Download Religion In Life® Sample Lessons
The Council for Christian Education in Schools ABN 59 004 240 779
3/377 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne, 3000. AUSTRALIA
Phone: 03 96021993 Freecall 1800 063341 Facsimile: 03 96420634
resource@cces.org.au
| The development of attitudes, values
and personal qualities is seen by educationalists to be ‘among the most
important goals of education' 1.
Religion In Life® contributes to
the development of these attitudes and values through its stories of people
questing for truth, persevering against adversity, showing initiative,
developing effective relationships and expressing themselves creatively
and responsibly, and in its consideration of ethics, values and ultimate
questions. The Religion In Life®
curriculum is designed to enable students to explore their lives for meaning
and purpose at the deepest level possible for them.
1.Curriculum and Standards Framework, Board of Studies, Victoria, 1995, p.7 |
| Key learning areas.
Religion In Life® also contributes to the achievement of learning outcomes in key learning areas of education generally. For example, in Victoria, each of eight key learning areas, which comprise the framework for the curriculum in state schools, desires the students to examine questions of value and purpose in that area of knowledge. Explicit reference to the need for recognising and understanding the beliefs and responsibilities of members of the community is made in Studies of Society and Environment. Throughout the culture strand of this key learning area references are made to matters of beliefs and values, and the ways in which tradition and beliefs influence the roles, rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups are recommended for study. Specific reference to some religious occasions and places of spiritual significance are also made. In this context Religion In Life® provides an understanding of key beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. The health strand of the learning area Health and Physical Education includes a study of identity and relationships that recognises that these are underpinned by values and beliefs. Furthermore, it examines the way health is linked to physical, cultural, emotional and spiritual relationships between people and their environment. Many of the biblical and personal stories in Religion In Life® deal specifically with aspects of relationships and identity. Links with expressed learning outcomes in other key learning areas, such as English, can also be demonstrated. Religion In Life® provides students with a knowledge of the structure and style of the Bible, together with an understanding of religious metaphors and images used in English literature and the Bible, and the religious themes of general literature. |
| A useful cross-reference
An overview of the links between the school curriculum and Religion In Life® can be gained from the Religion In Life® curriculum framework charts, noting the listed aspects of students’ experience of life and the highlighted words. These provide a quick reference to where Religion In Life® the stated purposes for the students and unit learning outcomes complement a similar focus in the school curriculum. |
| Educational approach of Religion
In Life®
Religion In Life® teaching materials and learning sessions are designed in the conviction that classroom activities should : * start from and constantly be related to the students’ experience; * take into account the interests, needs, capacities and abilities of the students; * seek to deepen and enrich the students’ experiences of life; * encourage the students to make their own discoveries through direct and active involvement; * respect the students’ right to decide what is relevant to them; * relate to other school activities of the students. The students’ developing skills, such as speaking and listening, cooperation, creating, questioning and evaluating, are taken into account in Religion In Life® and underpin the suggested activities, as well as the design of the students’ papers, books and worksheets. The Religion In Life® Teachers’ Books guide teachers in methodology and good teaching practice, and in discerning and making specific links with the school curriculum. |