Paul KeenanStudents and society would benefit if Religious Education was included as a core subject in the curriculum of all schools, an expert in education will tell a conference on faith education in Kerry next week.
Dr Amelee Meehan, who works in the area of faith leadership for the Catholic Education an Irish Schools’ Trust (CEIST), the Trustee body for 110 Voluntary Catholic Secondary Schools in Ireland, will argue that religion underpins so much of Western culture and thought that it is only through Religious Education that children can hope to interpret their society and find meaning in their lives.
“There is a cultural literacy that comes with Religious Education in our society,” Dr Meehan told The Irish Catholic this week, referencing the religious influence in “art, poetry and music” among those elements on which our culture rests. “By its very nature, Religious Education is involved with the ultimate questions, and religion in its own right is important to have on the curriculum.”
In addition to this, Dr Meehan will point out that the answer to much of the discord currently experienced by young people, and manifesting itself through depression and anxiety, lies in the support clearly offered in belonging to a faith tradition.
Evidence
Towards this, Dr Meehan, who has extensively studied faith within communities in the US, cited evidence now coming from the American Psychological Association which, she said, shows “that those who have a positive experience of Religious Education, rooted in a tradition, have better coping mechanisms. This,” she added, “is the finding of the Association, a secular organisation.”
Dr Meehan will address a gathering of post-primary principals, chaplains and RE co-ordinators on November 30 at Killarney’s Brehon Hotel.
Full details are available at www.dioceseofkerry.ie