Facilitating the journey of adolescent spirituality through catholic religious education in a shifting landscape : the quest for authenticity, community and meaning-making in a post-secular context

Abstract

Twenty-seven years have passed since I first qualified as a warranted teacher, a professional identity I maintained until relatively recently through sustained engagement as a classroom practitioner, mentor, and teacher educator. Although I now write from the standpoint of a resident academic, my professional selfunderstanding remains fundamentally rooted in teaching. My experience has spanned a range of humanistic disciplines, including Catholic Religious Education (CRE). These experiences, echoed in the professional narratives of many colleagues, indicate that resistance to CRE among some students—and occasionally among parents—stems largely from its perceived lack of relevance. The subject is frequently experienced as disconnected from learners’ lived realities and as insufficiently responsive to their existential concerns regarding purpose, self-worth, and joy. [expert]