I walked down this avenue in Arizona State University, Tempe completely uncertain of where I was going - and then walked up the avenue two days later convinced that I was walking the right path in re-imagining religious education.
I went to Arizona to find a knowledge community to share my view of religious education and my vision for the future of the subject - and I found a listening audience and people who questioned me about my ideas.
I started on this journey with the decision to change how I looked at the world and at knowledge. My research led me to conclude that I am more likely to be a social constructionist than anything else. What do I mean by this? Well, the faith that I profess is socially constructed. It has relevance and meaning in the society that I choose to belong to, that is, to the Catholic community of which I am a member. So here is my social constructionist argument.
We tune in to all types of discourses, that is, we are aware of sets of images, symbols, statements and so on that have the power to create realities if we choose to align ourselves with them. We navigate our way through life choosing to move in this direction, or that, and accept the responsibilities and restrictions that come with holding to the realities that are constructed from the decisions we make. In some discourses, there are absolutes, while in others, there are no absolutes. My argument is this: most students I teach reject the idea that there are absolutes. They have moved from accepting a religious identity given them at Baptism and supported and nurtured by their parents (if they were ever in that position) to forming their own religious identity. When religious education teachers ignore this reality, they invite disaster. Students become disengaged. RE is irrelevant.
In my research, a Year 12 student who calls herself Morgan, reports on the conditional loving God
her mother thrusts on her. This God requires her to go to Mass every Sunday and to be good, or he won't love her. Morgan recalls this discourse amidst others some of which are critical of the religious education she receives at her school. Foucauldian discourse analysis highlights the orientation of people's actions in response to discourses. It also draws attention to responsibilities and the restrictions discourses place on people, that is, their thinking is constructed according to the discourses they accept. Morgan recalls her mother's attempts to make her go to Mass so that she can counter it with other discourses that are more meaningful for her. She draws on the unconditional loving God discourse and also her father's discourse - he goes to Mass when he feels the need to go, that is, when he is worried and needs help. Morgan reports that he goes to Mass at Easter because his wife makes him go. The discourse that Morgan listens to does not require weekly attendance at Mass. She wants to be like her father and go when she feels like going.
Cameron is a Year 12 student from a different Catholic school. His parents took him to Mass when he was a child and made sure that he understood what was happening. He reports that when he entered secondary school, they gave him the responsibility of choosing whether he went to Mass with them or not. The discourses he listens to support his freedom to choose. It is reflected also in his interpretation of the Church's teaching about Sunday Mass observance. He considers it to be of lesser importance than his experiences of needing God.
Both students "listen" to discourses about religious education being there to help them make their way through life, but they reject the Church's attempts to teach the truths of the faith. They want equal say with the Church, that is, their views are just as important as what the Church teaches. They endorse the use of discussion about issues that affect them directly. Morgan rejects much of the content of her religious education course as "bulk material." Cameron is critical of producing written work that regurgitates the teaching of the Church, but does not allow for individuals' beliefs to be expressed and respected.
You can access the paper I wrote here.
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