THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RELIGIOUSLY COMMITTED MILLENNIALS TEACHING IN AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Mark Gerard Smith

Abstract


Millennial teachers in Australian Catholic schools are a wild card that may determine the future of Australian Catholic education. They are Australian Catholic education’s most significant risk and greatest hope. They represent the foundations of the current workforce. They are established teachers and emerging leaders who will be critical for the sustainability of Catholic education. However, they are also fully immersed within a contemporary Australian society that is becoming increasingly non-religious, secular, pluralistic, and religiously diverse. They are part of an age demographic that has the largest proportion of “no religion” in Australia. So how will they be placed to lead the Catholic identity and mission of Australian Catholic schools for the next generations of students and families? This paper will explore how a subset of “religious millennials” may hold the key. They are both inculturated and faith-filled. They are committed to being a faith witness within their school communities. They are also teachers with experience and an understanding of the shifting context of Australian Catholic schools - highly cognizant of the challenges and aware of the opportunities. This paper will assert that religiously committed millennials are a group of teachers who need to be identified, encouraged and developed so that they can be a critical lifeblood for Australian Catholic schools in the future. And it can only be hoped that there are enough of them.

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