Professor Chris Hackett

Associate Dean (Religious Education)
BA/BEd (UWA), Grad Dip Arts (RE) (ECU), MRE (UNDA), Ph D (UNDA)

Email: chris.hackett@nd.edu.au
Phone: 9433 0159

  • Biography

    Chris Hackett is the Associate Dean responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Religious Education. Chris teaches in the areas of Religious Education, pastoral care, spirituality education and values education. He also supervises research students in these areas as part of the School of Education’s doctoral program. Chris has published academic articles and book chapters on Religious Education, teacher formation and student ministry and presented at conferences on the formation of RE teachers, student ministry and the spirituality of young people. He is the Chair of the Religion and Life Curriculum and Assessment Committee for the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. He has been a Chief Examiner and Marker and facilitator for professional development days on Religion and Life. Chris has also presented at the CEO Western Australia and at Catholic schools on teaching values, youth spirituality and the pedagogy of secondary Religious Education. In 2007, Chris was a member of the CEO working party on retreat programs and has collaborated on developing a retreat training leaders program for pre-service teachers at Notre Dame. He is Director of the Catholic Institute of Western Australia and ex-officio member of the Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia.

  • Teaching areas

    Religious Education
    Pastoral Care
    Values Education
    Spirituality Education
    Youth Ministry and Service

  • Research expertise and supervision

    Religious Education curriculum and pedagogy
    Teacher formation in Religious Education
    Values Education
    Catholic school culture and identity

  • Book chapters

    Hackett. C. (2015). Positive Youth Development and Religious Education. In M. Buchanan & A. Gellel (eds). Global Perspectives on Catholic Religious Education in Schools. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic (Springer Publishers) (In Press).

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    • Hackett, C., & Lavery, S. D. (2012). Formation of pre-service teachers for religious education through experiential learning: The retreat leaders training program. Journal of Religious Education, 60(2), 13-23.
    • Berlach, R. G., & Hackett, C. (2012). Upper secondary school religion and life course: Perceptions of the inaugural cohort. Religious Education Journal of Australia, 28(1), 9-15.
    • Hackett, C. & Lavery, S. (2011). Student ministry: Youth ‘step up’ to lead and serve. Journal of Catholic School Studies, 83(1), 54-62.
    • Hackett, C. (2010). The role of experiential content knowledge in the formation of beginning RE teachers. Journal of Religious Education, 58(1), 38-49.
    • Hackett, C., & Lavery, S. D. (2010). ASPIRE: Formation of pre-service teachers through leadership, community engagement and retreat training. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(1), 76-89.
    • Hackett, C., & Lavery, S. (2010). Formation of quality pre-service teachers through leadership, service and pastoral care. In R. Toomey, T. Lovat, N. Clement & K. Daily (Eds.), Teacher education and values pedagogy: A student wellbeing approach (Ch. 6). Terrigal, NSW: David Barlow Publishing.
    • Hackett, C. B. (2009). What is the best and most special about teaching religious education? Journal of Religious Education, 57(1), 14-24.
    • Hackett, C. (2008). The perceptions of recently assigned secondary religious education teachers. Journal of Religious Education, 56(1), 25-37.
    • Lavery, S. D., & Hackett, C. (2008). Christian service learning in Catholic schools. Journal of Religious Education, 56(3), 18-24.

  • Conference papers

    • Hackett, C., & Lavery, S. (2010). Student ministry: Preparing young people as leaders for the 21st century. Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on Catholic Educational Leadership. Sofitel Wentworth Sydney Hotel, NSW, 2-4 August.
    • Hackett, C. (2007). Developing a Model for Teacher Formation in Religious Education. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) 2007 International Educational Research Conference.

  • Professional affiliations

    Ex-officio member of Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia

  • Community engagement

    Chair, Religion and Life Curriculum and Assessment Committee, SCASA
    Chair, Editorial Management Team, Ejournal of Catholic Education in Australasia