?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=From+the+cathedral+to+the+classroom+%3A+the+emergence+of+new+discourses++on+religious+education&rft.creator=Ivers%2C+Peter+James&rft.subject=Catholic%2C+Catholic+education%2C+critical+discourse+analysis%2C+curriculum+change%2C+genre+chain%2C+intertextuality%2C+policy%2C+religious+education&rft.description=In+2009%2C+Religious+Education+is+a+designated+key+learning+area+in+Catholic+schools+in+the+Archdiocese+of+Brisbane+and%2C+indeed%2C+across+Australia.+Over+the+years%2C+though%2C+different+conceptualisations+of+the+nature+and+purpose+of+religious+education+have+led+to+the+construction+of+different+approaches+to+the+classroom+teaching+of+religion.+By+investigating+the+development+of+religious+education+policy+in+the+Archdiocese+of+Brisbane+from+1984+to+2003%2C+the+study+seeks+to+trace+the+emergence+of+new+discourses+on+religious+education.+The+study+understands+religious+education+to+refer+to+a+lifelong+process+that+occurs+through+a+variety+of+forms+(Moran%2C+1989).+In+Catholic+schools%2C+it+refers+both+to+co-curricula+activities%2C+such+as+retreats+and+school+liturgies%2C+and+the+classroom+teaching+of+religion.+It+is+the+policy+framework+for+the+classroom+teaching+of+religion+that+this+study+explores.%0D%0AThe+research+was+undertaken+using+a+policy+case+study+approach+to+gain+a+detailed+understanding+of+how+new+conceptualisations+of+religious+education+emerged+at+a+particular+site+of+policy+production%2C+in+this+case%2C+the+Archdiocese+of+Brisbane.+The+study+draws+upon+Yeatman%E2%80%99s+(1998)+description+of+policy+as+occurring+%E2%80%9Cwhen+social+actors+think+about+what+they+are+doing+and+why+in+relation+to+different+and+alternative+possible+futures%E2%80%9D+(p.+19)+and+views+policy+as+consisting+of+more+than+texts+themselves.+Policy+texts+result+from+struggles+over+meaning+(Taylor%2C+2004)+in+which+specific+discourses+are+mobilised+to+support+particular+views.+The+study+has+a+particular+interest+in+the+analysis+of+Brisbane+religious+education+policy+texts%2C+the+discursive+practices+that+surrounded+them%2C+and+the+contexts+in+which+they+arose.+Policy+texts+are+conceptualised+in+the+study+as+representing+%E2%80%9Ctemporary+settlements%E2%80%9D+(Gale%2C+1999).+Such+settlements+are+asymmetrical%2C+temporary+and+dependent+on+context%3A+asymmetrical+in+that+dominant+actors+are+favoured%3B+temporary+because+dominant+actors+are+always+under+challenge+by+other+actors+in+the+policy+arena%3B+and+context+-+dependent+because+new+situations+require+new+settlements.%0D%0ATo+investigate+the+official+policy+documents%2C+the+study+used+Critical+Discourse+Analysis+(hereafter+referred+to+as+CDA)+as+a+research+tool+that+affords+the+opportunity+for+researchers+to+map+and+chart+the+emergence+of+new+discourses+within+the+policy+arena.+As+developed+by+Fairclough+(2001)%2C+CDA+is+a+three-dimensional+application+of+critical+analysis+to+language.+In+the+Brisbane+religious+education+arena%2C+policy+texts+formed+a+genre+chain+(Fairclough%2C+2004%3B+Taylor%2C+2004)+which+was+a+focus+of+the+study.+There+are+two+features+of+texts+that+form+genre+chains%3A+texts+are+systematically+linked+to+one+another%3B+and%2C+systematic+relations+of+recontextualisation+exist+between+the+texts.+Fairclough%E2%80%99s+(2005)+concepts+of+%E2%80%9Cimaginary+space%E2%80%9D+and+%E2%80%9Cframeworks+for+action%E2%80%9D+(p.+65)+within+the+policy+arena+were+applied+to+the+Brisbane+policy+arena+to+investigate+the+relationship+between+policy+statements+and+subsequent+guidelines+documents.+%0D%0AFive+key+findings+emerged+from+the+study.+First%2C+application+of+CDA+to+policy+documents+revealed+that+a+fundamental+reconceptualisation+of+the+nature+and+purpose+of+classroom+religious+education+in+Catholic+schools+occurred+in+the+Brisbane+policy+arena+over+the+last+twenty-five+years.+Second%2C+a+disjuncture+existed+between+catechetical+discourses+that+continued+to+shape+religious+education+policy+statements%2C+and+educational+discourses+that+increasingly+shaped+guidelines+documents.+Third%2C+recontextualisation+between+policy+documents+was+evident+and+dependent+on+the+particular+context+in+which+religious+education+occurred.+Fourth%2C+at+subsequent+links+in+the+chain%2C+actors+created+their+own+%E2%80%9Cimaginary+space%E2%80%9D%2C+thereby+altering+orders+of+discourse+within+the+policy+arena%2C+with+different+actors+being+either+foregrounded+or+marginalised.+Fifth%2C+intertextuality+was+more+evident+in+the+later+links+in+the+genre+chain+(i.e.+1994+policy+statement+and+1997+guidelines+document)+than+in+earlier+documents.+%0D%0AOn+the+basis+of+the+findings+of+the+study%2C+six+recommendations+are+made.+First%2C+the+institutional+Church+should+carefully+consider+the+contribution+that+the+Catholic+school+can+make+to+the+overall+pastoral+mission+of+the+diocese+in+twenty-first+century+Australia.+Second%2C+policymakers+should+articulate+a+nuanced+understanding+of+the+relationship+between+catechesis+and+education+with+regard+to+the+religion+classroom.+Third%2C+there+should+be+greater+awareness+of+the+connections+among+policies+relating+to+Catholic+schools+%E2%80%93+especially+the+connection+between+enrolment+policy+and+religious+education+policy.+Fourth%2C+there+should+be+greater+consistency+between+policy+documents.+Fifth%2C+policy+documents+should+be+helpful+for+those+to+whom+they+are+directed+(i.e.+Catholic+schools%2C+teachers).+Sixth%2C+%E2%80%9Cimaginary+space%E2%80%9D+(Fairclough%2C+2005)+in+policy+documents+needs+to+be+constructed+in+a+way+that+allows+for+multiple+%E2%80%9Cframeworks+for+action%E2%80%9D+(Fairclough%2C+2005)+through+recontextualisation.%0D%0AThe+findings+of+this+study+are+significant+in+a+number+of+ways.+For+religious+educators%2C+the+study+highlights+the+need+to+develop+a+shared+understanding+of+the+nature+and+purpose+of+classroom+religious+education.+It+argues+that+this+understanding+must+take+into+account+the+multifaith+nature+of+Australian+society+and+the+changing+social+composition+of+Catholic+schools+themselves.+Greater+recognition+should+be+given+to+the+contribution+that+religious+studies+courses+such+as+Study+of+Religion+make+to+the+overall+religious+development+of+a+person.+In+view+of+the+social+composition+of+Catholic+schools%2C+there+is+also+an+issue+of+ecclesiological+significance+concerning+the+conceptualisation+of+the+relationship+between+the+institutional+Catholic+Church+and+Catholic+schools.+Finally%2C+the+study+is+of+significance+because+of+its+application+of+CDA+to+religious+education+policy+documents.+Use+of+CDA+reveals+the+foregrounding%2C+marginalising%2C+or+excluding+of+various+actors+in+the+policy+arena.&rft.publisher=Queensland+University+of+Technology&rft.date=2010&rft.type=Thesis&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.relation=https%3A%2F%2Feprints.qut.edu.au%2F33234%2F1%2FPeter_Ivers_Thesis.pdf&rft.rights=free_to_read&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.relation=https%3A%2F%2Feprints.qut.edu.au%2F33234%2F2%2FPeter_Ivers_Citation.pdf&rft.relation=Ivers%2C+Peter+James+(2010)+From+the+cathedral+to+the+classroom+%3A+the+emergence+of+new+discourses+on+religious+education.+Professional+Doctorate+thesis%2C+Queensland+University+of+Technology.&rft.id_number=https%3A%2F%2Feprints.qut.edu.au%2F33234%2F&rft.identifier=Faculty+of+Education%3B+Office+of+Education+Research