Understanding the anatomy of religion as basis for religion in education

Johannes L Van Der Walt

doi:10.4102/hts.v67i3.924

Abstract

This article sprung from previous structural analyses of religion as onticity, but went somewhat further by placing more emphasis on encounters with the numinous as the core of religion, as well as on the dynamic character of religion. In doing so, this analysis methodologically transcended the limitations of a structuralist view of religion. The post-structuralist approach that was followed, assigns greater prominence to the interpretive and constructivist activities of the actors involved in religious experience. Application of this expanded view of religion to the South African Policy on Religion and Education (2003) demonstrated that the Policy caused a break between the various facets of religion education and resultantly disrupted the wholeness of religion education.

Highlights

Religion in education has for a long time been a controversial subject in South Africa and elsewhere (Van der Walt 2009a)
In one of a series of recent developments regarding religion in South African schools, self-confessed agnostic scholar George Claassens announced his intention to persecute public schools that offered Christian education on the grounds that in terms of the 2003 Policy on Religion and Education, confessional religion education had been officially prohibited in such schools (De Villiers 2009:1)
Claassen is not alone in denouncing confessional religion education in public schools. Roux and her co-researchers are critical of the fact that many South African schools persist with confessional religion education despite official policy

Summary

Understanding the anatomy of religion as basis for religion in education

Affiliation: 1School of Education, North-West University, Potchefstroom campus, South Africa. Note: Hannes van der Walt, who retired at the end of 2000 as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the former Potchefstroom University, is a specialist researcher attached to the Faculty of Education Sciences of the North-West University (Potchefstroom campus). He specialises in Philosophy of Education and Religious Education Studies. The post-structuralist approach that was followed, assigns greater prominence to the interpretive and constructivist activities of the actors involved in religious experience Application of this expanded view of religion to the South African Policy on Religion and Education (2003) demonstrated that the Policy caused a break between the various facets of religion education and resultantly disrupted the wholeness of religion education

Introduction

Methodology

The numen at the heart of religion as dynamic entity

The numen at the heart of religion

The dynamic nature of religion

Conclusion