RE-READING MARTIN BUBER AND JANUSZ KORCZAK: FRESH IMPULSES TOWARD A RELATIONAL APPROACH TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION1

Abstract

With the help of a relational approach to education in general, this article works out the possibilities and chances of a relational approach to religious education in particular. It argues that such an approach can make an important contribution to religious education in a pluralistic world. In education theory, the relational approach is associated above all with the work of Martin Buber (1878–1965). Whereas Buber comes from a philosophical background, another Jewish author begins his educational reflections with detailed observations of children and young people themselves: Janusz Korczak (1875–1942). The works of both Buber and Korczak give major impulses toward a relational understanding of religious education.