Gwen Tansey

From an early age I developed a passion for teaching. The walls of my father’s wooden shed became a gigantic blackboard, covered with all the new spelling, sums, grammar, and so on, that I had learned each day. I’m sure my sister, who as about three or four at the time, was the best pre-schooler in town.

My dream to be a teacher became a reality when I entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, Ballarat East. It was here that I was absorbed into the world of religious education, which became the foundation stone of my future career as a teacher and religious educator in the Diocese of Ballarat for many years.

After 17 years of teaching, I took a change of direction. I attended the National Pastoral Institute of Religious Education in Melbourne, and was invited to join the staff of the Religious Education Centre in Ballarat. It was during my time there that I became involved in writing simple catechetical material for parents and catechists in the form of ‘Resource for Catechists’ and ‘Fridge Benefits’, a magazine for families.

I firmly believe that our education in faith begins well before we are born and reaches its completion as we enter into the ‘fullness of life’ at our death. This faith is discovered, nurtured and enriched through our everyday, experiences, reading material, art, the sound teachings of our Catholic faith tradition, and through participation in the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church.

At the request of HarperCollinsReligious I have been involved in writing material to assist parents and teachers in their task of enabling the children in their care to discover and learn about and live the faith into which they were born.

Some of these materials are:

• My Prayer Journal
• Memories, Reflections and Prayers
• My Mass Book
• My First Prayer Book
• Teacher Reflections in Story Makers
• Family Prayer in:
  Preparing to Make Peace
  Preparing to Celebrate
  Preparing to Receive the Spirit
  Growing with the Spirit
• Learning About God (forthcoming)

After 42 years in the world of Religious Education I am now enjoying retirement!