Teaching catholic studies: a study of religious education in senior high school

Catholic Studies is a religious education course used in senior high schools in New South Wales, Australia. The course is not counted for university entrance but meets the requirement for students to undertake religious study whilst in catholic schools. This paper examines the perceptions of teachers on why students take the course and what parts of it they find most and least engaging. In addition, the perceptions of teachers about the course are also reported. The results are discussed in the context of the wider literature of effective teacher student engagement. It argues that two aspects of effective teaching are the capacity of teachers to deal with the content of a course and also the ability to understand and engage with the learning needs of students. One conclusion is that for teacher and student learning in Catholic Studies to be improved, more focused support for teachers needs to be provided. This support would include specialized classroom resources as well as the opportunity for teachers to engage with their peers in a supportive learning community.