When I was at School: A preliminary report investigating the secondary school Religious Education (RE) experiences of Catholic secondary school RE teachers aged 25 to 40 years.

Abstract

This paper is a preliminary report on research conducted with secondary school RE teachers worldng in Catholic secondary schools. The research has focussed on investigating teachers' experiences of their own secondary school RE. Understanding the educational background of teachers aged 25 to 40 years has important implications for proffessional development as well as documenting an important recent period in the history of Catholic education. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured technique and a number of key response categories established. Teachers identified a lack of academic focus as one of their key recollections of secondary school RE. Responses to this lack of focus were classified as negative or ambivalent. School retreats were identified as a positive experiences and the school culture was recognised by participants as playing an important role in how RE was experienced.