Religious Education: School, Family, and Parish Relationships

This report provides an in-depth analysis of religious education, exploring the impact of Catholic Church documents on religious practices and education. It examines the relationship between schools, families, and parishes in fostering religious development, and delves into the theory and practice of...Read More

Religious education historical
and contemporary perspectives

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Impact of catholic church document on religious education.......................................................3
Relation of school, family and parish in religious education......................................................5
Catechesis to the theory and practice of religious education.......................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals......................................................................................................................9
Online..........................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Religious education is the learning about a particular religion which helps in the personal
development of an individual and helps in understanding the spiritual and moral cultural
questions. With the help of religious study the promotion of cohesion and tackling of extremism
is done. This project will help in understanding the impacts of the documents of catholic church
on religious eduction. With the help of this project the given religious instructions to the theories
and practices towards the religious education is understood. This project also explains the
relationship between the school, family and also the parish in the religious education is
understood. This project helps in understanding the key principles and their purpose of religious
education for assisting students to learn deeply about the understanding and appreciation of its
contribution. With the help of this project the overall spiritual and religious development of the
student is highlighted.
MAIN BODY
Impact of catholic church document on religious education
Catholic church document are the religious constitutions which are issued by the popes of
the church. These documents are the teaching in the form of letters which provide the
instructions to the subordinates of the religion. These documents are the very much responsible
for the rules and regulations in the church. It can be said that the church is significantly affected
by what been written in these documents. Some documents of the catholic church are, Acta
Apostolicae Sedis, Actes et documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale,
Annuario Pontificio, Aperuit illis, Aslak Bolt's cadastre, Autograph letter (Holy See) (Sabrina
and Zaver, 2019). These documents are responsible for affecting the religious education of the
students. The impacts of these documents on the religious education are,
Transferring Christian concept of eduction :
This impact of the catholic church suggests that when religious education is implemented
in an academic organization the total concept of the eduction changes. The institution then
shapes itself as the Christian teachings and values. The church gets the rights of implicating the
vital changes to the eduction. Church documents are the source of these ideas which allows it to

set the role of education in such a way that inherent belief on the education is reflected (Żuk and
Żuk, 2020).
Christian festivals :
The implication of religious education impacts the holidays for the students. The
religious festivals which are mentioned in the catholic church documents become holidays for all
the student despite their religion. Examples of these holidays are, Christmas and Easter. This is
not much of an impact but this shows how the religious education is influenced by the catholic
church document (Carswell, 2018).
Education in other religions :
These documents do not specify any individual for following the instruction. It means it
does not say that a person following Christianity only should follow these instructions given in
the documents. Therefore, students of other religion are also effected from the implications
mentioned in these documents. The aim of the democracy of the country is to promote the
multicultural society. However, the influence of the church in the religious education is like a
method of forcing a different culture on these students. This is one of the way of forcing the
students to adapt to a new religion. Catholic church document are indirectly responsible for these
actions (Kimanen and Poulter, 2018).
Indoctrination :
The history of the Christianity has found it guilty towards the indoctrination. For
example, in Ireland Christianity was forced to them. The documents may not explain the church
for such actions but the introduction of religious education increases the chances of
indoctrination. Although these practices are proved to be wrong by the government but the
influence of these documents is obvious to be seen on the students learning. This is why it is
important to understand the role of this type of eduction as it affects the mentality of the society
Sealey, 2019).
Effect students :
The students which are into this type of education from the beginning are being
influenced by the religious practices being carried in the schools. This influence in involuntary in
nature as this develops on its own without being forced onto. The issue with this is that it will
result in indoctrination. The catholic church documents may or may not affect the society but
what it does is that it forces rules and regulations which are not meant for eduction.

Effects on education :
This partnership between the church and educational institutions provides the eduction
with lots of opportunities for making continuous contribution to this field. It offers the increased
number of dedicated and qualified school for the country. This declaration and recognition to the
faith in Christianity play a significant role in the formation of a new society. The education
develops on the basis of belief of God and its involvement with the students. This helps the
upcoming generation to keep the students known to the history, society and culture of
Christianity. Behind these effects the church documents are responsible as they contain the rules
and regulations (Nurpratiwi Effendi and Amaliyah, 2021).
Spiritual development :
The catholic church documents help the religious education to be spiritual in nature. This
allows the students to feel and express their curiosity to the natural world and its achievements. It
also helps with the life experiences such as love, joy, justice, evil and also death. The feeling of
transcendence is developed in the students which makes them aware of what they are. It also
develops the ability in the students for asking questions towards the purpose of their life.
Relation of school, family and parish in religious education
School is the most powerful influence in an adult’s life. Live of today’s youth are
involved in the productive activities experience by their eyes. Proper schooling of a child plays
role in religious development of the adults and also structures their lives with some skills, norms
and values (Hannam, 2018). The religious beliefs and behaviours are affected by the type of
religious environment present within the school. Many students express their faith in the school.
But many teens from the minority religion are teased in the school by their mates such activities
can pressurise those kids on daily basis because of their beliefs. Youth culture gains influence
and strength through the school system as they are spending maximum of their time in a day at
that place. Some schools provide a difficult environment for the kids to develop their faith and
share their belief in god (Goldman, 2018). On the other hand, some schools provide healthier
environment for their faith in that particular religion and there is less risk to their lives.
Family shows a strong impact on either favouring or being against the religiosity in the
youth. Parents and the teenagers do not realise it but they are the most important social influence
in forming a person’s religious lives and the values taught by them to their child. The flow of

emotions in a family has the power to override their religious values (Freathy, and John, 2019).
The system of a family, parishioner always helps in getting the spiritual message they are
receiving. Thus, family affects the members in religiosity especially when the coming
generations are behind these values. If the family is open to learn the religion then it makes the
children become interested in the learning about the religion. On the other hand if anyone from
the family is interested in learning about different religion, then the whole family must be open
about this aspect and let the religious education grow within the family.
Many factors from within the home environment can become challenging for a teen in his
way of religious education (Stern, 2018). These factors include the presence of both of the
parents, families who shift to different locations a lot. The emotional condition of the parents
such as being depressed or suffering from anxiety will affect the religion beliefs of the child. The
closeness of parents with their children and their own religious beliefs serves as being a role
model for the youth of today’s generation. The main elements to transfer the religious values to
children are all related to parents, their relationship with the child, the example they set for them
and lastly how they encourage the children in doing their own thinking. When the family is
dedicated and devoted to their religion, then there are chances that the child is into it too. The
people who are loyal to the church are the ones having their love for the families and a bonding
with all the members.
Parish community works together to promote religious education for both children and
the young adults of the society which will form the future of church. The teachers from the
school and the parish community had one thing to say which was finding the ways to promote
the parish and school approaches for religious education. This is a good opportunities for the
teachers helping in the service to develop the ways of them working together. Parish and school
teachers working together with a child will result in encouraging them into being more actively
involved into their religious lives (Kueh, 2017). Approach for given religious education was
firstly structured and then the real outcomes which are not intentional are addressed. These
outcomes include the education provided from the school being on top of the priority list than
engaging into the religious activities and religious education. Result of the religious education
from parish and school teachers will make the students give adequate knowledge in the areas of
different religions and the tradition they follow. Picking up the parish of their own and choice or
better their own parish will help them be prepared to receive the sacraments.

Parish and home are the best places to give religious education and forming the faith in
today’s people. God has already sent its divine presence and faith in a child but the culture in the
house are like planting and weeding these seeds and school and parents fulfil the purpose pf
watering them. In the schools lacking in the religious education the students do not understand
the major issues and the working of their own family (Hull, 2018). But in the otherwise case, the
students and encouraged from their complete educational experience the form of relating to each
other in a positive way. This aim can also be attained by having a part into the parish programs
giving the religious education and gaining the religious faith from the members of their family.
Catechesis to the theory and practice of religious education
There is a basic distinction between the catechesis and the religious education. The main
basis of this distinction is the assumptions of the faith commitment on the catechesis side and on
the other hand the focus on the cognitive outcomes on the part of religious education. Some of
the official documents in the Catholic Church are unable to make distinctions among them and
consider them as similar. This is how; catechesis plays the most important role in the religious
education. These words when used secularly, the religious education deals in teaching of the
particular religion but in countries like UK, the religious education lays emphasis on teaching the
religions in general and all the aspects of the same while the catechesis is referred as the teaching
the specific religion. The main aim of the religious education is appreciating the different nature
of religion with the experiences of humans, developing and articulating the personal beliefs,
values, ideas and experiences along with giving respect to the right of the others for making
difference (Hull, 2018). The Christian communities take care of the religious education to be
provided to their children and in this the main role is played by Religious Education Theory
which is also integrated in the development of the institutional and universities settings.
There are various theories of religious education such as sociological and anthropological
which helps in explaining the function and origin of religious education. These theories also
contribute by defining the things which are presented as the universal characteristics of beliefs
and practices of religion. Also, there are various practices of religious education such as
sermons, rituals, veneration or commemoration which can be towards particular God, deity or
goddess. Also these include the festivals especially religious, feasts, initiations, sacrifices,
trances, matrimonial services, religious music, sacred dance, religious art, meditation prayer,

public service and many more other practices. Catechism is necessary in the religious education
and its theories and practices because it helps in teaching the basic doctrine and also includes
various questions and answers related to God, salvation, prayer, sin, Christ, sacraments,
ordinances, etc. (Fotiou, 2020). It deals in those questions whose answer is ultimately God for
example ‘who made you’.
Without knowing about the basic things about the religion and the practices, the adult or the
children faces various difficulties in learning about the theories and the practices. Therefore,
catechism is the stairs to reach the goal which is gaining the religious education. This is why, it is
known as the religious instructions which are systematically arranged in the form of questions
and answers for teaching the young people by giving instructions related to testing the faith
winning the coverts and many more. These instructions are basically given by the words of
mouth and by making use of the catechism book. Its main aim is to educate the children and
adults of the Christian religion (Freathy and et.al., 2017). This is why, the main catechists for the
children are their parents and the parents have their own teachers and scholars.
CONCLUSION
This report outlines the features and factors of religious education. The main idea given
from this report is to gain a better understanding and learning the areas related to religious
education. It can be evaluated that the religious and spiritual development of a child and the
young people can be done better with the help of giving them religious education. The materials
from church and the catechesis give an important contribution towards the practice of religious
education. Schools and its teachers can include religious education in their course and increase
the faith of students into these matters. Working system of a family and the parish communities
can influence the impact of religious education on the people.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Carswell, M., 2018. Teaching scripture: Moving towards a hermeneutical model for religious
education in Australian Catholic Schools. Journal of Religious Education. 66(3). pp.213-
223.
Fotiou, S.S., 2020. Religious Education at Schools in the Republic of Cyprus. Religious
Education at Schools in Europe: Part 6: Southern Europe. 10. p.41.
Freathy, R. and et.al., 2017. Pedagogical bricoleurs and bricolage researchers: The case of
Religious Education. British Journal of Educational Studies. 65(4). pp.425-443.
Freathy, R. and John, H.C., 2019. Religious Education, Big Ideas and the study of religion (s)
and worldview (s). British Journal of Religious Education, 41(1), pp.27-40.
Goldman, R., 2018. Readiness for religion: A basis for developmental religious education (Vol.
5). Routledge.
Hannam, P., 2018. Religious education and the public sphere. Routledge.
Hull, J. ed., 2018. New directions in religious education (Vol. 7). Routledge.
Hull, J.M., 2018. Introduction: new directions in religious education. In New Directions in
Religious Education (pp. xi-xvi). Routledge.
Kimanen, A. and Poulter, S., 2018. Teacher discourse constructing different social positions of
pupils in Finnish separative and integrative religious education. Journal of Beliefs &
Values. 39(2). pp.144-156.
Kueh, R., 2017. Religious Education and the ‘knowledge problem’. We Need to Talk about
Religious Education: Manifestos for the Future of RE, pp.42-55.
Nurpratiwi, S., Effendi, M.R. and Amaliyah, A., 2021. Improving Religious Literacy Through
Islamic Religious Education Course Based On The Flipped Classroom. Istawa: Jurnal
Pendidikan Islam. 6(1). pp.16-29.
Sealey, J., 2019. Religious education: Philosophical perspectives. Routledge.
Stern, J., 2018. Teaching religious education: Researchers in the classroom. Bloomsbury
Publishing.
Żuk, P. and Żuk, P., 2020. ‘Murderers of the unborn’and ‘sexual degenerates’: analysis of the
‘anti-gender’discourse of the Catholic Church and the nationalist right in Poland. Critical
Discourse Studies. 17(5). pp.566-588.
Online
J., Sabrina and A., Zaver, 2019.,Teaching religious education .[Online] Available trough:
<https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1207617.pdf>