Religious Education Textbooks Research Articles

Gender constructions in Austrian RE textbooks – a comparative linguistic textbook analysis

ABSTRACT The contribution gives insights into a comparative linguistic textbook analysis of two Austrian Catholic Religious Education (RE) textbooks for colleges for higher vocational schools (‘BHS’) and vocational schools for apprentices (‘VocEd’). Gender constructions are still a desideratum in RE textbook research in Austria. Previous gender-oriented analyses mostly used qualitative content analysis or mainly questionnaires. This paper followed the approach of linguistic textbook analysis addressing gender constructions on a linguistic level by comparing both textbooks, asking which and how two selected chapters of Austrian RE textbooks in use construct gender on a linguistic level. A discussion of the main results, considering previous gender sensitive RE research, aimed to develop criteria for prospects of action with teaching materials in the current context of plurality of genders and sexualities in a democratic society.

The representation of Islam in Religious Education textbooks in England: an alternative approach

ABSTRACT This article examines the representation of Islam in four of the most popular and current Religious Education textbooks in England. The aim is to identify the extent to which the curriculum content is aligned with the aims of Religious Education in England. The textbooks content is reviewed using three frameworks available in literature, two of which are directly related to analysing textbooks on Islam while the third is a general set of curriculum guidelines on making textbook content inclusive. Based on examples extracted from the textbooks, it is argued that the representation of Islam in the curriculum lacks diversity, is stereotypical and promotes an essentialised view about Islam as a religion. The article further uses the case study of jihad to propose the use of hermeneutical approach in writing curriculum content about Islam using sources of authority and historical and literary perspectives to combat the issue of monolithic, absolutist, and fossilised representation of Islam in textbooks.

Female role models in school religious education and their perception by female students in the final years of secondary school

ABSTRACT The present article discusses female students’ perception of the female role models introduced to them during religious education classes in Poland. Besides imparting knowledge, the teaching of religious classes in schools, a part of religious education, aims at shaping attitudes. Therefore, presenting young people with role models who can inspire them and be a reference point concerning their behaviour should be a vital component of religious education. The current research shows, however, that this is a neglected area. This article is based on a research study comprising focus group interviews. The participants were adult students in the final grades of secondary school who had completed the entire cycle of religious education at school. The article is structured as follows. The first section discusses the relationship between the role models presented to students during religious education classes and the shaping of their identity vis-a-vis the morphogenetic approach of M. Archer. The second section focuses on the female personal role models mentioned in the core curriculum and religious education textbooks. This is followed by a delineation of the methodological assumptions of the present research and a discussion of the results.

Tolerance Learning in Islamic Religious and Character Education Textbooks

Islamic Religious and Character Education (hereafter PAI) textbooks are part of an important means of teaching character values, including tolerance. Some cases of intolerance are still common in Indonesia and are even associated with Islamic religious education in schools. Therefore, there is a need to review Islamic religious education in schools. This study examines the PAI materials that include tolerance learning in Islamic religious education textbooks at the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade junior high school levels. This research is important so that in the future, tolerance learning materials can be provided to students in accordance with the portions. This study uses a literature review with a qualitative approach that analyzes the content of Islamic Religious and Character Education textbooks published by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Independent Curriculum (7th and 8th grade books) and the Revised 2013 Curriculum (9th grade books). The data obtained are then collected and analyzed using the content analysis method. The data analysis techniques in this study used 3 data analysis steps, namely: data reduction, data display, and data verification. This study shows whether there is tolerance learning in Islamic Religious Education and Character Education textbooks or not. The results of the study show that the Islamic Religious Education and Character Education textbooks at the junior high school level strongly promote tolerance.

Religious moderation in Islamic religious education textbook and implementation in Indonesia

This study aims to investigate the concept of religious moderation in the form of values contained in Islamic religious education textbooks at the junior high school level and to analyse how these values are implemented in Bandung, West Java schools. This article employs qualitative data collection techniques, including a literature review, observation, and interviews. The study finds that the content of moderation values, such as non-violence, egalitarianism and fairness, and tolerance, aligns with the Indonesian government’s religious moderation pillars. The study also reveals that the implementation of moderation values has been carried out, especially by Islamic religious education teachers, resulting in a safe and respectful school environment for Muslim and non-Muslim students alike. The implementation of non-violence values aims to prevent students from being exposed to extremist Islamic groups. Meanwhile, egalitarianism and fairness values emphasise the equality of every human being and place every religious community in a middle position between two opposite poles. Lastly, tolerance values emphasise the importance of religious freedom and the principle of national commitment, requiring every person and religious community to maintain their national commitment without feeling that their group has the highest rank. Furthermore, the study discovered that the implementation of moderation values based on textbooks had been carried out, particularly in two schools in Bandung City that involved the collaborative participation of students and teachers.Contribution: This finding contributes to the study of religious moderation in the general school at the primary education level. Until now, the study of religious moderation has mostly focused on the discourse of social movements and the atmosphere of Islamic education, namely Islamic boarding schools.

Islamic Religious Education Textbooks in a Pluralist Nigeria

Pluralism and religious diversity offer opportunities for deep learning across cultures and religions. However, in some cases, religious diversity also results in tensions and conflicts in communities because religious differences polarize people of different faith traditions. This article analyzes how religious instruction textbooks used in public junior high schools in Nigeria promote integration and inclusion. In particular, the paper will examine the approved texts used in teaching Islamic Religious Studies (IRS). In analyzing the IRS textbooks, the article focuses on two major points: how the texts present Islam to the students, and how students are equipped to deal with the question of contrasting truth claims within and outside their faith traditions. This article argues that the IRS textbooks used in high school in Nigeria should expand their discussion on Islam to include open interaction about the religious differences within and across religious traditions. I argue that IRS textbooks need to prepare students to deal with different theological truth claims in a way that is both self- and other-respecting. To compose a text that engages religious pluralism, I propose that the approach of teaching religious education in junior secondary schools in Ghana should be used as a model, as it could offer Nigeria some insights on how to teach religious knowledge from a pluralistic approach.

Analysis of Multicultural Education Values in the Book of Islamic Education and Character in Class VIII of Junior High School

The research is motivated by the existence of such complex diversity in Indonesia. At one time, this diversity could potentially conflict with one another. Therefore, to avoid conflict, every citizen, especially Muslims, needs to be educated from an early age by applying multicultural values through education. One way is to include, internalize and integrate the values of multicultural education in Islamic Religious Education and Moral Education subject books. This study aims to find out whether or not there is a content of multicultural education values in Islamic Religious Education and Moral Education textbooks for class VIII SMP as well as the advantages and disadvantages in the book from the perspective of multicultural education.This type of research is library research. This research is descriptive-analytic in nature and equipped with complementary data. The method used is documentation, then analyzed using content analysis, reduction and interpretation methods. The results of this study indicate that; first, Islamic Religious Education and Character Education textbooks for class VIII SMP have all the values of multicultural education, namely the values of tolerance, equality, justice, and democracy. Second, the advantages of the book according to the perspective of multicultural education are that it contains values of multicultural education consisting of values of tolerance, equality, justice and democracy. In addition, there are three chapters that cover almost all the values of multicultural education, namely chapters IV, XI and chapter XIII. Meanwhile, the weakness is that there are still many chapters that do not contain the values of multicultural education, and the integration and internalization of Islamic teaching values with multicultural education in the book is still lacking and uneven. Then criticism of the misunderstanding of the meaning of the words and objectives contained in the book.

Analysis of text books for learning Islamic education based on digital media in Indonesia

This research aimed to find a "sense of power" in the texts as a discourse. The discourse chosen in this study was the Islamic Religious Education book which is used as a textbook. The Islamic Religious Education textbooks were selected from elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school levels. The theory used as the basis for analysis of this text was the theory of critical discourse analysis (CDA) from Fairclough. The theory suggests that the text is discursive and social practices. The research method used was literature research method, because it used ready-to-use texts, as secondary data. This study was a qualitative study because it used non-numerical data collection procedures with descriptive results, analyzed by non-statistical methods, and the problem in the study required a thorough, extensive, and in-depth exploration. The results of the analysis showed that textually, the textbooks used were textbooks that were prepared based on standards of government regulations regarding textbooks.

Formative and informative nature of ecology content in elementary school textbooks of islamic religious education

Based on the analysis of the Islamic religious education textbooks, this research aimed to explore the nature of content with respect to its formative and informative character, as well as to investigate the teachers’ stances about the character of the ecology content in the elementary school textbooks of religious education. The starting assumption was that the research findings would show that the ecology content in elementary school textbooks of Islamic religious education is by its nature both formative and informative. We used a theoretical analysis method, a content analysis method, and a descriptive analytical survey method. The research corpus comprised Islamic religious education textbooks, and the sample consisted of 100 religious education teachers from Tuzla and Zenica. The findings related to the teachers’ stances showed that the majority of teachers consider that formative and informative ecology content is not sufficiently represented, but that the formative ecology content is present more. On the other hand, the results of the content analysis indicated that informative ecology content is more present than the formative content. Keywords: religious education, textbook, teaching content, informative and formative character.

Action competence for sustainable sexuality: an analysis of Swedish lower secondary level textbooks in biology and religious education

ABSTRACT Sexuality constitutes an important aspect of sustainable development as the concept is used by the United Nations. Education is commonly viewed as crucial to achieving sustainability, and promoting action competence is a key element in such educational efforts. This suggests that education should support individuals in actively seeking information and acting in relation to sustainability challenges. This article aims to understand the role of textbooks in promoting action competence for sustainable sexuality by analysing content about sexuality in Swedish lower secondary school textbooks in biology and religious education. Results show that sustainable development and sexuality are organised as separate topics in all the books. Textbooks in biology contain a fair amount of sexuality education content, but content in religious education textbooks is more limited. In general, sexuality is closely linked to reproduction and is marked by androcentrism, phallocentrism and ideals of monogamy. Content about sexuality is furthermore strongly normative and seldom introduces readers to different theoretical perspectives or viewpoints. Taken together, these factors limit the extent to which existing textbooks can promote action competence for sustainable sexuality.

Religious and Moral Education Textbooks in Upper Primary Schools in Botswana – A Question of Relevance

Concerns have been raised about the quality of religious and moral education textbooks used in upper primary school classes in Botswana. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to assess the appropriateness of these textbooks. The study adopted a qualitative methodology approach, using interviews and also reviewing some documents. Data collected from the study suggest that the content of the prescribed religious and moral education textbooks in the upper primary school curriculum does not address the prescribed syllabus objectives, hence affects the teachers’ classroom practices and consequently students’ learning and performance. Based on these findings, the study, therefore, recommends the involvement of teachers in the selection of the prescribed textbooks for religious and moral education in upper primary schools classes.

A Double Bypass? Tracing How the Aims of Religious Education Are Negotiated Across Different Dimensions of the Curriculum in Norway

Religious education (RE) across Europe is drawn between promoting intercultural education and fostering national community. Examining the national curriculum and three RE textbooks in Norway, I find that the former stresses common identity while the latter emphasize plurality and intercultural education. My observations join extant research on the different dimensions of the curriculum and furthermore show how priorities in national curricula may be circumnavigated in what Oddrun M. H. Bråten calls bypasses. However, classroom studies from Norway find that national identity is important for RE teachers, thereby demonstrating a double bypass, if you will.

Synlig og usynlig religion: Umarkerte bilder i kapitler om religion

Finnes det systematiske forskjeller mellom hvordan religion illustreres i norske lærebøker i religionsfagene? Denne artikkelen analyserer hvordan bilder uten religionsspesifikke markører fordeles blant kapitler om individuelle religioner i tilgjengelige lærebøker i dag. Bildene som velges ut, viser seg å ofte brukes til å forklare, delvis forsvare, religiøse ideer. Frekvensen av slike bilder er høyest i kapitler om buddhisme, dernest kristendom, og ellers tilnærmet fraværende. Ser vi på selve bildene, kan vi oppdage konkrete teknikker som justerer leserens avstand til den illustrerte ideen. Denne ulikheten støtter tidligere forskning som viser systematiske forskjeller i hvordan ulike religioner framstilles som henholdsvis eksotiske og filosofiske, og som har konsekvenser for hvordan individuelle religioner konstrueres og skal behandles i klasserommet.
 Nøkkelord: Religion, lærebøker, illustrasjoner, bilder, religionsforskjeller, religionsdefinisjoner

Analisis Kekerasan Simbolik dalam Buku Pelajaran Pendidikan Agama Islam di Sekolah Dasar

This research explains about symbolic violence in Islamic religious education books is rarely done. It also checks whether or not the books used so far contain symbolic violence, because there should be no difference in religious education between upper-class and lower-class. The formulation of the problems in this study are; how the mechanism of symbolic violence in Islamic religious education textbooks in elementary schools, and how the proportion of upper-class habitus and lower-class habitus in Islamic religious education textbooks in elementary schools. This research is a qualitative study with the type of literature study. The results showed that symbolic violence still occurred in elementary schools. The mechanism that runs is through an educational strategy by hiding the process of symbolic violence in the curriculum or what we know as the hidden curriculum. One of the media used to perpetrate violence is a textbook. In Islamic Religious Education textbooks for elementary school level), there is an element of upper-class domination over the lower class. The dominance of the upper-class over the lower-classes can be seen from the proportion of habitus presented in the textbook, the number of upper-class habitus presented through sentences and pictures illustrated is far greater than the lower-class habitus.

Development of Elementary School Islamic Religious Education Textbooks Class IV Comic Based

This study aims to develop a grade IV comic-based Islamic Religious Education textbook as well as to determine the level of eligibility and effectiveness of its use. Initial product development is carried out through preliminary studies in the form of needs analysis and curriculum analysis. The feasibility test was carried out by a questionnaire assessment by three experts, namely material experts, media experts, and comic experts. The effectiveness level of the product can be known through individual, group trials and field trials. The research method used is the R and D or research and development method, with six steps of development, starting from the initial study, initial product, expert validation, individual and group testing, and field testing to the final product. The result is a product in the form of a comic-based grade IV Islamic Religious Education elementary school textbook that is very feasible and effective. The average score for the feasibility test was 90.05% in the Very Eligible category, while the average score for the effectiveness test was 88.67% with the Effective category.

Mendorong Semangat Inklusifisme dan Toleransi: Studi atas Buku Daras Pendidikan Agama Islam (PAI) dan Model Pembelajarannya di Universitas Brawijaya Malang

This article explores the insights of inclusivism and tolerance in Islamic religious education (PAI) textbooks in Brawijaya University (UB) Malang. This article is the result of research by reading textbooks, interviewing six PAI lecturers and focus group discussions (FGD) at UB Malang in December 2018. In general, there are many material aspects in the textbooks that encourage students to be open, respect for diversity and behave tolerant of different Islamic schools of thought. This is emphasized by the PAI lecturers since UB is a public university belong to the public and because in Islam itself there are many different understandings and schools of thought. The spirit of inclusivism, cosmopolitan and tolerance is seen explicitly in PAI UB’s textbooks and becomes the vision of PAI lecturers. If there is a deviation from the book tends to be a closed ideology, intolerant, and against the Republic of Indonesia, then it can be ascertained because of the “lecturer initiative” personally, and do not represent Lembaga Pusat Pembinaan Agama (the Central Institution of Religious Development).

Knowledge about the Bible and Skills for Biblical Interpretation Imparted by Norwegian RE Textbooks for Upper Secondary Education

This qualitative study investigates the knowledge about the Bible and the skills required for biblical interpretation as imparted by three textbooks for Norwegian upper secondary religious education (RE). The multidimensional theoretical framework combines models from biblical hermeneutics and RE. One model distinguishes between the worlds behind, in, and in front of the biblical text. Another distinguishes between the universal, common religious, and religion-specific dimensions of religious narratives. While the body texts alternate between the worlds behind, in, and in front of the text, the assignments focus on the worlds in and in front of the text and the religion-specific dimension.

Emplotting a privileged position. The construction of the history of secular humanism in Norwegian religious education textbooks

ABSTRACT There has recently been an increasing focus on the inclusion of non-religious world-views in religious education (RE). An important concern for the legitimacy of an RE subject in public education in liberal democracies is that all traditions, whether religious or secular, are treated in an equal and inclusive manner. This article examines the Norwegian case, where secular worldviews have been integrated as a central part of the compulsory national curriculum in RE for over 20 years. It does so by considering how the history of secular humanism is constructed in Norwegian RE textbooks. Theoretically, the article draws on the postmodern historiographic critique presented by Hayden White. A central concept is emplotment and the idea that emplotments convey moral arguments. Three narratives – ‘rationality’, ‘humanity’ and ‘rights and democracy’ – are identified as the core of the history of secular humanism being told in the material. The article suggests that the way these narratives are emplotted grants secular humanism a privileged position and that the fair and balanced representation of worldviews in RE education calls for alternative emplotments of this history.

Buddhism in RE Textbooks in England: Before Shap and After the Call for Community Cohesion

This article examines how the representations of Buddhism in religious education (RE) textbooks and their social meanings have changed in England. Buddhism first appeared in RE textbooks in England in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, Ninian Smart's phenomenological approach gradually prevailed. Although it is now regarded as a typical "world religions" approach, phenomenological textbooks commonly did not include Buddhism, because of the advent of political multiculturalism. Buddhism re-entered into textbooks in the mid-1980s. In the 2000s, the Department for Children, Schools and Families made it a duty for schools to promote "community cohesion." This has resulted in notable changes in the representations of Buddhism in textbooks.

Considering religious education in context: politics, reform and debates among Turkish Cypriots

This article exemplifies the politicisation of religious education that has polarised the Turkish Cypriot community and explores a possible approach to religious education for primary schools in north Cyprus. In the light of the long-standing debate, this study has a particular focus on the mandatory religious instruction in public primary schools and evaluates the textbooks and teachers' perceptions. Unlike lower and upper secondary schools, divinity classes have constantly been offered to primary school pupils since the 1960s. Religious education at the primary school level is a contentious issue on which the educational experts have been unable to reach a consensus, and continue to discuss on different perspectives. To this end, a comprehensive review of the content analysis of the primary school religious education textbooks and semistructured interviews with teachers and education specialists has been undertaken. Although this study is set in the north Cyprus context, it is also relevant for other conflict-affected societies as it describes the challenges of religious education, secularism and pluralism.