School chaplaincy in Australia is highly contentious. The federal government funds a chaplaincy programme in Australia's secular public schools, which, combined with the declining influence of institutional Christianity, places Christian chaplains at the nexus of debates on the public role of religion. Yet little is known about how these chaplains…

The social and emotional wellbeing of all students, regardless of setting, is recognised as a fundamental requirement for successful learning and social development. The COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years has witnessed disruptions to teaching and learning and peer relationship development for students. Societies have been in lockdown;…

The history of religion as a school subject, as with the history of the school curriculum in general and the history of individual school subjects in particular, tend to be neglected. As a contribution to that corpus of work, a study of religion as a school subject in Western Australian Catholic schools offers some interesting insights. In…

Finding Common Ground (FCG) is an inter-belief dialogue program hosted in the Multi Faith Facility of Swinburne University of Technology. FCG is a voluntary program that offers Swinburne students a safe space to discuss their religious faith, or alternative value base, and to learn from those of others. Two iterations of this program were…

Each year, a significant number of students from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius seek higher education opportunities abroad. Yet, limited research exists on these students' expectations, preferences, and experiences in their academic and non-academic university settings overseas. This quantitative study investigates the experiences of…

The relationship between the polite and conventional nature of friendly language and the sincerity of the writer's feelings is a central topic in linguistic and historical research on friendship in epistolary communication. This relationship can be understood in the context of the emotional values and conventionalised emotional practices that…

School chaplaincy services aim to promote student and school community well-being. Given the community interest in chaplaincy services in government schools, it is important that research inform future developments to maximize the potential benefits of chaplaincy services to schools. In this study, 68 chaplains in the Australian state of Tasmania…

Minimal prior research has examined the school chaplaincy programme in Australia. This exploratory study sought to identify the values primary school chaplains feel are the most important to them personally, and in their role as chaplain. Eight chaplains working in government primary schools were interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis was used…

This article considers the ways through which the Marists in Australia are enhancing their charismic vitality and the structural viability as a movement of Christian educators within the Church. A theoretical context is described, focusing on the nature of the concepts of charism, "communio," discipleship, the spiritual families of the…

This article focuses on the challenge of faith leadership in Catholic schools. In particular, it reviews Australian research that has aimed to understand how principals conceptualize and enact their role as faith leaders. Consistent with American research, Australian research found that principals saw themselves as playing a leadership role in the…

This article reports on a retrospective study of cases of child sexual abuse complaints made against clergy, other employed pastoral staff, and volunteers in the Anglican Church of Australia between 1990 and 2008. There were 191 allegations of sexual abuse made by 180 complainants against 135 individuals. Twenty-seven of those 135 had more than…

Christian-based youth ministry in many Western countries is being conducted in difficult circumstances. How might denominations, parishes, and youth workers best approach youth ministry? Theologian Arthur Canales (2006) proposes eight different models of youth ministry. Drawing on Canales' typology, this article considers youth ministry among the…

The role of the typical Baptist pastor has evolved well beyond providing spiritual direction. Congregations expect them to fulfill complex leadership roles, similar to those in secular institutions, such as church administrators, political strategists, and social activists. Leadership preparation in seminaries for clergy has not kept up with the…

This article is a qualitative study of the practice of leadership in Catholic schools in Australia. Within an interpretivist framework, a multiple case study of six lay principals was employed. Findings suggest that successful leadership in Catholic schools is highly influenced by the cultural and spiritual capital that a principal brings to a…

This article draws on Bourdieu's analogy of a fish in water, to provide a four-stage self-reflexive account of one Health and Physical Education (HPE) teacher's acquisition of a Foucaldian analytic lens, one with which to explore the moral and governing practices of HPE. Drawing on this research journey, the author seeks to demonstrate her growing…