Role of Religion Didactics in the Religious Education of Children and Adolescents

Religion didactics is one of the main and important subdisciplines of the integral catechetics. Recently, since the return of religion teaching to Polish schools (1990), intensive, interdisciplinary and multi-faceted religion didactics research has been conducted. The analyses performed in this study aimed at presenting the role of religion didactics in the religious education of children and adolescents. Analysis of the basic literature on religion didactics and religious education of children and adolescents was used to first point out the proper understanding of the object of studies of religion didactics. Subsequently, the functions of religion didactics in the religious education of children and adolescents were analysed and the place of the religion didactics in the educational activity of a religion teacher was shown. The final comments pointed out the need for taking up new issues associated with e-learning and the use of new information and communication technologies in religion teaching research. It is also important to emphasise the importance of combining traditional issues with those associated with methodological innovations, including new information and communication technologies.