School of Religious Education, and Cardinal Clancy Centre for Research in the Spiritual, Moral, Religious and Pastoral Dimensions of Education.
Spiritual, Moral and Religious Education is a key area for Teaching and Research in Australian Catholic University

NEW PUBLICATION

Reasons for living: Education and young people's search for meaning, identity and spirituality By Marisa Crawford and Graham Rossiter, Australian Council for Educational Research, Camberwell Vic. Publishing date, mid November 2006

The major part of the book Reasons for Living explores the development and psychological function of meaning, identity and spirituality in the lives of young people. This can contribute significantly to the professional background of those engaged with the care of youth in various contexts. From there, the book focuses on what it means to educate young people in meaning, identity and spirituality. Implications for education are considered for three school contexts: the spiritual and moral dimension to the general curriculum in public and independent schools; religious education in religious schools; and state-based religion studies courses. The book makes an innovative and much needed contribution to the philosophy of education as regards the links between education and young people's spiritual and moral development. It also provides new insights and approaches to values education and religious education. It offers a constructive and practical path forward in areas of fundamental importance for Australian education that have long been held back not only by a gap between theory and practice, but by the very complexities of young people's personal development in contemporary Western culture.

Content Outline

Click here for information on how to make an advance order for a copy from Aust Council for Educational Research

Some comments on Reasons for Living

This is a landmark publication for Australian education. More than any previous book, it has provided a helpful conceptualisation of the spiritual and moral dimension to public education. It makes a substantial and innovative contribution to values education at both theoretical and practical levels. In addition, it outlines an agenda for future developments in the study of religion in church-related and other religious schools, as well as in state-based religion courses. Reasons for living includes a remarkable mixture of sophisticated philosophy, telling psychological insights and eminently practical pedagogy. It will be an invaluable resource for professionals engaged in education and the care of youth – truly a book that can enhance the education of all young Australians.
Dr Louise Welbourne, Editor Journal of Religious Education

A valuable handbook on the meaning, identity and spirituality of young people. The book is ambitious in scope but very well organized in exploring what education is for. The book is focused on Australian history, issues and educational institutions while having universal implications.
Professor Gabriel Moran, Director of the Program of Philosophy of Education, New York University

Youth of today have an enormously complicated task facing them – to bring some sense of meaning and purpose to the complexity of issues surrounding their lives in a conflicted and morally ambiguous culture. The search for meaning in life and the need to explore an authentic sense of identity are critical areas for scholarly and professional inquiry and are key, timely concerns of this book. This book provides that exploration and does so in an expansive and compelling way.
Professor Peter Sheehan AO, Vice Chancellor, Australian Catholic University

The authors show how educators can connect with young people and how they can make a positive difference in the lives of their students. In this book, the spiritual and moral dimensions of education move from the margins (honoured in mission statements) to the mainstream (comprehensively addressed through the curriculum). Crawford & Rossiter provide a guide for teachers, one that is detailed and thorough, accessible and clear, and full of practical wisdom gained from a lifetime of experience in many sectors of education. Their guide equips teachers, in all types of schools, to offer their students an educational journey that is life-enhancing, holistic and transformational. Although rooted in the Australian context, this systematic treatment of young people's search for meaning, identity and spirituality is acutely relevant and applicable in many other countries.
Professor John Sullivan, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Liverpool Hope University , UK .

Reasons for Living is a timely handbook for all teachers committed to the development of the whole person and so to the spiritual and moral dimensions of education – whether they work in religious schools or the public sector. This is a valuable resource for teachers and educational leaders who are concerned to assist students in the key developmental tasks of finding meaning and achieving an authentic sense of identity in order to live genuinely happy and fruitful lives. Each chapter opens up a new perspective on this challenging, but most important enterprise.
Dr Michael Bezzina, Director of Curriculum and Religious Education, Catholic Education Office, Parramatta .

These are times characterized by a dramatic re-evaluation of the role of the teacher and the school in general but, within that context, an especial re-evaluation of the role of religion, spirituality and morality as features of the schooling experience. Reasons for Living is a book for our times.
Professor Terence Lovat, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Arts) The University of Newcastle

Most democratic societies are facing cultural challenges due to galloping social change and value pluralisation. Religious diversity is only one of several reasons why it is urgent that disparate groups be encouraged to work together to renegotiate and make explicit the core values of democratic community life. Not only is social cohesion at stake, but a sickness at the personal level must be addressed. Amidst the confusion of values, individuals are struggling to find personal meaning and identity, even to the point of questioning whether they actually matter to anyone other than themselves. These are the challenges addressed by Crawford and Rossiter.
Emeritus Professor Brian Hill, Murdoch University

Reasons for Living is comprehensive in its scope and compass while being incisive and detailed in its treatment of key issues, concepts and developments in the cognate fields of spiritual, moral and religious education. It is rooted in an informed understanding of the historical development of these fields both globally and in Australia while transcending the particularities of time and space and seeking to be prophetic and visionary about their futures. It is driven by a passionate concern to realise the educational capacity of schools to enhance young people's critically reflective response to the changing demands of their life experiences.
Dr Michael Grimmitt, Faculty of Education, the University of Birmingham

Reasons for Living will be a significant addition to the field of research in Religious Education. It has concisely and provocatively summarised the major influences upon Religious Education. It would be an essential resource for all Religious Education professionals and a basic textbook for all students in the field.
Dr Dan White, Director Catholic Education Office, Archdiocese of Hobart ; National Catholic Education Commission's Religious Education Committee.

Reasons for Living , by focusing upon the key concepts of meaning, identity and spirituality for young people will help educators parents and youth workers to resist the corrosive efforts of a materialist, hedonistic and ‘shop till you drop' contemporary culture.
Professor Gerald Grace, Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education, Institute of Education , the University of London .

Spirituality, meaning and identity are concepts that are often used in education settings without a lot of clarity of meaning. Crawford and Rossiter ground these concepts in both the research and the lived experience of young people, taking note of the reality of the classroom. The writers provide a way forward for all Australian educators to be effective in engaging young people in values / meaning / identity / reflection. They do not overestimate what schools can achieve in this important area, providing both a reality check and a way forward.
Dr Adrienne Jericho, Executive Director, Lutheran Education Australia

Reasons for Living will be a welcome addition to the literature charting the search for meaning of young people today. Although the text comes out of the Australian context it will be of immediate relevance and usefulness to teachers throughout the Western World who are facing common challenges in finding the language and contexts in which to engage in dialogue with contemporary global youth culture in a post-secular age.
Dr Andrew McGrady, Registrar Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin City University , Ireland

This is a groundbreaking and very valuable book. It gathers under one cover research findings and practical experience from a number of fields e.g. education, psychology, sociology, and religious education, and demonstrates how schools can use such findings to assist young people in their development.
Mr Gary Finlay, Director National Centre for Religious Studies, New Zealand .

Reasons for Living is both important for the concrete development of moral and spiritual education in the Australian school system (both public and private schools), and for the theoretical reflection on this important issue on an national and international level.
Associate Professor Bert Roebben, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Tilburg University , Netherlands

Dedicated teachers of young people sometimes struggle to understand the world of the adolescent. Crawford and Rossiter offer teachers and administrators an excellent resource to both understand this life stage and the cultural issues facing youth. Using this book will undoubtedly allow teachers to provide more meaningful classroom experiences for their learners.
Mrs Anne Baker, Deputy Director Catholic Institute of Education, Johannesburg , South Africa

In a time when warring sides summon differing religions as justification of their violence, proficient teaching of religious issues in public and Church schools is urgently needed.
Rev Ted Witham , Former Executive Director of The Churches' Commission on Education in WA, and consultant to the Curriculum Council of WA (Religion and Life course).

There has been a great need for a book which addresses, in a comprehensive and contemporary manner, the major issues relating to young people's search for meaning, identity and spirituality. It is a most helpful book and deserves to be read widely by professional educators in both Government and Non-Government schools.
Rev Dr Tom Wallace AM Educational Advisor to the Bishop of Tasmania

More than most of us ever were, today's young people are confronted by uncertainty. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz once described human beings as ‘meaning-seeking animals'. Young people are indeed just so, seeking meaning amid uncertainty. Further, it is one thing to find everyday meaning, but there is also ultimate meaning. And in the twenty-first century how should such young people be educated so as to tackle that uncertainty and to find meaning, everyday and ultimate? Importantly, how can a school curriculum promote the spiritual and moral development of students who seek meaning? That is what the Rossiter/Crawford book is about. The end result is a comprehensive and powerful text that should be read not only by those involved in RE but by all those responsible for the development of young people in our society today.
Professor Robert Crotty, Emeritus Professor of Religion and Education, University of South Australia

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