Faithful dissent and religious education in Canadian Catholic schools: a response to McDonough

Abstract

McDonough proposes that one way of invigorating religious education in Canadian Catholic high schools is to present a wider range of views under the ambit of Catholic teaching, including those that are currently regarded as dissenting opinions. These are not in keeping with official teaching but enjoy support in the wider Catholic community. In response to this, it is argued that a better understanding of the contemporary discourse on religious education in Catholic schools would accommodate a thoughtful engagement with a range of views. This is in keeping with an educative model of religious education that can distinguish between the educative and catechetical goals of religious education. A stronger focus on the educative aspects of religious education is proposed as a more direct way of improving the quality of religious education in schools.