The role of the religion teacher in Australia : Pluralism within a faith-based religious education approach

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is the third largest Catholic diocese in the world and educates a quarter of the diverse student population of Melbourne. Catholic Education Melbourne is committed to curriculum renewal in religious education that is oriented towards the needs of the diverse students in their care. This renewal process has drawn on the recommendations and findings of the Enhancing Catholic School Identity project (Pollefeyt & Bowens, 2014) in developing a curriculum framework that establishes dialogue as both the process and outcome of its renewed approach to religious education. A dialogical religious education approach has implications for teachers who are encouraged through dialogue to ‘empower students to make meaningful connections between life and faith … creating spaces for diverse views to come into contact with the Catholic Tradition’ (Catholic Education Melbourne, 2018, p. 13). An examination of the key components of the role of a teacher (i.e., witness, moderator, specialist, co-inquirer, and designer of learning), are considered in the context of this dialogical approach to religious education. These components of the teacher’s role are: witness, moderator, specialist, co-inquirer, and designer of learning