Vision for Religious Education
Finding our way,
Inquiring into our world,
Christ and Church as our guide.
Our Vision for Religious Education emphasises the
complementarity of the two dimensions of religious education:
v Religious Literacy
v Faith Formation
We aspire to educate and form students who are challenged to live the
gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ and who are literate in the Catholic and
broader Christian tradition so that they might participate fully in faith
contexts and wider society.
Our Vision for Religious Education appropriately aligns
with learning and teaching goals and vision of the College;
Fostering talent,
Providing
challenge,
Pursuing wisdom.
Our Vision for Religious Education challenges students
to be a religious voice in the world through developing an inquiring,
critical interpretation and evaluation of culture. Through vibrant and engaging
Religious Education, students become active constructors of culture rather than
passive consumers. In this way, students are challenged to live the gospel
of Jesus Christ and find meaning and purpose in
their everyday lives.
Jesus Christ is the centre of this vision. While knowledge and
understanding of religious concepts are important, the truths and beliefs to
which a student adheres must have some consequence in their life.
Religious education seeks to develop the religious literacy of students
in light of the Catholic Christian tradition, so that they might
participate critically and authentically in contemporary culture. Students become
religiously literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to
interpret and use language confidently in and for faith contexts and the wider
society, and as they grow their self-identity in a complex world.
St. Patrick’s College aspires to form students who can articulate their
faith and live it in an open and authentic way. Religious literacy should not
be confused with religious knowledge: religious literacy encompasses a set of
ongoing activities and interactions among people. These include ways of
talking, acting, creating, communicating, critiquing, evaluating,
participating, ritualising, theologising, worshipping, reading, reflecting, and
writing with others in a variety of religious and secular contexts.
For religious educators, this vision is framed within a broad
understanding of life that goes beyond education, but instead is based on
developing a consistent cosmology with which to interpret and act within the
world, guided by an inquiring nature and interpreted by the wisdom of our faith
tradition.
Religious Life of the College
Finding our way,
Inquiring into our world,
Christ and Church as our guide.
St Patrick’s
College is a parish centred school within the Brisbane Catholic Education
system. This parish connection along with the history of the
Christian Brothers and Mercy Sisters are key touch-stones for our formation of
community, and holistic preparation of our students for their life beyond the
school gates.
Participation in
the Religious Life of the College involves students developing a broad
understanding of human capacity, especially in the spiritual and emotional
domains. As such, it is expected that all students will take part in
a variety of interactive experiences that will help them grow in appreciation
of the faith dimension of others and themselves. These activities
generally occur outside the formal classroom learning of Religious Education
and have a significant role in driving many of the social and group development
events that contribute to the vibrant and inclusive social atmosphere of the
College.
These activities
include:
v engaging in
reflective and meditative practices, prayer and liturgy – including appropriate
participation of the Mass
v involvement with
the Social Justice campaigns and causes like:
These activities are designed to build student capacity to:
v recognise Religious
Identity and Culture
v appropriately
engage in Prayer and Worship
v develop an
appreciation for Evangelisation and Faith Formation
v actively engage
in Social Action and Justice
Through these, and
many other experiences, students are given the opportunity to develop an
articulate and purposeful way of engaging with the world in an interactive,
enjoyable and positive way. They are encouraged to live a life that
is reflective of all the good that is inherent in the mission of Jesus and the
outreach traditions of the Church.
© Brisbane Catholic Education, St Patrick's College Gympie, 2023