, GC7, GC12

Analyse and apply moral/values education to the pr...

Learning Outcome 06

Analyse and apply moral/values education to the primary classroom religion program (APST 2.2, 3.2)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7

Content

Topics will include:

  • Planning, teaching, assessment and evaluation processes for the classroom religion program. The sequencing and development of an appropriate classroom religion program at a middle/senior primary level.
  • School, parish and parents as complementary partners. Sacraments of healing and commitment.
  • Principles of children’s liturgy. The preparation and celebration of Eucharistic and non-Eucharistic liturgies.
  • Scripture in the middle and senior primary classroom.
  • Overview of religious traditions including Indigenous spirituality in the Australian context, range of cultural expressions of Christianity.
  • Moral/Values education - theories and strategies and their applications to Religious Education, relationship with other curriculum areas such as personal development, health, human society and its environment.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The unit builds towards assessment of students’ knowledge of the classroom teaching of Religious Education. It first assesses their ability to work with curriculum documents, engage with the theological background of units and plan teaching sequences that are age appropriate, creative and engaging. Further assessment establishes their knowledge of aspects of the wider educational life of the school: liturgical preparation, spirituality and sacramental education. The assessment will relate directly to the achievement of the unit outcomes. There will be two pieces of assessment in this unit. The percentage weighting for each task will vary according to specific task requirements.

The first assignment requires students to demonstrate their ability to link their theological background knowledge to the classroom context to develop creative and age-appropriate activities for middle to upper primary school students, including assessment and evaluation of these activities. They will also demonstrate their ability to think critically about these activities in the light of Diocesan documentation and the range of faith dispositions that students bring to the RE classroom (LO1, LO2, LO4, LO5).

The second assignment requires students to express their understanding of complex situations in relation to Religious Education. Students’ knowledge of inclusion of other religious traditions, especially Indigenous spirituality will need to be demonstrated through this task. Also students’ knowledge of the sacramental life of the Church and how students develop their moral thinking may be included in this task (LO2, LO3, LO6).

Total assessment 4000 words.

Overview of assessments

Assessment Task 1 The focus of the first assessm...

Assessment Task 1

The focus of the first assessment item will be on a significant content area that informs the classroom religion program making explicit links to the local/other diocesan religious education curricula/guidelines. Students are to demonstrate their deep and critical knowledge of the contemporary theological background knowledge of the content area, and develop creative and appropriate teaching and learning activities and relevant teaching resources which could accompany this topic.

Weighting

50%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO4, LO5
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC2, GC4, GC5, GC7, GC11, GC12

Assessment Task 2 The focus of this assessment w...

Assessment Task 2

The focus of this assessment will be on students’ critical knowledge and understanding of liturgy, sacramental preparation, religious traditions including Indigenous spirituality and moral/values education.

Weighting

50%

Learning Outcomes LO2, LO3, LO6
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC7, GC9, GC11, GC12

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

EDRE291 is taught in numerous modes (i.e. face to face, intensive, online, multi) and involves 150 hours of focused learning. This consists of lectures and tutorials in the face-to-face mode, and recorded lectures (for asynchronous use), videoconferencing and webinars in the online mode. The remaining hours are reserved for private research and cooperative learning through forums and reflective journals, leading to the completion of the required assessment tasks.

EDRE291 is intended for undergraduate students (Middle and Upper Primary) who wish to complete their bachelor degree with the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to successfully teach Religious Education in the middle and upper primary years of Catholic schools. Together with other units that combine and are foundational to the teaching of Religious Education, EDRE291 leads to accreditation to teach religious education in their diocese.

In this unit, students will investigate and understand various means of teaching assessment and evaluation of Religious Education curriculum in the middle to upper years in Catholic primary schools, in the context of how young children develop spiritually and the Diocesan Curriculum documents that will frame their teaching and learning. They will learn how to apply their knowledge of key elements of Church life to effectively construct positive learning experiences for children in Catholic schools. They will also learn how to develop an age-appropriate prayer life for their students, including class non-Eucharistic liturgies and other celebrations of faith. They will learn how to design teaching and learning experiences that are inclusive of Indigenous knowings and for cross-curricular contexts.

The unit is taught in a variety of settings: face to face, intensive and fully online. As such, a variety of teaching/learning strategies may be used including lectures, seminars, individual supervision, and research adapted to internal, online or multi-mode. Accessing local Diocesan Religious Education curriculum materials is part of this unit.

Lectures, tutorials, workshops are used to provide students with a range of opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills that are necessary to demonstrate the learning outcomes.

The unit duration will be 150 hours in total with a normal expectation of 24 hours of directed study and the total contact hours should not exceed 24 hours. Directed study might include lectures, tutorials, webinars, podcasts etc. The balance of the hours becomes private study.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

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

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

1.1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning.

1.2 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.

2.1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area.

2.2 Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.

3.2 Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Relevant diocesan and national Catholic Education Commission curriculum guidelines and documents.

Australian Catholic University. Journal of Religious Education. School of Religious Education: Canberra.

Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

Congregation for Catholic Education. (1997). The Catholic school on the threshold of the third millennium. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_27041998_school2000_en.html.

Congregation for Catholic Education. (1988). The religious dimension of education in a Catholic school. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_19880407_catholic-school_en.html.

Hyde, B., & Rymarz, R. (2009). Religious education in Catholic schools: Contemporary issues and perspectives for RE teachers. Terrigal, NSW: David Barlow Publishing.

Lysik, D.A. (Ed). (2004). The liturgy documents: A parish resource: Volume one (4th ed.). Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

Lysik, D.A. (Ed). (1999). The liturgy documents: A parish resource: Volume two (3rd ed.). Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

National Catholic Education Commission. (2003). Walking his way, telling his truth, living his life: Implications of Ecclesia in Oceania for Catholic education. Canberra: NCEC.

National Catholic Education Commission. (2016). A Framework for Formation for Mission in Catholic Education. Canberra: NCEC.

Ryan, M. & Grajczonek, J. (2007). An inspired tradition: Religious education in Catholic primary schools today. Brisbane: Lumino Press.

Rymarz, R and Belmonte, A. (Eds). (2017). Religious Education in Australian Catholic Schools: Exploring the Landscape. Mulgrave: Vaughan Publishing.

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