High school IRC teaching - General guidelines
The teaching of the Catholic religion (IRC) responds to the need to recognize in school courses the value of religious culture and the contribution that the principles of Catholicism offer to the global formation of the person and to the historical, cultural and civil heritage of the Italian people. In compliance with the concordat legislation, the IRC is part of the school's aims with a specific training proposal, offered to all those who intend to use it. It contributes to formation with particular reference to the spiritual and ethical aspects of existence, in view of a responsible insertion into civil and social life, in the university world and at work. The IRC, by participating in the development of cultural axes, with its own disciplinary identity, assumes the cultural, educational and professional profile of high schools; it is placed in the linguistic and communicative area, taking into account the specificity of religious language and the relational significance of each religious expression; offers a specific contribution both in the methodological area, enriching the epistemological options for the interpretation of reality, and in the logical-argumentative area, providing critical tools for the reading and evaluation of religious data, and in the historical-humanistic area, for the effects that the Catholic religion has historically produced and produces in Italian, European and world culture; it is connected to the scientific, mathematical and technological area for the search for meanings and the attribution of meaning. The study of the Catholic religion promotes, through an adequate educational-didactic mediation, the knowledge of the Christian-Catholic conception of the world and of history, as a resource of meaning for the understanding of oneself, of others and of life. To this end, the IRC addresses the universal question of the relationship between God and man, understands it through the person and work of Jesus Christ and compares it with the witness of the Church in history. In this context, it offers contents and tools for a systematic reflection on the complexity of human existence in the open confrontation between Christianity and other religions, between Christianity and other systems of meaning. The IRC, in the current multicultural context, through its proposal, promotes participation among students in an authentic and constructive dialogue, educating to the exercise of freedom in a perspective of justice and peace. The disciplinary contents, also in the light of the European Qualifications Framework, are broken down into competences and specific learning objectives articulated in knowledge and skills, as envisaged for general higher education in high schools, divided into the first two years, second two years and fifth years. At the end of the entire course of study, the IRC will enable the student to: • develop a mature critical sense and a personal project of life, reflecting on his own identity in the confrontation with the Christian message, open to the exercise of justice and solidarity in a multicultural context; • grasp the presence and impact of Christianity in history and culture for a critical reading of the contemporary world; • use the sources of the Christian faith, correctly interpreting their contents, according to the tradition of the Church, in an open comparison to the contributions of other disciplines and historical-cultural traditions; • participate, through their proposal, in an authentic and constructive dialogue in a perspective of justice and peace and in the exercise of the values of citizenship.
TEACHING OF CATHOLIC RELIGION
First class
Knowledge • Knowing and understanding oneself, also in relation to the reality that surrounds us, and recognizing the universal questions of man • Recognizing the role of religious experience in the journey of humanity • Knowing the essential elements of religions • Know the essential elements of the Jewish religion identify the Jewish root of Christianity • Notes on the biblical text Skills • To question one's own personal experiences and relationships with others • Know how to use specific language • Know how to recognize the distinctive characteristics of Judaism and the its role in history • Recognizing the danger of attitudes of cultural and religious intolerance • Knowing how to orient oneself in the use of the Bible.
Second class
Knowledge • Recognizing personal identity and the ethical value of human life as a unity of body and spirit • Knowing the historical character Jesus and the content of the his message on the Kingdom of God • To know the general structure of the Bible • To know the specific terms that characterize Christianity • To know the essential aspects of the Islamic religion Skills • To question one's own individual experiences and the value of existence as a unity of body and spirit • Be aware of the novelty introduced by Jesus regarding the identity of God and his relationship with man • Use the Bible and the specific language inherent to it • Reflect on prejudices about Islam and the dangers that lack of knowledge or distorted knowledge of the other they can have for the individual and for society Competences Civic Education first two years • To become aware of the forms of youth discomfort in contemporary society and of the consequences that derive from them on the relational level • To be able to recognize the inseparability of the human relationship with the surrounding environment and the moral and civic responsibilities that derive from it • Express and value and oneself using technological tools, respecting human and religious values Disciplinary skills first two years • Evaluate the ever current contribution of the Christian tradition to the development of human civilization • Appreciate the cultural as well as religious value of the Bible • Recognize the human value of religious experience in different cultural traditions • To identify the Christ event as central to Christianity
Third class
Knowledge • To deepen the most relevant questions of meaning of one's own existential research and to know the relative biblical answer • To know the answer that the different religions give to the existential research of man • To know the essential development of the Church in the medieval and modern age • Knowing the basic concepts of some non-Christian religions in a comparative way • Studying the question of God and the relationship between faith and reason Skills • Questioning the importance of seeking one's own life project • Discerning common and different elements in the different Christian confessions • Recognizing the richness that non-Christian religions have brought to humanity and understand the importance of interreligious dialogue • Recognize the Christian roots of European culture • Identify the elements of encounter and confrontation between reason and faith Fourth class Knowledge • Deepen the questions relating to the dimension spiritual existence • Analyze some passages from the Old and New Testament concerning the topics addressed • Know the essential passages of the faith-science problem in history • Essentially know the key concepts of ethics and the consequent moral choices • Know the interpretation of Christian confessions and of some non-Christian religions with respect to ethical questions • To know some prophetic witnesses present in the life of the Church. Skills • To question the importance that the interior and spiritual dimension assumes in the life of the individual and of society • Discover the richness of the contents in the biblical passages presented • Know how to recognize the complementarity between science and faith • Know how to compare, critically and without prejudice , the different secular and religious visions in relation to the topics dealt with • Identify the boundaries between science and conscience challenged by some recent scientific discoveries and today's society • Trace, in the Christian testimony of significant figures, the relationship between the spiritual and institutional elements and charismatics of the Church Skills Civic Education second two years • Dialogue and confront each other with respect for differences, in a context of cultural and religious pluralism. Adopt environmentally friendly behaviors in order to take care of it, preserve it, improve it • Exercise the principles of digital citizenship with competence and consistency, respecting human and religious values Disciplinary skills second two years • Interpret some fundamental human experiences starting from religious and Christian language in particular • To value the Christian reading of existence in order to build a judgment on oneself and on reality • To grasp the moral significance of human actions with particular reference to interpersonal relationships and public life
Fifth class
Knowledge • To deepen the knowledge of oneself in reference to one's own life project • To know some pages of the Old and New Testament and the teachings they offer • To know texts of the Magisterium of the Church relating to the topics dealt with • To study the relationship of the Church with the contemporary world, with reference to the totalitarianisms of the twentieth century, to the new fundamentalisms, to anti-religious phenomena, to globalization • To know the position of the Church on some ethical issues • To know the main and innovative contents of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and of the latest papal encyclicals • Know the essential lines of the legislative texts founding human rights and the Italian Constitution. Skills • Reflect on the importance of having a scale of values to refer to • Motivate one's life choices, comparing them with the Christian vision, and dialogue in an open, free and constructive way • Confronting with the teachings of the biblical and magisterial texts proposed • Orient oneself with a critical sense among the various contemporary ethical proposals, with particular reference to secularization, nihilism, ethical relativism, fundamentalism and fundamentalisms • Confront the teachings proposed by the Second Vatican Council and the latest papal encyclicals • Reflect on value human rights and related links with the evangelical reality. Skills Civic Education • Knowing how to decipher the historical, cultural and human context of Italian and European society, in order to actively and responsibly participate in the construction of human coexistence, respecting diversity and the environment • Exercising one's citizenship by using it in a critical way and aware of the Net and the Media, also in reference to human and religious values Disciplinary skills • Reflect and dialogue by arguing on moral issues confronting Christian thought • Interpret some characteristics of man and contemporary society starting from the religious and Christian perspective, also in the light of the founding texts of civil coexistence • Internalize the knowledge / skills acquired in order to play a conscious and active role in the exercise of citizenship.