A Response: Threshold Concepts in Religious Education and Theology

Abstract

This paper presents a response to other contributions in this volume on the theme of using threshold concepts in religious education. It draws together some common threads that have emerged in this volume and notes the value of using threshold concepts, especially in certain context areas. It also provides a sense of the future of threshold concepts in religious education as well as some of the ongoing and emerging challenges in this area such as ensuring that classroom practice reflects what is proposed in the curriculum both for schools with religious affiliation and public schools. In Quebec, for instance, in very recent times the province has introduced a mandatory course in ethics and religious culture. This is an extremely ambitious programme with a wide range of proposed topics such as the nature of secularity and its impact on religious worldview and, perhaps the most complex, better understanding of indigenous religions.

KEYWORDS:

• religious education
• complex themes
• content knowledge

Notes

1 In my own teaching career I have had countless examples of this. Many of these have occurred in first year introductory course that I have taught to students with little background in theology. This lack of familiarity appears to be becoming more acute as even relatively straightforward ideas such as the Bible being a collection of books written at different times seems to be a new one for many students.

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Notes on contributors

Richard Rymarz

Professor Richard Rymarz is the Head of Religious Education and Director of Research at the Broken Bay Institute. Prior to this he held the Peter and Doris Kule Chair in Catholic Religious Education at St Joseph's College, University of Alberta. His most recent book is Creating an Authentic Catholic School. He has a long history of writing and research in religious education.