Psychosocial Environment in Religious Education Classes in Australian Catholic Secondary Schools

Abstract

This research investigated the psychosocial environment in religious education classes in Australian Catholic secondary schools. The study utilised the Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire (CSCEQ), an instrument which assesses seven dimensions of classroom environment: Student Affiliation; Interactions; Co‐operation; Task Orientation; Order and Organisation; Individualisation; Teacher Control. Comparisons involving a sample of 893 students in 40 religious education classes revealed three important results. First, Catholic girls’ schools have more positive religious education classroom environments compared with Catholic boys’ and Catholic co‐educational schools. Second, Year 12 classes had lower Task Orientation and Teacher Control but higher Student Affiliation, Co‐operation, Order and Organisation and Individualisation compared with Year 9 classes. Third, for all seven environment dimensions of the CSCEQ, teachers perceived their religious education classes more positively than their students. Overall, the study attests to the importance of classroom environment research in religious education classes in Catholic schools.