Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
On this week's programme I speak to my colleague in the Marino Institute of Education, Dr. Gerry O'Connell about religious education. Gerry is a primary teacher and a teacher educator with vast experience and his ideas are grounded in this experience and in his scholarly work in the field. Among the topics discussed this week are the following:
- The difference between teaching religion and religious education
- The importance of starting with the students’ experiences
- The challenges of working with diverse student experiences
- The teaching methodology “Godly Play”
- Social media as a force of oppression
- Why contemplative space, depth of conversation or wonder and symbol or story are central to religious education
- Whether sacraments should be taught in school or in parishes
- What makes a teacher?
- Teaching as a vocation
- A perceived secularist agenda in some media organisations