Catholic schools will still be able to teach the Catholic faith, a Director of Religious Education at a prominent Catholic Secondary school told CathNews.
Her comments followed an article published on the weekend suggesting religious education was being replaced by religious studies.
The article went on to suggest religious studies would primarily focus on the likes of religious diversity, cultural differences and bullying, and there would also be a place for non-religious people in the curriculum.
The article said that religious education would be part of “Social Studies”.
The DRS confirmed that Religious Education will be absorbed into the Social Studies department. However, it is not the end of Religious Education as Catholic schools know it.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is currently trying to standardise Level 1, 2, and 3 achievement standards in New Zealand. These achievement standards are generally taught in secondary schools.
“Catholic schools are by far the largest group using religious education standards and will be able to comply with the new standards,” the DRS assured CathNews.
“I’ve trialled the new standards for two years, and while no system is perfect, there’s no worry; we will still be able to teach the Catholic faith in Catholic schools.”
She said the biggest challenge in working with NZQA is the involvement of people of little or no system of belief or faith framework to hinge the curriculum on.
Hesitant at the progress the school was making in the first year of the trial, she said something in NZQA has changed this year, and it’s much better.
Asked about the role of the religious education programme in countering the likes of bullying and understanding other faith perspectives and cultures, she said it’s built into Catholic faith teaching.
“Catholic students are taught about difference, respect and dialogue.”
“That said, we can only propose not impose.”
She took ‘as a positive’ that visiting and relieving teachers frequently commented on the ‘tolerant’ school environment.
To overcome these social concerns, it is very important the school walk the talk, not only teach but reinforce them in the overall environment in the school.
“A functioning Catholic school will reinforce both belief and its application in other elements of Faith in the school’s programme and environment such as retreats, school camps, leadership training, prayer, sacramental programmes and a restorative justice discipline system.”
“A significant problem we have is unsupportive parents who enrol their child in a Catholic school and want to excuse them from these ‘values reinforcing’ co-curricular events,” she said.
New curriculum
The weekend article gave a brief outline of the new primary and intermediate school curriculum.
From next year, it will include a focus on diverse religious studies. The new content will be rolled into the refreshed social science curriculum.
The Ministry of Education says it is still reviewing NCEA religious studies standards in the secondary curriculum.
It notes, however, that “One of the principles of the NCEA Change Programme is inclusion and equity whereby every student deserves the same high-quality learning opportunities to succeed”.
Source
- Stuff
- CathNews
- The person interviewed is not named, nor is the school identified. She did not want to draw attention to herself or school. The interview was conducted over the phone.