Reflective Learning in Catholic School Catechesis: An Integrative Review and Pedagogical Framework
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Reflective learning is frequently recommended for religious education, yet its pedagogical use in Catholic school catechesis remains conceptually fragmented and supported by uneven evidence. This integrative review examined how reflective learning is conceptualised, which reflective practices are reported in Catholic and related religious-education contexts, what outcomes and enabling conditions are identified, and how the evidence can inform a catechetical framework. Searches and source verification were conducted through Google Scholar, GARUDA, ERIC, and DOAJ, with the direct evidence corpus restricted to peer-reviewed journal articles published from January 2021 to 19 August 2026; earlier works were used only for theoretical, methodological, or contextual framing. The final verified reference base comprised 56 scholarly sources: 52 peer-reviewed journal articles and four foundational books. Thirty-six recent journal articles formed the direct pedagogical-evidence corpus and were included in the thematic synthesis, while 16 journal articles provided methodological, foundational, or contextual background and were not coded as direct evidence. Four non-exclusive themes emerged: experience-based meaning-making, guided and dialogical reflection, faith-tradition integration, and enabling conditions and safeguards. The synthesis suggests that reflective catechesis is best understood not as unrestricted personal introspection but as a guided process moving from lived experience to critical reflection, communal dialogue, integration with Scripture, Catholic tradition, and doctrinal teaching, and responsive action. The review proposes a six-stage Reflective Catechesis Cycle (RCC) and six design principles for translating these thematic findings into pedagogical practice. Because intervention and longitudinal evidence remain limited, the framework is presented as an evidence-informed pedagogical model rather than as evidence of causal effectiveness.
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