Teachers’ beliefs about the Catholic Religious School Education and its relationship to teaching planning

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze beliefs related to purpose, teaching and learning that teachers of Catholic religion show in their school discipline, how these are related to teaching planning and, how these affect some socializing experiences when forming their beliefs. The results demonstrate that experiences of ecclesiastic participation and work performance have a very important role in the forming of beliefs. Additionally, it is also shown that teachers have constructivist and progressive beliefs about education and learning respectively, both of which are reflected in planning. Finally, in relation to the purpose of the Catholic Religious School Education, results show that their beliefs correspond with the approach of the subject that is presented by the Ministry of Education and take a step away from the critical purpose that is included by the Episcopal Conference of Chile.