Religion Meaning and Life

Religion, meaning and life

This is an alternative non-accredited course for Year 11 and 12 students within the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

In this course, learning builds on Religious Education Curriculum from the Archdiocese of Brisbane P-12 (Brisbane Catholic Education (2013;2020). Within Religion, Meaning and Life, students in Year 11-12 complete four Units of work (two per year). In this course, students will have an opportunity to access quality theological material in multiple learning modes and engage in a variety of religious experiences and service-learning opportunities.

Rationale

If religious education does not deal directly with contemporary life in a systematic and challenging way, then the perception of students that it is nominal and irrelevant will increase even further.

(Rossiter, G. 2018. Life to the Full - The changing landscape of contemporary spirituality: Implications for Catholic School Religious Education, p. xi).

Young people are confronted by complexities, dilemmas and conflicting interpretations of life’s meaning and purpose. They require, more than ever, critical thinking skills to navigate an uncertain and pluralistic world. As there is no final answer to life’s ultimate meaning and purpose in which intellectual certainty is possible, human knowledge is always partial and limited. Consequently, students are invited to explore within Religion, Meaning and Life the inexhaustible mystery of human existence, as glimpsed primarily through the lens of the Catholic Christian Tradition, as well as other religious traditions.

Within this course, students will have an opportunity to access quality theological material in multiple learning modes and engage in a variety of religious experiences and service-learning opportunities. Furthermore, opportunity for a personal response to key religious ideas through dialogue and an evaluation of a range of secular perspectives will be offered. Pope Francis encourages dialogue as a way to thwart “the syndrome of Babel” in which we fail to listen to the other and believe that we know what the other thinks and what the other will say (O'Connell, 2019). Informed by the Catholic Christian Tradition and other wisdom traditions— specifically Judaism, Islam. Hinduism, Buddhism and ATSI spiritualities—this dialogue may address the meaning and purpose of human existence and what that may mean for students’ lives.

Students may develop twenty first century skills of critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork, personal and social skills and information and communication technologies skills (ICT). Students may develop an ability to engage in an open narrative and dialogue with other religious traditions as well as their own. This course meets the Archdiocesan requirements for quality Religious Education in Senior Secondary Years, is rigorous but differs in modes of delivery and content presentation. The course monitors student progress and achievement by way of ongoing evidence of learning opportunities in which students demonstrate their learning in a variety of modes.

Course outline

Learning builds on P-10 Religious Education curriculum from the Archdiocese of Brisbane (Brisbane Catholic Education, 2013). Within Religion, Meaning and Life, students in Year 11-12 complete four Units of work (two per year), 50 hours per unit. Each Unit consists of two topics, 25 hours per topic. While not formally assessed, it requires portfolio entries to be made as a record of learning entitled Learnings for Life. There are three modes of delivery – For each topic within respective Units students complete a minimum equivalent of 10 hours of face to face learning, 10 hours of self-directed learning and 5 hours of learning service/religious experience.

Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4
The Spiritual and Sacred Dimension to Life	Holy Words, Sacred Stories	The Implications of Belief	Church: Learning from the past, living in the present, creating the future
How does the Sacred and Spiritual make meaning for us? How do we make meaning of the Incarnation today?	How can ancient worlds create meaning in contemporary contexts? How about edited sacred texts with the best of every religious tradition?	Religion and the fun bits of life go together like …? Religion in the public square: Where and how does the conversation confront and challenge?	How might religious communities contribute to personal religious faith? Being spiritual and not religious – How can this be? OR, in place of (2), you may do Identity and Meaning: How do people construct personal identity and community in a consumerist culture.