Catholic religious education in Scotland: bridging the gap between teacher education and curriculum delivery

Coll, R. (2015) Catholic religious education in Scotland: bridging the gap between teacher education and curriculum delivery. In: Buchanan, M. T. and Gellel, A.-M. (eds.) Global Perspectives of Catholic Religious Education in Schools. Springer: Cham, pp. 179-193. ISBN 9783319209241 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-20925-8_15)

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Publisher's URL: http://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783319209241

Abstract

Catholic schools enjoy a unique position within the Scottish education system. While the state maintains the schools and employs those teaching within them, the Catholic Church has statutory jurisdiction over the appointment of teachers, ensuring they are suitable in terms of ‘belief and character’. The Church also determines the content of the Religious Education curriculum to be taught in Catholic schools. In 2011 the Church launched This Is Our Faith (Scottish Catholic Education Service, This is our faith. Glasgow, 2011), a dynamic, doctrinally sound and comprehensive Religious Education syllabus which has arguably repositioned the subject in Catholic Schools and which demands new levels of catechetical competence on the part of the Catholic teacher. This chapter discusses the expectation placed on the Catholic teacher by the Church within the Scottish system. In the context of This Is Our Faith, it sets out the parameters for authentic delivery, identifies current challenges and provides a road map for the development of the teacher of Religious Education. While this chapter considers just one national Catholic educational context, the points discussed and highlighted have ramifications internationally.

Item Type:Book Sections
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Coll, Professor Roisin
Authors: Coll, R.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Creativity Culture and Faith
College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Pedagogy, Praxis & Faith
Publisher:Springer
ISBN:9783319209241

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record