A longitudinal study of the impact of extraordinary human experience of experiential study pilgrimage on Masters’ students in Western Australian Catholic schools over a 2-year period

This article examines the impact over two years of a study pilgrimage to the Holy Land by Master’s students enrolled at the University of Notre Dame Australia. The students undertook a study pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2023 as part of the Master’s course, Scripture and Church. Through the study pilgrimage, the students showed a significant increase in skill, knowledge and understanding of their faith and the cultural, social and religious complexities within the State of Israel. The findings relating to their study pilgrimage were captured in the research paper ‘Deepening an educator’s understanding of Scripture and Church through an immersion experience in the Holy Land’ (RAiD Number 102.100.100/485606). The Master’s course is aimed at educational teachers and leaders with responsibility for formation for mission in Catholic education. Formation offers teachers of RE an opportunity to discern their place in the world and their purpose to bring Gospel values to the service of others. This research is a longitudinal investigation into the impact of the study pilgrimage to the Holy Land two years later. The impact to be explored includes the students’ professional career, faith, social and cultural engagement and growth. To measure life changes reported by students who had travelled to the Holy Land, one-on-one interviews were conducted with each participant. Open-ended questions were asked, and researchers conducted individual analyses on each. Themes were identified and compared with relevant research. Conclusions and discussions are explored in this article, giving students, teachers, leaders and Universities involved in Catholic education insights into the ongoing impact of the extraordinary human experience of study pilgrimage.