A Reconceptualist Approach to Religious Education
In a reconceptualist approach, the classroom religion program becomes a primary arena for dealing with the critical religious issues and concerns of life. There are three key considerations for teachers using this approach:
In a reconceptualist approach, teachers avoid using presumptive language and do not start with assumptions about students’ faith development based upon their particular religious affiliation. It is preferable that teachers use language that is invitational and educational to better engage students in the religion classroom.
A reconceptualist approach to teaching religion entails “exploring the meaning of one’s own religious life in relation to both those who share that life and those who do not” (Scott, 1984, p.334).
Learning is more than listening. Teaching is more than telling. Historically, a feature of many religion classrooms has been a “one size fits all approach” to planning and pedagogy. Such an approach fails to acknowledge the integrity of religion as a discipline and a learning area that requires all the rigour and challenge of other learning areas. Australian religious educators, Crawford and Rossiter (1988), have consistently emphasised the importance of creating ‘zones of freedom’ in the religion classroom that allow for an authentic educational process and Genuine student engagement.
A reconceptualist religion classroom places particular emphasis on evaluating and activating student involvement in ongoing responsive cycles of learning and teaching.
- Avoidance of Presumptive Language.
- Teaching ‘about’ the Tradition
- Powerful Pedagogies.
In a reconceptualist approach, teachers avoid using presumptive language and do not start with assumptions about students’ faith development based upon their particular religious affiliation. It is preferable that teachers use language that is invitational and educational to better engage students in the religion classroom.
A reconceptualist approach to teaching religion entails “exploring the meaning of one’s own religious life in relation to both those who share that life and those who do not” (Scott, 1984, p.334).
Learning is more than listening. Teaching is more than telling. Historically, a feature of many religion classrooms has been a “one size fits all approach” to planning and pedagogy. Such an approach fails to acknowledge the integrity of religion as a discipline and a learning area that requires all the rigour and challenge of other learning areas. Australian religious educators, Crawford and Rossiter (1988), have consistently emphasised the importance of creating ‘zones of freedom’ in the religion classroom that allow for an authentic educational process and Genuine student engagement.
A reconceptualist religion classroom places particular emphasis on evaluating and activating student involvement in ongoing responsive cycles of learning and teaching.