Peter Berger (1929) is an American sociologist best known for his collaboration with Thomas Luckman in writing The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. That book argues that human reality, and knowledge of it, is a social construct, emerging from the individual or group’s interaction with larger social structures (institutions). Social structures, once widely adopted, lose their history as social constructions (objectivation), and come over time, by the people who live within them, to be deemed natural realities independent of human construction (reification). Berger predicted, in his later book, The Sacred Canopy, near-term all-encompassing secularization of religion, which prediction has proved false, especially in the third world (as Berger himself has acknowledged in his later work, Desecularization).

神圣的帷幕 : 宗教社会学理论之要素 = The sacred canopy elements of a sociological theory of religion

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

(2000). Learning and Teaching about Values: A review of recent research. Cambridge Journal of Education: Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 169-202.

Learning and Teaching about Values: A review of recent research

This article considers the Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority's (ACARA) plan for Civics and Citizenship, assessing the role of religions therein. Through a dialectical hermeneutic, ACARA is brought into a mutually critical conversation with the work of curriculum theorist Dwayne Huebner. Both of their distinct visions are found to make space for diverse religious identities, and to affirm students taking responsibility for what they make of this world. They clash, however, over the path to societal harmony and the place given to discussing our deepest differences in belief and practice. In this article it is argued that a constructive use of Sacred Texts in Civics and Citizenship may facilitate a synergy between ACARA and Huebner that is educationally viable and democratically profitable. This would require that curriculum content is decentred to serve a dialogical pedagogy built on the sharing of our foundational narratives as together we pursue the common good.

Curriculum visions: The Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and Dwayne Huebner discuss civics and citizenship

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers Christian Smith & Melinda Lundquist Denton (2005) New York: Oxford Smith and Denton's vivid accounts of teenage lives give readers an enlightened understanding of challenges teens face, religious experiences they have, and the significance of adolescent religiosity and spirituality in their lives "The inattention to youth religion works to our detriment" (4), the authors contend as they address the reality of adolescence as a stage when changes in religious preference are most likely until they reach 18 years of age Conceptual themes are generated that reflect lived experiences of adolescents and valuable empirical data collected by the National Survey of Youth and Religion (NSYR) (2002-2003), including Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, and consideration of societal influence These themes capture the essence of adolescent religiosity and spirituality that stimulate the reader to examine the data for this population more attentively The book contains seven chapters Chapter one invites readers into the lives of "Two Baptists Girls" (9), through which they learn that teens live through a diversity of "religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, experiences, identities, and attitudes" (26) The authors provide sufficient information about the girls to paint a mental portrait of their religious diversity Chapter two presents statistical findings from the NSYR (2002-2003) which provide a general synopsis of religious and spiritual lives of adolescents in the United States Next, in chapter three the authors delve into the characteristics of adolescents who consider themselves "religious seekers", "spiritual but not religious", and "nonreligious" (72) Chapter four discusses themes which developed from the qualitative interviews conducted with the adolescents "Persistent stereotypes" common in American culture are challenged (119) Chapter five emphasizes the significance of understanding how cultural and institutional contexts shape American adolescent religion A concept commonly disregarded by parents and other adults Chapter six takes a closer look at Catholic teens and speaks to their "lower levels of religiosity" (207) Chapter seven examines adolescent religiosity and the influence on positive life outcomes This is a promising area for future research for several disciplines The authors succinctly examine NSYR findings of religious and spiritual adolescents and share important data on their religious experiences, characteristics, and background The information is pertinent for adults who work with youth One significant conclusion is that "the majority of US teenagers tend to be quite like their parents when it comes to religion" (68) This finding leads the authors to address adolescent religion in a social context In a factual and tactful manner, they note that "most American youth share much more in common with adults than they do not share" (191) The authors adroitly guide the reader in using an objective lens to consider the role of societal influences on adolescent religiosity and spirituality They challenge the statement made by those who study American religion that teens are "spiritual but not religious" (73) and consider this to be a minor percentage of teens in the United States Since the majority of teens "had no clue" what the term 'spirituality' meant when questioned(78), the authors develop arguments based on the NSYR and qualitative interviews they conducted that teenagers are unaware of religious practices and lack the ability to articulate their religious experiences …

'Reasons for Living' begins by exploring 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 in the education and care of youth in various contexts. It then focuses on what it means to educate young people in meaning, identity and spirituality.

Reasons for Living: Education and Young People's Search for Meaning, Identity and Spirituality - A Handbook

This chapter looks at problems in conceptualising and implementing a spiritual and moral dimension to the school curriculum. It introduces the three key constructs: 'meaning', 'identity' and 'spirituality' and explores how they can be used effectively in a modest but realistic way, referring to some pedagogical issues and practical examples.

Reasons for Living: Education and Young People's Search for Meaning, Identity and Spirituality

A number of constructs like secularisation, privatisation of religion etc have been used to describe the significant change in spirituality of many of the young people in Australian Catholic schools over the last 50 years, from a more traditional religious spirituality to something that is more secular, eclectic and individualistic To some extent, this change has been acknowledged; but the religion curricula in Catholic schools still give the impression that all of the students are, or should be, regular churchgoers – as if Sunday Mass attendance was to be the end point of their education in spirituality An interpretation of change in spirituality in terms of change in cultural meanings has been developed for the purpose of understanding contemporary spiritualities in other than a deficit model Such an interpretation may be more persuasive in getting Catholic education authorities and religious educators firstly to accept, rather than condemn or ignore, the significant change in contemporary 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19422539.2010.504019

Perspective on contemporary spirituality: Implications for religious education in Catholic schools

In the light of the changed landscape of contemporary spirituality explored in the previous issue of this journal (Rossiter, G.M. 2010. International Studies in Catholic Education 2, no. 2, 129–47), this follow-up article considers implications for Catholic school religion curricula in Australia, with the likelihood that this would also be relevant to Catholic schooling in other countries. A reorientation of the religion curriculum is proposed, giving more prominence to the critical interpretation and evaluation of cultural meanings. If many of the pupils in Catholic schools will not become actively involved in parishes, then religious education needs to offer more than familiarising them with Catholic theology and religious practice; it also needs to skill them in addressing the spiritual and moral issues they will encounter in life. Attention is given to what this entails in both content and pedagogy.

Reorienting the religion curriculum in Catholic schools to address the needs of contemporary youth spirituality

The secular patterns to young people's spirituality are often so different from what those responsible for religion curricula seem to presume about youth spirituality, that what is done to promote its development may miss the mark. The article explores implications for religious education in state and church‐related schools, suggesting the need for a more issues‐based approach with less emphasis on the description of religious systems.

Graham Rossiter

Papers

Reasons for Living: Education and Young People's Search for Meaning, Identity and Spirituality - A Handbook

Reasons for Living: Education and Young People's Search for Meaning, Identity and Spirituality

Perspective on contemporary spirituality: Implications for religious education in Catholic schools

Reorienting the religion curriculum in Catholic schools to address the needs of contemporary youth spirituality

The Secular Spirituality of Youth: Implications for Religious Education