Students at Good Shepherd participate in Religious Education lessons each day. In these lessons, students learn about prayer and how to pray, about Jesus, his life and his teachings, various Bible stories and their authors, and the history of the Catholic Church tradition and its place in our modern world.
Religious Education is taught through an inquiry focus where students are encouraged to ask questions about the concepts they are learning. Various resources are provided to help engage students in ‘finding out’ rather than being ‘told’ what the learning is. In this way, teachers at Good Shepherd endeavour to promote wonder and curiosity in the students.
Scripture is an important part of the learning process in Religious Education and learning about the Bible and its stories can sometimes be tricky for students. Good Shepherd are beginning to use the Three Worlds of the Text as a way to break open Scripture.
This strategy consists of the world Behind the Text, where students learn about the historical and cultural context of the author, their audience and purpose of the text;
the world Of the Text, where students look at language features of the text and begin to decipher what message the author wants to portray through the type of text written and the words used;
and the world In Front of the Text, where students apply the message to their own lives and the situation of the modern world.
Overall, through Religious Education at Good Shepherd, the teachers propose the Catholic Christian tradition to students rather than impose it. There are many students in our school who come from different Christian denominations and different faith backgrounds who are valued as a creation of God.