The hours dedicated to religious training at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick have been defended.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic following the contention in a
Teaching Council report that religious training hours - 48 over the
two-year B.Ed - far outstrips other subjects.
Lecturer in Religious
Education, Dr Daniel O'Connell said a number of factors currently at
play demanded the emphasis given to religious training.
''Two and a half hours per week - a half hour a day - is a heavy load
to place on a teacher along with other subjects,'' Dr O'Connell said of
the reality today for young primary school teachers.
''For a trainee teacher to engage in his or her subject to that
extent, and in a thoughtful and reflective manner, the time offered at
Mary Immaculate is required.''
Pointing to the ''market reality'' of a continuing Catholic
predominance in Irish schools, Dr O'Connell stressed that ''this is the
context into which our graduates enter, and that requires them to be
well trained to teach [RE] a curriculum subject. How are they to do that
in a competent manner without a 'religious literacy'?''
Last week's publication of the Teaching Council report prompted
comment in some media quarters as to the ongoing influence of the Church
in the Irish education system, despite the fact that the religious
training hours were matched by the visual arts and Gaeilge.
In this, Dr O'Connell further pointed out that those closest to the
issue, the students themselves ''have never approached the college with
any criticism of the hours dedicated to religious training''.
Diversity
On the question of a 'changing Ireland' with more religious diversity
and potential future declines in Catholic schools, Dr O'Connell
acknowledged that Mary Immaculate, as with other institutions would have
to examine adequate responses to such issues, but for the moment,
''over 91 per cent of schools are Catholic with an expectation that
their teachers can engage in a catechetical element''.
SIC: IT/IE