Overview
In this unit, students build comprehensive understanding of teachers’ pedagogical roles in the teaching of religious concepts and understandings through the use of scripture. They build professional knowledge of interpretive approaches to religious foundational texts that make their meaning accessible to and relevant for contemporary learners. Students reflect on the guidance provided by official Church documents to apply reading frameworks that situate texts within their historical and social context and acknowledge the literary approaches used by the original authors to convey Christian messages that underpin the religion curriculum in schools. Students design resources and select and justify teaching strategies for use in classroom contexts as the basis for promoting learners' understandings and inclusive access to the meaning of narrative texts that explain religious experience and beliefs.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from SUTE
Interesting content and engaging tutorials
Maintain current engagement and teaching strategies
- Apply interpretive approaches to develop an exegesis of a foundational text that facilitates the teaching of religion.
- Design resources that actively engage learners in Catholic primary schools in understanding key content of the religion curriculum.
- Defend the selection and use of teaching strategies that make the messages of religious foundational texts accessible for contemporary learners from a diverse range of backgrounds
- Critically reflect on the support provided by official Church documents and Biblical commentaries as a source of professional learning for teachers that improve pedagogical practice and implementation of the religion curriculum in schools.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||
| 2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 50% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||
| 4 - Research | ||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 9 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||||||||
| 2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 50% | |||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
k.aprile@cqu.edu.au
g.t.davis@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 04 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Storytelling and the process of exploring meaning in religious foundational texts
Chapter
Bausch, W. J. (1984). The Emergence of Narrative Theology. Storytelling Imagination and Faith. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 2
Begin Date: 11 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Church documents and Biblical commentaries guiding interpretation of the Bible
Chapter
Pontifical Biblical Commission (1994). The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. Pauline Books and Media.
Latourelle, R. (1966). Theology of Revelation. Staten Island, New York: Alba House.
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3
Begin Date: 18 Mar 2024Module/Topic
The Three Worlds of the Text interpretive framework
Chapter
Ryan - How to read the Bible
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 25 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Topic 3 continued
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5
Begin Date: 01 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Application of the framework to exegesis - Author and Text approaches to interpretation
(Consult the moodle site for timing of this topic)
Chapter
Ryan, M. (2012). Jesus and the Gospel
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 08 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 15 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Reader approaches to interpretation
The concept of hermeneutics
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 22 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Scope and Sequence of Scripture from the Religion curriculum
Chapter
Review of Week 2 readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 29 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Exegesis of a text - using interpretive tools to uncover meanings
Chapter
Amy Jill Levine – Short stories by Jesus
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 9
Begin Date: 06 May 2024Module/Topic
The Diocesan Religion Curriculum
Parables and Miracles and the literary form of Biblical texts
Chapter
Selected readings from Ryan - Reading the Bible & Teaching the Bible
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 13 May 2024Module/Topic
Resources for teaching parables
Use of questioning frameworks and Godly play as teaching strategies for primary school
Chapter
Getty-Sullivan, M. A. (2007). Introduction to the parable pgs. 1- 15 in Parables of the Kingdom. Minnesota: Liturgical Press.
Hall, G (2003). Jesus’ Parables and Miracles. In M. Ryan.(Ed.). Reading the Bible. (pp. 176-186). Tuggerah, NSW: Social Science Press.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 11
Begin Date: 20 May 2024Module/Topic
Resources for teaching miracles
Strategies for unpacking and teaching the genre
Chapter
Kun, J. (2005). Treasures Uncovered. Ijamsville, Maryland: The Word Among Us Press.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 12
Begin Date: 27 May 2024Module/Topic
Review
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Review/Exam Week
Begin Date: 03 Jun 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 10 Jun 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Interpretive methods for studying and teaching Scripture
Respond to the written assessment task outlined in each section (a), (b) and (c) below.
Word limit: 1500 words
Introduction: The Church document Dei Verbum (which means the Word of God) provides the following advice on the interpretation of sacred texts: “…since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion, the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words.”
(a) Describe your understanding of the Three Worlds of the Text interpretive framework for reading, studying and understanding the stories of the Christian Bible.
(b) Analyse the impact of teachers’ professional understandings of Biblical interpretation and the influences of a reader’s culture and experience on meaning making approaches to learning from Scripture in contemporary primary school settings.
(c) Critically reflect on the support provided by official Church documents and Biblical commentaries as a source of professional learning for teachers that improves pedagogical practice and implementation of the religion curriculum in schools.
Week 6 Friday (19 Apr 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Assessment tasks will be returned following moderation and in sufficient time for feedback to inform Assessment Task 2 in the unit.
Demonstrated knowledge of Church documents and resources that guide the teaching of religion in schools
Knowledge and understanding of contemporary approaches to understanding religious foundational texts
Critical reflection on sociocultural factors that influence the reading of Biblical texts and relevance of the religion curriculum for 21st century learners
Use of appropriate conventions for academic writing
- Apply interpretive approaches to develop an exegesis of a foundational text that facilitates the teaching of religion.
- Critically reflect on the support provided by official Church documents and Biblical commentaries as a source of professional learning for teachers that improve pedagogical practice and implementation of the religion curriculum in schools.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
2 Practical and Written Assessment
Rationale, justification and design of a resource and teaching strategies for one Bible story
This assessment task has 3 parts. You must complete all 3 parts of the task as described below.
Part A: Use the Three Worlds of the Text method to complete an exegesis of a parable or healing/ nature miracle suitable for use in either the early, middle or upper primary school years. (Length for Part A: 500 words)
Part B: Create a resource that would help you to share the meaning of the chosen text with learners in that year level/stage of schooling. Your resource may be in any form (webpage, PowerPoint, Prezi, comic strip, series of images, etc) but should suit the genre or purpose of the chosen Biblical text. Outline three (3) teaching strategies that would support learners’ interaction with and responses to the resource to make the message of the parable/miracle accessible and relevant for the target group of learners. (Length: Word limits do not apply to Part B given the range of modes suitable for completion of this section of the task.)
Part C: Write a rationale or justification for your design choices that clearly shows how you have used interpretation methods that consider inclusive approaches to teaching about religious experience and that are responsive to the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students enrolled in Catholic school settings. This section of your response must be supported by reference to Church documents and theories underpinning interpretive frameworks for examining or understanding Biblical texts. (Length for Part C: 1000 words)
Week 12 Monday (27 May 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Assessment will be returned following moderation and in accordance with university policy on certification of grades.
Application of interpretive frameworks to an exegesis of a Bible story for a chosen target audience
Design of resources and teaching strategies appropriate for the target audience
Application of inclusive approaches to the teaching of religion that cater for diverse learning needs and backgrounds
Use of references to support and justify an approach to teaching Religion for contemporary school students
- Apply interpretive approaches to develop an exegesis of a foundational text that facilitates the teaching of religion.
- Design resources that actively engage learners in Catholic primary schools in understanding key content of the religion curriculum.
- Defend the selection and use of teaching strategies that make the messages of religious foundational texts accessible for contemporary learners from a diverse range of backgrounds
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
