Abstract Title

Pre-service and graduate ECEC and Primary teachers' confidence to teach RE

Abstract

Motivations and influences behind the concept:

The researchers, Sharon Law-Davis and Dr John Topliss have undertaken an exploratory study of pre-service teachers involved in the Religious Education (RE) courses offered by The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), as part of the University’s ‘Accredition to Teach Religious Education program’. The study will examine the influence of key factors that may impinge on how a pre-service and/or early career teachers may engage with the necessary knowledge needed to effectively teach RE. Research in this area has found that students who do not have the knowledge and experience of their own religion lack the confidence to teach RE (Cullen, 2019). The study will therefore set out to examine the pre-service and graduate teachers’ perspectives of their confidence to teach RE and the core principles necessary for the effective teaching of Religious Education. The motivation for the research stems from the researchers’ observations of the engagement of early childhood and primary pre-service teachers within RE tutorials and lectures in their undergraduate degrees. The researchers want to know what the pre-service and graduate teachers' perceptions are regarding their confidence and what factors build or limit their confidence prior to and during their early career teaching RE in a Catholic school.

The Preliminary Questions related to the concept explored:

1. How confident are pre-service and graduate early childhood and primary teachers to teach RE in the classroom? 2. What aspects of their course assisted graduate early childhood and primary teachers to build their confidence to teach RE? 3. What background aspects were pertinent in graduate early childhood and primary teachers’ confidence to teach RE?

Possible methodologies for the research:

The epistemological approach underpinning the research is constructivist in nature. The researchers are interested in understanding the constructed realities of what humans know of the world themselves through their own experiences and systems of meaning we all live in (Braun & Clark, 2013). The constructivist approach is typically seen as an approach to qualitative research (Creswell, 2014). Therefore the data collected is via surveys and informal one-to-one interviews.

Signs of Grace:

This research is important to fulfil our participation in God’s mission: as we receive the grace of God we are privileged to serve as agents of grace. We desire our pre-service and graduate teachers to feel confident in their mission to teach RE and to be confident in their own understanding of their religion. Therefore, this research reflects the cognitive or the head in the field of Catholic Education as we strive to develop pre-service and graduate teachers’ knowledge and understanding so as to enhance their confidence to teach RE.

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Pre-service and graduate ECEC and Primary teachers' confidence to teach RE

Motivations and influences behind the concept:

The researchers, Sharon Law-Davis and Dr John Topliss have undertaken an exploratory study of pre-service teachers involved in the Religious Education (RE) courses offered by The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), as part of the University’s ‘Accredition to Teach Religious Education program’. The study will examine the influence of key factors that may impinge on how a pre-service and/or early career teachers may engage with the necessary knowledge needed to effectively teach RE. Research in this area has found that students who do not have the knowledge and experience of their own religion lack the confidence to teach RE (Cullen, 2019). The study will therefore set out to examine the pre-service and graduate teachers’ perspectives of their confidence to teach RE and the core principles necessary for the effective teaching of Religious Education. The motivation for the research stems from the researchers’ observations of the engagement of early childhood and primary pre-service teachers within RE tutorials and lectures in their undergraduate degrees. The researchers want to know what the pre-service and graduate teachers' perceptions are regarding their confidence and what factors build or limit their confidence prior to and during their early career teaching RE in a Catholic school.

The Preliminary Questions related to the concept explored:

1. How confident are pre-service and graduate early childhood and primary teachers to teach RE in the classroom? 2. What aspects of their course assisted graduate early childhood and primary teachers to build their confidence to teach RE? 3. What background aspects were pertinent in graduate early childhood and primary teachers’ confidence to teach RE?

Possible methodologies for the research:

The epistemological approach underpinning the research is constructivist in nature. The researchers are interested in understanding the constructed realities of what humans know of the world themselves through their own experiences and systems of meaning we all live in (Braun & Clark, 2013). The constructivist approach is typically seen as an approach to qualitative research (Creswell, 2014). Therefore the data collected is via surveys and informal one-to-one interviews.

Signs of Grace:

This research is important to fulfil our participation in God’s mission: as we receive the grace of God we are privileged to serve as agents of grace. We desire our pre-service and graduate teachers to feel confident in their mission to teach RE and to be confident in their own understanding of their religion. Therefore, this research reflects the cognitive or the head in the field of Catholic Education as we strive to develop pre-service and graduate teachers’ knowledge and understanding so as to enhance their confidence to teach RE.