Abstract
Catholic schools in Canada operate in a diversity of historical contexts and utilize different funding models. Within this diversity a number of features of religious education within Canadian Catholic schools will be discussed in this chapter. Firstly, many official Canadian Church educational documents reflect an understanding that closely associated catechesis with religious education or fail to sufficiently distinguish between the two. Secondly, in the absence of strong, ongoing bureaucratic support, religious education can often lack a strategic sense that monitors current practice and also plans for the future. Finally, emerging cultural and social circumstances offer a series of challenges such as meeting the needs of changing school communities and training of religious education teachers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AW. (2013). Archdiocese of Winnipeg. http://www.archwinnipeg.ca/catholic_schools_listing.php
Baker, D., & Riordan, C. (1998, September). The ‘eliting’ of the common American Catholic school and the national educational crisis. Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 16–23.
Baum, G. (1991). The church in Quebec. Toronto, ON: Novalis.
Bibby, R., Russell, S., & Rolheiser, R. (2009). The emerging millennials: How Canada’s newest generation is responding to change and choice. Lethbridge, AB: Project Canada Books.
Boudreau, S. (2011). From confession to cultural: Religious education in the schools of Quebec. Religion and Education, 38(3), 212–223.
Braithwaite, R. (1993). Mandated change. Can it be made to work? Curriculum Perspectives, 33(2), 229–245.
Braley, A. (2011). Religious rights and Quebec’s ethics and religious culture course. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 44(3), 613–634.
Buchanan, M., & Rymarz, R. (2008). An introduction to Catholic education. Terrigal, Australia: David Barlow Publications.
CISVA. (2010). Catholic Independent Schools Vancouver Archdiocese. http://www.cisva.bc.ca/schools/curriculum_instruction/religious_education_curriculum_framework/7/Gr_7_Pillar_Two_Achievement_Indicators.pdf
CISVA. (2013). Catholic Independent Schools Vancouver Archdiocese. http://www.cisva.bc.ca/general_info/history/
Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2004). In search of the good: Grade 12: A catholic understanding of moral living. Ottawa, ON: Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Connors, R., & Law, J. (2005). Forging Alberta’s constitutional framework. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta – Centre for Constitutional Studies.
Crockett, A., & Voas, D. (2005). Generations of decline: Religious decline in 20th-century Britain. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 45(4), 567–584.
Dawson, L., & Thiessen, J. (2013). The sociology of religion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Dixon, R. (2003). Catholic education and politics in Ontario (1964–2001). Toronto, ON: Catholic Education Foundation of Ontario.
Donlevy, J. K. (2002). Catholic schools: The inclusion of non-Catholic students. Canadian Journal of Education, 27(1), 101–108.
Engebretson, K. (2002). Writing church-sponsored religious education textbooks. British Journal of Religious Education, 25(1), 33–46.
Fagan, B. (2004). Trial: The loss of constitutional rights in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Roman Catholic story. St John’s, NL: ADDA Press.
Flynn, J. (Ed.), (2003). Catholic schools across Canada. Into the new millennium. Toronto, ON: Canadian Catholic School Trustees Association.
Flynn, M., & Mok, M. (2002). Catholic schools 2000: A longitudinal study of year 12, students in Catholic schools, and 1972–1982–1990–1998. Sydney, NSW: Catholic Education Commission.
Franklin, W. (1976). Catholic education and politics in Upper Canada: A study of the documentation relative to the origins of Protestant and Catholic in the Ontario school system. Toronto, ON: Federation of Catholic Education Associations of Ontario.
General Directory for Catechesis. (1997). Congregation for the Clergy. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory-for-catechesis_en.html
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London, UK: Routledge.
Hay, D. A. (2014). An investigation into the swiftness and intensity of recent secularization in Canada: Was Berger right? Sociology of Religion, 75(1), 136–162.
Hopkins, D., Harris, A., West, M., Aincow, M., & Beresford, J. (1997). Creating the conditions for classroom improvement. London, UK: David Fulton Publishers.
Hughes, A. (2003, November). The state of high school catechetical texts. Origins, 33(24), 417–420.
In the Spirit we belong, Year 3, Born of the Spirit. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Institute for Catholic Education. (2012). Ontario Catholic elementary curriculum policy document for Religious education, Grades 1-8. Toronto, ON: Institute for Catholic Education for the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario.
Jaenen, C. (1968). French public education in Manitoba (1807–1967). University of Ottawa Quarterly, 38(1), 19–34.
MacLaren, D. (1923). Catholic schools in western Canada. Washington, DC: ADA.
Mayer, R. (2004). Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? The case for guided methods of instruction. American Psychologist, 59(1), 14–19.
Mayer, R., & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive loads in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 43–52.
McDonough, G. (2012). Beyond obedience and abandonment: Toward a theory of dissent in Catholic education. Montreal, QC: McGill-Queens University Press.
McDonough, G. (2013). Discipline, devotion and dissent: Jewish, Catholic and Islamic schools in Canada. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier Press.
Morton, D. (2006). A short history of Canada. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart.
OCOF. (1992). Our children, our future: The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Delivery of Programs and Services in Primary, Elementary, Secondary Education. St. John’s, NF: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Peters, F. (1998). Religion and schools in Canadian Catholic education. Catholic Education; Journal of Enquiry and Practice, 1(3), 275–298.
Religious Education. (2006). Toronto, ON: Ontario Catholic Secondary Curriculum document.
Rymarz, R. (2004). A suggested pedagogy for hard topics in religious education. Journal of Religious Education, 52(4), 31–36.
Rymarz, R. (2007). At the coalface: Teaching about Jesus. Journal of Religious Education, 55(1), 12–17.
Rymarz, R. (2011). Catechesis and religious education in Canadian Catholic Schools. Religious Education, 106(5), 537–549.
Rymarz, R. (2012a). Teaching ethics and religious culture in Quebec: Some reflections on religious education in a secular culture. Religious Education, 107(3), 295–310.
Rymarz, R. (2012b). Setting textbook frameworks for religious education in Catholic schools: Recent developments in the United States. Journal of Religious Education, 60(3), 46–54.
Rymarz, R. (2013). Teaching religious education in Catholic Schools: Canadian perspectives. Macksville, Australia: David Barlow Publishing.
Rymarz, R., & Engebretson, K. (2005). Putting textbooks to work: Empowering religious education teachers. British Journal of Religious Education, 27(1), 53–63.
Rymarz, R., & Hyde, B. (2013). Taking the next step: Teaching religious education in Catholic schools. Macksville, Australia: David Barlow Publishing.
Shulman, L. (1986). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 1987, 57(1), 1–22.
Smith, W., & Foster, W. (2001). Religion and education in Canada: Part 1. Education and Law Journal, 10(3), 129–142.
Uecker, J., & Hill, J. (2014). Religious schools, home schools and the timing of first marriage and first birth. Review of Religious Research, 56(2), 189–218.
Voas, D. (2010). Explaining change over time in religious involvement. In S. Collins-Mayo & P. Dandelion (Eds.), Religion and youth. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.
World religions: A Canadian Catholic perspective. (2013). Toronto, ON: Novalis/Nelson.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rymarz, R. (2015). Religious Education in Canadian Catholic Schools. In: Buchanan, M., Gellel, AM. (eds) Global Perspectives on Catholic Religious Education in Schools. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20925-8_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20925-8_21
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20924-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20925-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)