Lived experiences of tertiary religious education teachers: Basis for a synodal instructional model

Abstract

Proclaiming the Good News is the primary goal of every religious educator, grounded in authentic and integral teaching of the Catholic faith. This study examined the lived experiences of all the tertiary religious educators in Catholic Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Albay, focusing on their “eureka” moments during their years of teaching religious education (RE). These experiences were captured using Clark Moustakas’ transcendental phenomenology. The findings reveal key themes related to Evangelization, Catechetical development, and Intellectual and Ethical growth, which emerged as the main goal of teaching RE. Th ese are supported by teaching principles of Witnessing, creating a Communal Learning Environment, providing Spiritual Guidance through Catechism, and promoting Student-Centred and Active
Learning. Th ese principles guide the direction of RE instruction. The progression of RE learning—from awakening faith to evangelization—is seen through the processes of internalization and discernment. All these elements are illuminated by theological approaches that emphasize faith and reason, evangelization and catechesis, synodality, and the educational theory of constructivism. The synthesis of these theories and experiences led to the development of a synodal instructional model comprising four learning phases: faith, internalization, discernment, and evangelization. These phases can easily be remembered using the acronym FIDE, which is Latin for “faith.”