Religiosity and education: a report of a working group of the Italian Society of Pedagogy (2014–2016)

Abstract

The authors are currently Coordinators of the Working Group on Religiosity and Religious Education established within the Italian Society of Pedagogy (SIPED). The internal structure of the Society, which gathers all academic scholars of Educational Sciences (including PhDs and subject experts), does not consist of formal sub-branches, but of working groups on specific topics and research areas, constituted by free association for a period of three years. In 2014 a working group was established on the topics of religiosity and religious education, which is now approaching the end of its first three years of activity. The report contains a concise presentation of the work achieved, an overview of the initial state of research on religiosity in Italian academic pedagogy, a description of the framework of assumptions and questions which are shared by the group members and served as the starting point for some parallel research projects and, lastly, a first conclusion advanced by the Bologna subgroup coordinated by M.T. Moscato, which, in providing a first definition of religiosity resulting from a previous study, presents a first hypothesis for a work programme on religious education. The report also includes a list of references in Italian language, as well as a list of the publications produced by the SIPED group in the years 2014/2016.