Programme 311, Gerry O'Connell on Religious Education (10-1-18)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney

On this week's programme I speak to my colleague in the Marino Institute of Education, Dr. Gerry O'Connell about religious education. Gerry is a primary teacher and a teacher educator with vast experience and his ideas are grounded in this experience and in his scholarly work in the field. Among the topics discussed this week are the following:

• The difference between teaching religion and religious education


• The importance of starting with the students’ experiences


• The challenges of working with diverse student experiences


• The teaching methodology “Godly Play”


• Social media as a force of oppression


• Why contemplative space, depth of conversation or wonder and symbol or story are central to religious education


• Whether sacraments should be taught in school or in parishes


• What makes a teacher?


• Teaching as a vocation


• A perceived secularist agenda in some media organisations