004 :
14 Aug 2008

The legacy of Dr Peter Tannock The recently retired Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia, Dr Peter Tannock, leaves behind an enviable legacy in what he has achieved for the Catholic Church in this country in the realms of the infrastructure of primary, secondary and tertiary education. Today's lead commentary by Dr Michael Furtado was triggered by Dr Furtado coming across the interview the editor of Catholica recorded with Dr Tannock, originally for OnLine Catholics, but now also archived on Catholica [LINK]. Dr Furtado has had a long scholarly interest in the deeper questions of policy direction that have perhaps not been as easily raised and discussed when policy direction was almost single mindedly under the control of one man who was able to sway prime ministers to his vision as easily as he could Cardinals and Archbishops — albeit there might have been many others in positions of responsibility on commissions, governing bodies, and even amongst overseeing bishops, but they largely learned to dance to the Tannock baton with a not surprising appreciation of knowing who had the skills to deliver the funding arrangements without which no ideas can sing. Dr Furtado argues that with fewer of the poor having access to Catholic Education in this country today it is time to start asking some questions about policy direction. [more]

004 :
07 Aug 2008

A reflection on the challenges of belonging to Church today… Dr Graham English has been a Catholic teacher for 45 years. Now lecturing RE teachers at the Australian Catholic University he reflects on the challenges that young people face today in having a sense of "belonging" to the Catholic Church. [more]

003 :
15 Dec 2007

The challenges facing Catholic Religious Education in Australia! In this third major commentary on Catholic Religious Education in Australia we explore the perspectives of an RE teacher, Peter Marendy, working at the coal-face in a Catholic Secondary College. We see this commentary as a "discussion starter" and encourage responses from teachers and educational administrators to the provocative perspectives this commentary raises from what is actually a diverse number of political perspectives. [more]

002 :
24 Sep 2007

Three "very naughty boys"! As part of our on-going series looking at Catholic Education and the responsibilities we as a community have towards our young people we present an extended interview with three young men of approximately 25 years of age, all educated in Catholic primary and secondary schools who no longer have any significant connection with the Church. [more]

001 :
21 Jun 2007

Dr Peter Tannock… Dr Peter Tannock is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame. He is a former chairman of the National Catholic Education Commission and earlier than that could arguably be described as one of the chief architects of the model of modern Catholic Education that was set up by the Bishops of this nation beginning in about 1971. In some respects he could also be described as being influential in framing aspects of national education policy in this country. Despite the enormous influence he has had in the Church and in educational policy he is also a very private man not given to blowing his own trumpet. Brian Coyne set out to gain some insight into what makes Peter Tannock "tick" as an educational entrepreneur and as a lay Catholic facing the struggles we all face. [more]

001 :
04 Jun 2007

Catholic Religious Education in Australia — why and how it has changed... Catholic Education in Australia faced a major crisis in the 1960s to the point where the bishops of the time seriously considered having to close the entire system down because they simply did not have the resources to sustain it any longer. The new system that was established in the 1970s, thanks largely to government funding, is fundamentally different to the system of religious education that had existed in the past. In today's commentary, Dr Graham English, Senior Lecturer in Religious Education at ACU National, explores some of the other social and cultural factors that make Catholic Religious Education today so much different to what it was in the past. [more]