Jan Grajczonek

Adjunct Professor

Email: janice.grajczonek@nd.edu.au
Phone: 9433 0150

  • Biography

    Dr Jan Grajczonek is Adjunct Professor, the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. Before being appointed to this position, Jan had been Senior Lecturer in Religious Education in the Faculty of Education and Arts at the Australian Catholic University, Brisbane Campus from 2000 to 2015. Prior to that Jan had taught in Catholic primary schools in the Cairns, Toowoomba and Brisbane Dioceses in Queensland as well as in kindergartens. She had held the position of Assistant Principal in Religious Education in several schools between the years of 1993 and 1999. Her research interests are religious education in early childhood, young children’s spirituality and children’s literature. In 2010 she had been commissioned by the Queensland Catholic Education Commission to write a review of literature on young children’s spirituality and in collaboration with the QCEC Pre-Prep Taskforce wrote the Framework for Early Years Spiritual Development in the Catholic Tradition. She has authored several books, book chapters and academic papers in journals including the British Journal of Religious Education, Religious Education Journal of Australia, Journal of Religious Education, Journal of Catholic School Studies and the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. She has presented at conferences including at the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values, International Association for Children’s Spirituality Conference and the National Symposium on Religious Education and Ministry. From 2001 to 2016 Jan had been the regular reviewer of children’s literature for the online journal Echoing the Word (which closed at the end of 2016).

    Jan continues to work with several Catholic Education Offices in Australia, including the Western Australian Catholic Education Office, to provide professional development for early years and primary teachers in religious education. Currently she is developing early childhood spiritual and religious education curricula.