Religious Education In State Schools Research Articles

Discovering the Child? Individualization Processes of Catholic Religious Education in the Horizon of Secularization since 1900

At the beginning of the 20th century, early processes of secularization – especially in working-class families living in large cities – and inadequate teaching methods led to a crisis of Catholic religious education. Teachers and professors highlighted that it was becoming more and more difficult for reli­gious education to reach students and to ensure that they become devoted members of the Church. In this situation, a catechetical movement was established, which was mainly situated in Munich and Vienna, where teachers, catechists, and academics discussed reforms of the commonly used teaching methods in religious education. Conferences and the foundation of journals followed. It is at least from this point that the process of modernization in the field of religious education in the German-speaking context begins. This modernization gained traction after the Second Vatican Council and was also pro­moted by the phenomenon of secularization and pluralization after the 1960s. Against this background, the essay will address the following questions: What led to the modernization of religious education that began around 1900? What role was played by the new openness of catechists and theologians for edu­cation science and the (religious) pluralization of society? To answer this question, the article will focus on developments between 1900 and the 1920s, during the 1970s, and the more or less topical discus­sion about the concept of ‘theology of children’ since the late 1990s. This study will also ask whether this development can be described as the discovery of the child in theology and religious education. Finally, this paper asks what consequences this development has for a denominational religious education in state schools today and in the future.

Arsimi fetar te shqiptarët në shkollat shtetërore të Maqedonisë

The best way to enhance its conscience for a society is through proper education. Education can be achieved in different ways, however most effective and successful it can be accomplished when being done systematically for instance at schools, universities, institutes etc. Thorough education must include all educative components such as: intellectual, spiritual, moral, civil, physic and esthetic education. Looking at state school curriculums we can easily understand that the fulfillment of all those components leaves a lot to desire. That makes the inclusion of religious education in school curriculums a necessity. The political system of Republic of Macedonia underwent changes in 2010/2011. These changes came after countless applications made by Islamic Community addressed to the Ministry of Education. At that time, “Religious teaching” was incorporated within education curriculums at the state schools as a free choice for pupils. Constitution Court however reversed its decision and the following year this subject was named “Religious Ethics”. The application of religious subject inclusion at school curriculums was based on many surveys with pupils, parents and teachers. These surveys continued years after this subject first became part of school curriculums in order to see its impact and its necessity. Results were staggering in terms of importance of this subject on broader education of pupils. Nevertheless, this subject faces challenges of different nature. Most important of all is the hurdles of incorporating this subject forward by different political and laic circles alike. Another concern is pedagogical and didactic-methodical preparations of teachers who will lecture this subject as well as preparation of text books according to contemporary standards adapter to psycho- physical abilities of pupils. Incorporation of religious education in state schools continues to be an important priority for all Islamic Communities and different institutions throughout Albanian community on Balkan Peninsula.

Religious Education Policy in Public Schools During the New Order

The new order government policy about religious education in state schools gradually led to an accommodative policy. If the old order government made religious education a facultative subject, then at the beginning of the new order the government strengthened the position of religious education by removing facultative provisions, even though they were not obligatory. Until finally, through Law number 2 (1989), the government required religious education to be taught in all channels, types, and levels of education. And the right of every student to get religious lessons by their religion and is taught by religious educators. This research includes historical research and policy studies, because it relies on past data, whose steps consist of four main activities, namely heuristics, verification, interpretation, and historiography. This accommodative policy is influenced by several factors, including; the government’s determination to implement Pancasila purely and consistently after it was diverted in the old order era; the weakening of the government’s power at that time so that it required the political support of muslims as the majority population; There is an intellectual transformation of muslim thinkers and political activists towards harmonious and complementary political relations between Islam and the state so that Islamic ideas are more easily accepted; and muslims experience a process of rapid social, educational, economic and political mobilization and so that more and more people are involved in government and can influence policies in a pro-muslim direction.

Division or partition? The secularisation of institutional control in the English and French school systems

ABSTRACT In the course of the institutionalisation of modern school systems, the originally confessional schooling sector was largely transformed into a system regulated by public law, a process which is interpreted as secularisation. In a historical-comparative analysis, the secularisation paths of the classical educational nations England and France are retraced to identify their causal and path-dependent determinants. While the educational secularisation in France made the Catholic Church and its schools move into private education, in England the Anglican Church and other Christian denominations continue to be involved in the public school system through both religious education in state schools and their own private schools. It is argued that the various configurations of the nation-state context that developed between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, along with the changing relationship between state and church in the nineteenth century, can explain the course of secularisation.

A CURRICULUM PROPOSAL FOR THE SCHOOL SUBJECT, RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Religious Education in schools in South Africa is on the threshold of new development. The mono-religious approach and curricula of Religious Education in state schools may change to multi-religious approach in order to accommodate the different religions in school communities. Religious education is in dire need of a relevant core curriculum. A curriculum with responsible guidelines to accommodate different components and role players is proposed. The ‘Three-Fact Curriculum Model’ used guidelines from the Stellenbosch-project 1993/1994 to recast the suggested theory into a particular model.

Unimportance Attached to Religious Education in State Schools in England and its Reasons According to Stakeholders

Bu makale İngiltere devlet okullarında zorunlu olarak okutulan din eğitimi dersine gösterilen önemi ve bunun sebeplerini paydaşların görüşleri üzerinden incelemektedir. İngiltere din eğitimi politikaları ve İngiltere’de geliştirilen ve uygulanan din eğitimi yaklaşımları zaman zaman Türkiye dahil birçok ülkeye örnek olarak sunulmaktadır. Ancak, İngiltere'de bu politikaların ve yaklaşımların uygulanması sonucu din eğitimine gösterilen önem ve tutum konusu Türkiye'de yapılan çalışmalarda çok fazla incelenmemiştir. Bu konunun incelenmesi için İngiltere’de din eğitimi paydaşları ile mülakatlar yapılmış ve konu ile ilgili İngiltere'de yapılan çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Paydaşlarla yapılan mülakatlar ve konuyla ilgili çalışmalar ortaya koymaktadır ki İngiltere'de din eğitimi önem verilmeyen bir ders durumundadır. Hatta normal şartlarda din eğitimini önemseyenler bile, uygulanan din eğitimi yaklaşımları ve politikaları yüzünden devlet okullarındaki din eğitimine karşı mesafeli durmaktadır. Bunun ise çeşitli sebepleri bulunmaktadır. Dersin kötü işlenmesi, amaçlarının net olmaması gibi iç sebepler; devletin izlediği din eğitimi politikalarının dışlayıcı olarak görülmesi ve dersin "din" eğitiminden uzaklaşması gibi problemler bu sonucu ortaya çıkarmış gözükmektedir. Yine bunun yanında, genel eğitim politikaları nedeniyle derse yeterince destek verilmemesi ve son olarak sekülerleşme ve maddileşme gibi sebepler de bu sonuca katkı sağlamış gözükmektedir. Sonuç olarak şu söylenebilir ki, İngiltere'deki din eğitimi politika ve yaklaşımlarının daha iyi anlaşılması için bu sonuçların dikkate alınması gerekmektedir.

Religious Education in State Schools in Southern Europe: The Rights of the Parents

Religious Education in State Schools in Southern Europe: The Rights of the Parents

Patriotism, Orthodox religion and education: empirical findings from contemporary Russia

ABSTRACTIn recent years, an objective of some Russian Orthodox activists and Church leaders has been the introduction of religious education in state schools which was established in Russia in 2012, following a 2009 Presidential Directive. Today, however, there are two different strands in religious education. On the one hand, there is the state’s emphasis on the bonds between Orthodox Christianity and Russian history, culture and identity. Based on this so-called culturological understanding of religion, the Russian state hopes to use Orthodoxy in nation- and institution-building and in the strengthening of patriotism. On the other hand, while the culturological language is also used in the Church’s official discourse, in practice there are many attempts by Orthodox clergymen and activists to use religious education for the purposes of evangelisation.

Neutrality and impartiality in public education: the French investment in philosophy, teaching about religions, and moral and civic education

In France, there is no religious education in state schools. ‘Convictional education’ appeared by drawing its perimeter around three educational subjects: philosophy, teaching about religions, and moral and civic education. Today, the French school is facing new challenges in a highly secularised society on which religion is laying new claims. As an institution, it is not neutral insofar as it proceeds from a political philosophy that evolved from the French Revolution. It is within the operative framework of this philosophy and with specific teaching practices that it intends to combine unity and plurality within itself.

New beginnings? The refugee “crisis”, the “Other”, and Islamic religious education in Germany

The recent influx of refugees has been in the headlines for more than a year in Germany. On a daily basis, new items about refugees, asylum policies, disasters, or xenophobia makes it into print, visual, or social media. Everybody has an opinion about this issue. In this essay, I record some of my own observations in this regard, as someone, who, in different ways, has been involved with refugees and “Others”. I am trying to make some sense of the discourses and actions that the so-called “refugee crisis” has produced. It has become evident that the discourse about the refugees is as much about the “Other” as it is about the “Self”. It is my argument that Germany is at a crossroads as a consequence of the arrival of relatively large numbers of refugees mainly from a Middle Eastern context – it can either lead to Germany closing in on itself, trying to exclude the “Other”, which in a globalized world would probably be a disadvantage; on the other hand, the “refugee crisis” has the potential of a new beginning, expanding on the already existing efforts to integrate “Others” into one’s own society. One example for such integration efforts would be the fairly recent introduction of Islamic Religious Education in state schools. The success or failure of this experiment can provide an indication of the willingness and ability of Germans to find constructive ways to integrate refugees into their communities.

Three dimensions and four levels: towards a methodology for comparative religious education

This article is an abstract of a suggested methodology for comparative studies in religious education. It is based on a study where religious education in state schools in England and Norway were compared. The methodology is a synthesis of two sets of ideas. The first is an idea of three dimensions in comparative education: supranational, national and subnational processes. The second regards levels of curriculum: societal, institutional, instructional and experiential. I exemplify how this methodology can be used by referring to my particular study, but also suggest ways of developing it for further uses.

Katecheza w szkole czy poza szkołą?

In the contemporary religious education, a great amount of deliberations is devoted to the subject of religious education (by whom? to whom?), its contents (what?), aims (what for?), methods and means (how?), conditioning (where? when?), but only occasionally questions are raised about the need and justification for religious education. Meanwhile, the question of justification for religious education is gaining more and more importance in the situation of increasing secularization of social and personal life. It is important to go back and recall these arguments that justify religious education in various educational environments. The contemporary conditioning of catechesis is undergoing significant changes. The ignorance of this fact leads to a situation where religious education is treated marginally and its effectiveness becomes limited. The article presents main arguments in favour of the presence of religious education in state schools in Poland. Its justification can be carried out at various levels: philosophical and anthropological, social and political, cultural and historical, legal, pedagogical, and finally theological and pastoral.

Debate sobre o ensino religioso na capital paranaense: entre a tribuna e a imprensa (1922-1931)

Este artigo analisa as ações e os discursos promovidos pelos intelectuais católicos em defesa da presença do ensino religioso nas escolas públicas paranaenses no período circunscrito entre 1922 e 1931. Apoia-se no pronunciamento do deputado Alcidino Pereira, com o qual justificou seu projeto instituindo o ensino religioso facultativo nas escolas públicas, no parecer da Comissão de Constituição e Justiça do Congresso Legislativo do Paraná elaborado pelo deputado Azevedo Macedo, na resposta do autor do projeto ao parecer da Comissão e na revista católica A Cruzada. Tais dados são analisados sob a perspectiva da história intelectual da educação, visando a restituir alguns dos sentidos da disputa entre católicos e anticlericais, ao longo da década de 1920 e início da década de 1930, sem esquecer o contexto nacional e internacional como pano de fundo desse movimento de discussão sobre a presença da cultura religiosa nos espaços escolares oficiais.

Values in Free Fall? Religious Education and Values in Public Schools

In Antipodean education, for most of the twentieth century, talk of religious education in state schools (RE), or even values education generally, was passé. But in recent decades, some of the stalemates of the past are dissolving, and there is a new willingness to discuss in the public domain subjects that were once considered off-limits—such as values, spirituality, and RE.

Islamic Religious Education in Western Europe: Models of Integration and the German Approach1

European nations vary in their attitudes towards the integration of Muslims into their respective societies. Thus, on the level of nation states, there have appeared different approaches, or “models”, to deal with these communities. The relations of the states with the Muslim communities follow mainly the existing example of the state-church relations, which emerged over the centuries in the interplay with the Christian churches. Nevertheless, by sticking to their respective models of state-church relations, European states tend to ignore that Islam is organized quite differently from other religions that they dealt with in the past. This “national” approach is also applied to Islamic religious education and therefore many different forms of Islamic religious education have sprung up across Europe. This article will therefore outline the current practices of Islamic religious education in state schools across Western Europe and will describe the training of future teachers of Islamic religious education and of future imams at secular state institutions in Western European countries with large Muslim communities. A special section will be devoted to the situation in Germany because of its central position in the current discussion.

Religious education in state schools in German‐speaking Switzerland

There are today a variety of patterns in the different cantons of Switzerland for regulating the teaching of RE. The Swiss system is based on a cooperation between Church and state which varies in relation to the history and character of the differing cantons. This allows for diversity in modes of delivering RE. In two cantons there is complete separation between church and state whereas in the majority there is some form of cooperation. State recognized religious communities (normally the Swiss Reformed and Roman Catholic Churches, but in Basel the Old Catholic Church and Jewish community also) are in charge of the RE in schools where it is taught by their representatives visiting the schools. Where state related RE is taught this is done by teachers in the school employed by the state. The presence of Turkish immigrants is raising problems for the teaching of RE in certain areas since Islam has not been traditionally state recognized. However, the inherent diversity of patterns within the 26 cantons allows considerable room for innovation feasible because there is generally an openness between the churches and from the state which facilitates this.

Religious Education and National Identity

The author analyses the place and role of religious education in British, French and German state schools since the Second World War. She shows that changes brought to syllabi with regard to the teaching of religion are linked to the prevailing political atmosphere and the relationship between state and church in each of the countries considered. Major events in these societies in the late 1980s—the 1980 (Scottish) and the 1988 (England and Wales) Education Acts, the Affaire du Foulard in France (1989) and the unification of Germany in 1990—have led to a reconsideration of religion as a school topic, and to a revision of the educational policies that regulate it. Finally, is the place given to religious education in state schools symptomatic of political agendas, and is religion used as a tool for building national identity?

Moral Development: whose ethics in the teaching of religious education?

Will British education in general, and religious education specifically, foster a nationalistic or global ethic in the coming millennium? Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, the British state has centralised its control over what is taught through the national curriculum. The Chief Executive of the government's School Curriculum and Assessment Authority has been consistently articulating the importance of national consciousness and identity. These developments suggest a worrying trend towards a more nationalistic ethic. Religious education, by contrast, is now mandatory multi‐faith, part of the basic school curriculum and remains locally controlled. While the historic and present importance of Christianity in the United Kingdom is acknowledged, it is a secularised non‐conformity rather than establishment Christianity that is used by the author to develop a child‐centred, non‐authoritarian and communitarian model for fostering moral development through the teaching of multi‐faith religious education in state schools.

Conservative Government and Support for the Religious Institution: Religious Education in English Schools

Conservative Government and Support for the Religious Institution: Religious Education in English Schools

Secularity, Agape and Religious Education ‐‐ A Critical Appreciation of the Work of J. W. D. Smith

J. W. D. Smith (1899‐1987), was one of the leading religious educationists in Britain in the post‐Second World War period. His early interest in psychology and his work in ecumenical and missionary education during the ‘thirties convinced him of the vital role of religion in personal development. His most influential book, ‘Religious Education in a Secular Setting’ (1969) advocated an approach to religious education in state schools which aimed to assist children and young people to achieve mature personal development through knowledge and experience of Christian love. Although the biblical orientation and apologetic character of the book's curriculum suggestions made it out of tune with the times, it remains an important contribution to the philosophy of religious education