Non-confessional Religious Education Research Articles

Religious education in public schools and religious identity in post-communist Serbia

The author analyses types of religious education in European and Serbian state-run schools searching for an innovative approach to existing classifications. He suggests four criteria to differ and categorize types of religious education in public schools, claiming that the actual taxonomy is often insufficient, inconsistent or perplexed (having usually been based upon one or two elements). He proposes categorization which encompasses point of view and interests of tax payers, of the politics, of the pupils and of the religious teachers. More criteria could lead to a better assessment of particular system of religious education. He also suggests that, apart from usual categorization in confessional and non-confessional religious education, it would be useful to introduce categories like 'mostly confessional' and 'mostly non-confessional', as clear-cut models are very rare. In addition to this he offers arguments why 'cognitive' type of religious education would be more proper label instead of 'non-confessional'. Further on the author examines controversies, disputes and manner of reintroduction of religious instruction in Serbian legislation after the fall of the communist regime in 2000 and presents the current situation, including very recent changes considering curricula. He points to some very distinctive features of religious education model in Serbia which could be of interest in comparative perspective, particularly in the time when many states in Europe tend to improve their religious education system. Finally, he points to importance of religious education in building religious identity of young generations in post-communist countries, and differs two types of religious identity - perceptive (intuitive) and cognitive (rational). He concludes that 'educating into religion' has to exist for some time in post-communist countries due to historical circumstances (within more or less confessional model). Additionally, he finds that it should be only gradually transformed into 'educating about religion' and 'education from religion' pattern, fostering cognitive religious identity to strengthen parallel with the perceptive one.

Teaching Religious Pluralism and Study of Religious Cultural Heritage in Bulgarian Universities

The article aims to present good practices in academic religious education in Bulgaria. The paper provides an overview of religious education in Bulgarian universities, stating that it is currently mono-confessional both in private and in public universities. Non-confessional religious education is carried out only in the State University of Library Studies and IT (SULSIT) in Sofia. The introduced innovative training courses, teaching methods in the field of religious education, and new published teaching materials are commented. The paper gives examples of individual and group work of students. The last part of the article presents the results of two surveys with cluster of undergraduate and graduate students and data coming from qualitative research. The main conclusion is that learning outcomes from non-confessional religious education at the SULSIT are prerequisites for achieving the objectives of religious pluralism, for better training in cultural heritage, and to form an understanding to religious diversity.

Religion, Education, and the State in Post‐Communist Europe: Making Sense of the Diversity of New Church‐State Practices

The demise of the Communist Party’s monopoly over education in Europe created a new dilemma for educational leaders in post-Communist states. They faced a difficult question: How should a nation-state that accepts ideological pluralism handle the difficult relationship between religion and education? As is well known, Western liberal democracies do not provide consistent answers to this question. They all reject the Soviet approach of inculcating one comprehensive secular ideology and outlawing all alternatives. All of them, as will be discussed below, also allow various forms of confessional religious education at primary, secondary, and higher levels. Nonetheless, beyond these basic commonalities there exists a tremendous diversity of practice. The teaching of religion in state schools provides a leading example of the variety of approaches taken by liberal democracies. Some countries, such as France, offer no religious instruction in public schools (Willaime 2007b). Other countries, including Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, and Malta, allow and even encourage confessional religious instruction (Willaime 2007a). A few countries, such as Sweden, offer nonconfessional religious education that attempts to take an objective approach to religion. Finally, in countries such as Norway, one may also find in the public education system a competition between the latter two approaches (Skeie 2007; Willaime 2007a). In other areas of education, such as state funding of religious forms of higher and lower education, one may find a similar diversity. Two recent studies provide typologies of liberal democratic approaches to church-state issues (Monsma and Soper 1997; Madeley 2003). The typology developed by Stephen Monsma and J. Christopher Soper (1997) is perhaps

Ninian Smart and the Phenomenological Approach to Religious Education

This essay reviews and assesses Ninian Smart's contribution to religious education. Attention is given to his account of the nature and purpose of religious education as expressed and developed in a series of works published between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, beginning with The Teacher and Christian Belief (1966) and ending with Schools Council Working Paper 36, Religious Education in the Secondary School (1971), which was produced under his direction. Continuities and tensions in his thought are identified and discussed in the context of recent debates within religious education and the academic study of religion. Smart’s case for non-confessional religious education is considered, as is his support for a phenomenological approach to religious education. Although serious criticisms are raised, it is concluded that his work is of abiding significance and relevance to both British education and beyond.