Interreligious Education Research Articles

Hospitable Education—Interreligious Education Revisited

Hospitable Education—Interreligious Education Revisited

Shared Religious Education through Christian–Islamic Team Teaching

The article, which is written by an interreligious team, provides comprehensive insights into the conception, implementation and accompanying research of a project on Christian–Islamic religious education in team teaching. The aim of the project is to expand the denominational religious education lessons anchored in Austrian schools through religious-cooperative units taught jointly by a Christian and an Islamic teacher. The analysis of the teaching units is carried out in the format of design-based research and thus encompasses numerous aspects of interreligious educational processes, which are examined in this article. Firstly, the design of the project is described and the legal framework associated with it is explained in the context of the Austrian school system. Subsequently, learning requirements on the part of Christian and Muslim pupils are presented, with a particular focus on their preconceptions and attitudes towards religion in general as well as other religions. Special attention is paid to the specific framework conditions of Islamic religious education teachers, which differ in many aspects from those of Catholic religious education teachers. Furthermore, interreligious competences they consider necessary are described. Specific insights into the teaching units and the complementary research provide information about the opportunities and challenges of interreligious education in team teaching by two teachers. After this focus on the teachers, an outline of the students’ perspectives on the teaching units completes the presentation of the research results. In the concluding summary, the local theories developed from the overall project are presented and discussed.

Hospitable Education

The Dutch education system is characterized by four ‘pillars’: Catholic, Protestant, liberal, and Islamic) - ‘living apart together.’ In the twentieth century, a model was developed for inclusive education of all pupils, irrespective of their (religious or secular) upbringing. Presented are four aspects of the development of interreligious education at the Juliana van Stolberg primary school in Ede (The Netherlands): having a dream, leadership, dialogue, and the child’s right to education. Literature reviews were complemented by qualitative interviews with the school’s principal and supplemented with historical documents from the school’s filing cabinet kept in the city archives. A well-argued proposal for ‘hospitable education’ is presented in this contribution.

Fundamentals of a Pluralism-Fostering Islamic Religious Education: Navigating Cultural and Religious Dimensions of Plurality

In Islamic religious education (IRE), as well as in the context of pedagogical and theological Islamic Studies at universities, Muslim educators, teachers, and learners in Germany and Austria encounter each other in a cultural, religious, theological, and ideological plurality. However, the existing intra-Muslim plurality is often neglected and not the focus of pedagogical and didactic reflections, despite its great significance for religious educational processes. This article outlines possible contours of pluralism-fostering Islamic religious education and didactics based on intercultural and interreligious education approaches in Germany and Austria.

Decolonizing Interreligious Education: Developing Theologies of Accountability by Shannon Frediani (review)

Decolonizing Interreligious Education: Developing Theologies of Accountability by Shannon Frediani (review)

Practices of Tolerance: The Significance of Common Sense in Settings of Dense Coexistence

Deriving from the growing cultural and religious diversity in Germany and the need for educational professionals to be able to deal with heterogeneous groups and communicate to children about how to coexist peacefully with others, this essay focuses on the relationship between common sense and tolerance, particularly in places of inescapable dense coexistence characterised by religious and cultural diversity. Using institutions of preschool and primary education as an example, the extent to which peaceful coexistence and conflict resolution is borne by common sense and supported by practices of tolerance is discussed. Subsequently, the significance of a common-sense approach to practices of tolerance for conceptualising ethical judgement in intercultural and inter-religious education is explored. The article closes with thoughts on the contribution of religious ethics to questions of human coexistence in highly dense and conflict-ridden contexts and briefly addresses aspects of Protestant social ethics.

Ethics Education in the Context of an Interreligious Encounter Day (IED): Empirical Research Results from Austria

This article adds an empirical contribution to international discussions on interreligious education, taking the point of view of the academic study of religion. It presents results from a Viennese research project that used a participant observation design to analyze one of the more recent pedagogical formats to deal with religious plurality at school—the so-called Interreligious Encounter Day (IED). More precisely this article focuses on the role of Ethics Education (EE) within the context of a specific IED that was organized in 2019. Along those lines, it highlights the ambiguity of IED practices at a school by presenting a threefold argument: first, the article makes the point that the IED opened up a space to explicitly make religion a subject of discussion at school. Second, it argues that—within the context of the IED—religion is constructed in a specific way that can be described as ‘school religion’. Third, it proposes that the observed IED format has the tendency to prioritize specific individual constructions of religion—especially those prompted by theology.

KARAKTER GURU ISLAM DAN BARAT (Analisis Komparatif Pemikiran Imam az-Zarnuji Dan John Dewey)

This research aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the character of teachers in Islam and the West through the thoughts of Imam az-Zarnuji and John Dewey. Imam az-Zarnuji was an Islamic scholar and educator who lived in the 12th century AD, while John Dewey was a Western philosopher and educator who lived in the early 20th century AD. These two figures have different views on education, but both have made significant contributions to the development of educational thought. This study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to analyze Imam az-Zarnuji and John Dewey's views on teacher character in the context of Islamic and Western education. Through analysis of the texts by these two figures, we identify similarities and differences in their conceptions of the characteristics and role of a teacher. The research results show that Imam az-Zarnuji emphasized the importance of diversity in the characteristics of a teacher, including wisdom, patience and religious exemplification. Meanwhile, John Dewey emphasized the importance of direct experience and a scientific approach to teaching, as well as the role of the teacher as a facilitator of learning. From this analysis, it can be concluded that although there are differences in cultural context and thought, the concept of teacher character in Islam and the West has striking points of similarity, such as the importance of morality, wisdom, and dedication in teaching. However, practical approaches and learning methodologies may vary according to individual cultural and philosophical contexts. It is hoped that this study will provide deeper insight into the character of teachers in Islam and the West, as well as contribute to the development of cross-cultural and inter-religious education. In addition, this research also provides a foundation for a better understanding of the principles underlying educational practices in various global contexts

Advancing interreligious education through the principles of SeMoshoeshoe

In this theoretical article, I have expressed sympathy for the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Lesotho over their worries about the marginalisation and prejudice of the Islamic faith in public settings. The article also takes into account the fact that the worry highlighted in respect to Islam religion comes at a time when demands for inclusive social, political, cultural and educational systems are being considered on a global scale. Education, which is considered a public enterprise, is rife with religious exclusionary practices in Lesotho. Only Christian education is taught in public schools; other religious traditions are not, most notably Basotho traditional religion. I employed cultural approach discourse (CAD) analysis and philosophical theory of pluriversality to argue that discrimination, particularly in education and religion, is against Basotho culture as enshrined in the SeMoshoeshoe values. I advocated utilising ‘sekoele’ – or returning to SeMoshoeshoe – principles of religious border pedagogy and religious public pedagogy to counteract the teaching of religion that is biased and marginalises other religious traditions.Contribution: The general contribution of this article is to advocate for interreligious education, which plays a crucial role in creating a tolerant, empathetic and inclusive society. It emphasises the significance of people from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds living and collaborating harmoniously. The article encourages empowerment to participate in constructive dialogues, embrace diversity and actively contribute to a more peaceful and unified global community.

Contribution of Confessional Religious Education to Intercultural Education in the Republic of Croatia

For a long time, the religious dimension was neglected within the framework of intercultural education, but during the last two decades, it has become its indispensable part. The inclusion of the religious dimension in intercultural education was triggered by the growing awareness of the importance of the religious dimension for the political, social, cultural and educational future of Europe and the development of the culture of coexistance. The need to further deepen knowledge of the religious phenomenon and to implement interreligious education and dialogue is becoming increasingly obvious. The fundamental school subject that systematically mediates religious knowledge in the Croatian education system is confessional Religious Education. The goal of this research is to analyse, present and evaluate the elements that indicate the openness of the confessional Religious Education curriculum to education for interculturality. The research results are based on a comparative analysis of Catholic, Orthodox and Islamic Religious Education curricula. The subject of the analysis were the following curriculum categories: domains, purpose, goals and outcomes. Although all three curricula show openness to the religious dimension of intercultural education, when it comes to the level of specific curriculum content, there is a noticeable difference in the percentage of outcomes and topics related to knowledge of other religions and the promotion of interreligious learning and dialogue.

INTER-RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE QUR'AN: THE VALUES ANALYSIS OF INTER-RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE QUR'AN

According to the Qur'an, this study concludes that inter-religious education is education with an anthropocentric orientation based on equality, togetherness, and justice in a democratic world with a pluralistic society. Humans are expected to carry out their functions with the values of tolerance, dialogue, cooperation, and brotherhood. This is in line with what is commanded by God in the Qur'an. Research and data analysis in this study uses qualitative-exploratory methods. In contrast, the approach used is philosophical-normative, meaning that it tries to dive to obtain actual activities that are rarely known and discussed. As a result, the Qur'an contains the values of inter-religious education, namely

Interreligious Education as an Approach to End Racism and Discrimination

This study aims to explain that interreligious education can be used as an approach in dealing with diversity to end discrimination and racism in a multiethnic society. Interfaith education can increase students’ fears about changing religions or losing their own beliefs, as well as foster an understanding of other religions beyond history and culture, while allowing individuals to maintain their own beliefs. In addition, interreligious education must emphasize universal values or principles, such as peace and tolerance. It is a type of qualitative research with a library research model. Research data comes from related books and articles on interfaith education as an approach to ending discrimination and racism. Collection techniques were carried out through reading literature or written sources such as books, previous research, journals, and articles related to the research title. Data analysis with the content analyst. The results of this study state that interfaith education lays the foundation for education as an approach to fighting racism and discrimination. Thus, there is a need to consider religion and education in everyday life to promote more holistic interfaith education and build harmonious coexistence.
 Keywords: interreligious education, racism, discrimination, common principals, harmonious co- existence, multiethnic society.

Who belongs where? Geographies of (inter)religion and urban segregation in Surabaya, Indonesia

This study addresses urban segregation along religious identities in Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, and explores the disruptive potential of short interreligious visits to places of worship. It contributes to the existing academic literature in at least three ways, namely (1) by expanding discussions about geographies of religion into discussions about geographies of (inter)religion; (2) by connecting interreligious education initiatives with urban democratic politics (i.e., urban subjectivity and citizenship), and (3) by demonstrating the powerful role of body spatiality in disrupting religious urban geographies. Based on organised visits to various religious sites and subsequent qualitative interviews, we found that the unusual visibility of religiously diverse visitors contributed to the normalisation of multi-religious diversity, and participants' positive experiences at places of worship contributed to the development of empathy and solidarity with the religious Other. In discussing the implications of the study, we suggest that deliberate efforts of interreligious place-making on the part of political and religious leaders can counter urban religious segregation and contribute to social cohesion.

A Study of Early Research on Interreligious Education: Kagan, Boys and Lee, and Van der Ven and Ziebertz

A Study of Early Research on Interreligious Education: Kagan, Boys and Lee, and Van der Ven and Ziebertz

Die Zukunft der Interreligiösen pädagogischen Kooperation am Beispiel der Arbeitsgruppe Interreligiöse Bildung – Friedenspädagogik bei Religions for Peace Deutschland

The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of inter-religious learning in a Europe characterised by religious plurality, and to emphasise the need for close cooperation. German-language Islamic religious education and Muslims are devoting increasing attention to this issue. A gradual opening to interreligious dialogue can likewise be observed in Muslim communities. As such, the work of the Interreligious Education / Peace Education working group at Religions for Peace Germany is highly relevant in several respects for the practical and conceptual future of interreligious educational cooperation and peace education for Muslims. Based on the hypothesis of Protestant religious educator Johannes Lähnemann “No peace, no dialogue and no fundamental work in the religions without educational efforts!”, this paper examines the foundation and historical background, the actors (with Muslim scholars making up the core of the working group) and ultimately the working group’s working principles and hypotheses. In the process, light is shed on the relevance of the working group for Islamic theology and Islamic religious education.

The Model of Inter-Religious Education in the Perspective of Moderation of Religion: A Case Study at the University of Defense

After the rolling reform era, Indonesia was once considered a model of a tolerant country. A place where religion and democracy can coexist. However, over the last five years that image has been called into question. The emergence of various phenomena, such as the burning of the house of worship in Tanjung Balai and the mass mobilization to protest the former Governor of DKI Jakarta Basuki Tjahja Purnama (BTP) or who is more familiarly called Ahok, shows the tendency of intolerance in society to spread to several parts of Indonesia. The State Revenue and Expenditure Budget is allocated 20% for education. Ministry of religion, in 2021 allocates 55.88 trillion (83.46%) for education (ed.: religion and religion). With a budget of this size, people often ask whether such a large budget can have a positive impact on Indonesia's progress, especially from the harmony and harmony of the Indonesian people in building the Indonesian nation. Indonesia itself adheres to a mono-religious view which regulates religious and religious education. However, there are also schools or colleges that carry out religious education with an inter-religious model. This article offers a comparison of the views of religious moderation with the views of the managers of the Religious Education course at the Defense University who study religion using an inter-religious model.

Misconceptions and Consequences of the ‘Other’ in the Sinhala Buddhist-Muslim Relationship in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s plurality is reflected in its religious and ethnic diversity. In recent times, there has been polarization between the majority Sinhala Buddhists and the minority Muslim groups. The objective of this study is to identify the reasons for blaming the “other” in the relationship between the two groups and propose remedies. The study adopted a descriptive and interpretive paradigm within the qualitative approach. Secondary sources were used to examine the phenomenon under study. The theoretical framework was drawn from Said’s concepts of “self” and “other”. The dominance of the Sinhala language and the utmost position given to Buddhism has made the extremist Buddhists take supremacy over the Muslims who are perceived as a threat to their “self”. The Buddhists need to be open to accepting the “otherness” of the Muslims. The consequences of the misconceptions targeted against the Muslims act as barriers to the Buddhist- Muslim relationship in Sri Lanka. The shift in attitudes of the Buddhists is not due to their own judgment but one constructed by social media. The Muslims’ ethnoreligious identity is questioned for radicalization. Inter-religious education and inter-faith dialogue between followers of Buddhism and Islam need to be promoted as both religions command engagement with the “other” on the basis of peace, tolerance, and non-violence, regardless of the differences that may exist. Understanding the fundamental unity of humankind and their ethnoreligious plurality as the two sides of the same coin, they need to engage with and understand one another as a “Sri Lankan”.

Modify Indonesian Catholic Religious Education from Mono-Religious to Interreligous Education

Catholic religious education is an educational process that helps Catholic students grasp the knowledge of the Christian life and identity. In Indonesia, national education law pushes students to learn their religion. Religious education then becomes a mono-religious education that does not suit the Indonesian plurality. It will elevate exclusivism. Indonesian Catholic religious education promotes respect, dialogue, and collaboration between religious adherents. The foundation for this effort is Catholic respect toward other religions, explicitly stated in the declaration of Nostra Aetate. Every grade has a topic that introduces different cultures and religions. It is the application of Indonesian Catholic religious education to educate students to respect other beliefs. It is a good start for multicultural education, and at the same time, it raises questions about the probability of modifying a mono-religious education into an interreligious one. This research was conducted in the diocese of Surabaya, while Jombang, Blitar, and Surabaya were chosen as the diocese's representatives. Interviews with Catholic religious teachers used a semi-structured mode. These are some findings from this research. Practices of Catholic religious education in Indonesia open the possibility of modifying a mono-religious education becomes interreligious education. It needs teachers' commitment and school policy that allows the teacher to modify the curriculum. The teachers' creativity to alter the curriculum needs the principal's goodwill. It also needs reformation from every aspect of school as a social system to support multicultural education. On the other side, the environment outside the school is hoped to give positive support for the reformation by giving broader experience. Through this process, Catholic religious education in Indonesia fulfill its destiny to cultivate faith and promote respect toward other religions.

Review of Freedom of Religion or Belief (KBB) in the Implementation of the Inter-Religious Education Model at the Defense University

After the reform era, Indonesia was once known as a tolerant country that was able to combine religion and democracy. However, in the last five years, this image has begun to be doubted in line with the increasing complexity of diversity and the conflicts that have arisen. Indonesia adopts a mono-religious approach in the setting of religious education, but some institutions adopt an inter-religious model. This article compares views on freedom of religion or belief (KBB) with the management of the Religious Education course at the Defense University, which applies an inter-religious model in the Buddhist Religious Education sub-course. The Review on Freedom of Religion or Belief (KBB) in this study sees that this innovation provides new insights and solutions to overcome the challenges faced in the implementation and sustainability of inter-religious education programs. The Defense University can ensure that the inter-religious education programs they run remain effective and sustainable in creating an environment that is inclusive and respects freedom of religion or belief. It is hoped that through this effort, a new generation of leaders who respect diversity and are able to uphold the values of tolerance, harmony and freedom of religion or belief will continue to be born and develop, for the progress and prosperity of the Indonesian nation.

MartinaKraml, ZekirijaSejdini, NicoleBauer, and JonasKolb. Conflicts in Interreligious Education: Exploring Theory and Practice. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2022. 226 pp.

The Ecumenical ReviewVolume 74, Issue 5 p. 840-842 Book Review Martina Kraml, Zekirija Sejdini, Nicole Bauer, and Jonas Kolb. Conflicts in Interreligious Education: Exploring Theory and Practice. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2022. 226 pp. Jeniffer Fresy Porielly Wowor, Corresponding Author Jeniffer Fresy Porielly Wowor jeniffer291083@gmail.com Search for more papers by this author Jeniffer Fresy Porielly Wowor, Corresponding Author Jeniffer Fresy Porielly Wowor jeniffer291083@gmail.com Search for more papers by this author First published: 19 January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12741Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume74, Issue5Special Issue: Healing Wounded Memories Through Interreligious Perspective and EngagementDecember 2022Pages 840-842 RelatedInformation