Moving out of conflict into reconciliation – Bildung through philosophical dialogue in intercultural and interreligious education

Abstract

The empirical basis of this article is the reconciliation process in a destructive conflict between students of different cultural and religious backgrounds in upper secondary education in Norway. The Dialogos approach to dialogical philosophizing was tried out through an action research process in order to bring about reconciliation, letting the students explore existential, ethical, religious and emotional topics together. The empirical reconciliation process is discussed in relation to elements of the philosophical concept Bildung, aiming at answering the following overarching questions: how did the movement from conflict to reconciliation come about through the action research process; to what extent might the Reconciliation Project be understood as a process of Bildung towards human maturity and wisdom; and how might philosophical dialogues become an institutionalized part of interreligious and intercultural education?