Religious Education In Public Schools Research Articles

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN VIEW OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: A CHRISTIAN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Religious instruction in public schools in view of the fundamental right to religious freedom: A Christian ethical perspective This article examines the way religious instruction can be arranged and executed in a liberal democratic society. Several options for the implementation of the fundamental right of religious freedom are investigated as well as the bearing of each of these on religious instruction in public schools. The article concludes that the active plural model for the implementation of religious freedom offers the best solution when it is measured within the framework of religious tolerance and peace. This option entails that pupils in public schools should be permitted to observe their respective religions, to wear religious symbols and to be instructed in the religion of their choice. They should also be taught about other religions in order to develop respect for people of other religious persuasions.

Ensino religioso e assistência religiosa no Rio Grande do Sul: quadros exploratórios

From a perspective that is interested in the configurations generated by the relationship between society and religion, the article addresses two themes: religious education in public schools and religious assistance at institutions for adolescents under socio-educational measures. Most of the data refer to the Rio Grande do Sul, seeking to present an exploratory framework for both subjects. More specifically, the results focus on the ways that characterize the mode of relationship between religion and certain public institutions and the mode by which configurations of religious diversity are defined.

From Confessional to Cultural: Religious Education in the Schools of Québec

Québec has had a unique history in North America regarding religious instruction in public schools. To understand Québec's new Ethics and Religious Culture Program, it is important to have an appreciation of some of the major historical events and contexts that led to the program. This article presents the history of Québec religious instruction from its roots in New France to the present day. It highlights the key elements of the evolution from a confessional religious program to an ethics and religious culture program that is now a requirement for all students.

Watering America’s Religious Roots: The Case for Religious Pluralism in American Public Schools

The longest lasting and most intimate interaction with government for most Americans takes place in US public schools. The Court’s choice to enter into the national religious debate intensified the rhetoric and polarized many Americans into opponents and proponents of increasing religious instruction in public schools. This work narrates the positions of Christian Americanists, pluralists, and secularists in this debate. It argues that court-originated policy governing religion in schools is a failure. A return to Constitutional Pluralism would benefit all people in the United States.

Securing Freedom whilst Enhancing Competence: The “Knowledge about Christianity, Religions and Life Stances” Subject and the Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

AbstractIn an attempt to accommodate the increasing religious and cultural diversity in European societies, religious instruction in public schools is being rearranged across Europe. However, the issue is sensitive owing to the societal matters involved, such as multiculturalism, minority issues, nationalism, and citizenship. A crucial question is how religious instruction can be organized in public (state-funded) schools so as to conform to fundamental human rights. The European Court of Human Rights has also recently dealt in Folgerø and Others v. Norway with an ambitious attempt to introduce compulsory non-confessional religious instruction in public schools with the aim of enhancing dialogue and cultural understanding and take into account the future status of children as adult members of both national and international societies. Dividing children into separate study groups according to their faith had been dismissed as a form of segregation and parallel multiculturalism. This article focuses on Folgerø and Others v. Norway. What is at stake in the argumentation before the European Court of Human Rights, and how does it reason concerning religion and life-views, religious freedom and the aims of religious instruction in public schools? Based on this analysis, the article discusses what it means that a conflict over what constitutes adequate religious instruction is brought to a legal forum and the consequences this has for what will be understood as acceptable instruction.

Religion, Politics and Gender in the Context of Nation-State Formation: the case of Serbia

This article argues that nationalism has connected religion with secular politics in Serbia but that their rapprochement has been a gradual process. In order to demonstrate the transition from a limited influence of religion on politics to a much tighter relationship between the two, this article discusses the abortion legislation reform and the introduction of religious education in public schools, respectively. It argues that, while illustrative of different types of connection between religion and politics, these two issues had similar implications for gender equality—they produced discourses that recreated and justified patriarchal social norms. After religion gained access to public institutions, its (patriarchal) discourses on gender were considerably empowered. The article points to some tangible evidence of a re-traditionalisation and re-patriarchalisation of gender roles within the domestic realm in Serbia.

The Romanian Orthodox Church and democratisation: twenty years later

This article starts by presenting the legacy of the communist past, as relating to the use of nationalism by the Romanian Orthodox Church and its reluctance to confront its collaboration with the communist regime. Its second part discusses religious education in public schools, arguably the religious denominations' most important achievement after 1989, before, in the third part, examining the different models of church–state relations embraced by the Romanian Orthodox Church during the reigns of its two post-communist patriarchs, Patriarch Teoctist (Arǎpaşu) and Patriarch Daniel (Ciobotea). It argues that although marred by its communist past for almost the first decade and a half after 1989, the church, like the country itself, has transformed in the process of accession to the European Union. In particular, it argues that the search for a model of church–state relations has evolved in the view of the country's dominant church, from one of establishment to one of partnership.

Does the Body Matter? Effects of Body-Based Learning in Religious Education

Given present-day conditions, pupils today have fewer religious experiences than their classmates of previous generations — and this is a challenge to religious education in public schools. In consequence, many in Germany are opting for a “performative” religious education. The aim of this didactic approach is to offer pupils an encounter with religious practice. It replaces mere knowledge about religion with experience of religion. In this context the pupil’s body becomes an elementary medium of learning. However, the performative approach has not as yet been empirically evaluated. Does it make a difference in religious education? The ELLRU Project researched this question by means of a quasi-experimental design: 624 4th-graders (average age: 9,16 years; denomination: 81% Protestant, 8% Catholic, 11% none) in 31 Bavarian classrooms completed two curricula, one about Moses and one about Martin Luther. Half the children were taught by performative methods and the other half by methods based purely on the imagination. Results were assessed by one pre-test and a post-test after each curriculum; a post-test at the end of school year checked on the sustainability of the two approaches. The results show few differences. They do not suggest that performative learning is a master method in religious education. But they do identify distinct didactic constellations in which performative learning helps pupils to understand religious stories and convictions better.

A educação na concordata Brasil-Vaticano

Este texto analisa três artigos da concordata firmada pelo governo brasileiro com o Vaticano, em novembro de 2008, concernentes à educação. Com base no texto do acordo e de notícias publicados na imprensa, o texto focaliza, especialmente, a questão do ensino religioso nas escolas públicas, situada no contexto definido pela ambigüidade do Estado brasileiro, entre o confessionalismo e laicidade.

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

Religious Education in Public Schools: An International Human Rights Perspective

The question of whether and how public schools in Europe (and, indeed, in liberal democracies more generally) should introduce religion into the classroom has become increasingly important. Children need to be given the tools to understand the role of religion in their society and in the world, but they must be protected from indoctrination by their teachers or school officials. This article takes international human rights principles as a standard against which different approaches to incorporating education about religion into public school curricula can be judged. It argues that 'plural religious education' is the approach to religion in public schools that best complies with international human rights standards. The recently drafted Toledo Guidelines are recommended as providing useful guidance to States that seek a rights consistent approach to this issue. Both these guidelines and the relevant case-law of European and United Nations human rights bodies are analysed and the key guiding principles relating to religious education in public schools are examined to demonstrate both the utility of the international human rights approach and its current limitations. © The Author [2008]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Individuelles Symbolisieren und religiöse Kommunikation. Schleiermachers Theorie religiöser Bildung und ihre Impulse für die Debatte um religiöse Kompetenzen und Bildungsstandards

Schleiermacher's theory of religion and its relation to different forms and themes of religious training are able to inspire the discussion of standards and criteria of religious competencies that should be achieved by religious instruction in public schools today. It is necessary to describe the horizon of religious education most carefully, because it includes the paradox that during the process of religious education, something must be evaluated that cannot completely be evaluated. Religious competencies must therefore consider the different dimensions of religious communication, namely, perception, performance, cognition, and participation.

Waving the 'Freedom of Religion or Belief ' Card, or Playing It Safe: Religious Instruction in the Cases of Norway and Finland

AbstractIn order to gain an understanding of what it means to have a human right to freedom of religion or belief, one has to start by looking at the different actual conflicts that give rise to discussion in terms of such a human right. Different conflicts reveal different problems. It is therefore unsatisfying to attempt to essentialise the human right to freedom of religion or belief, and simply apply it to different cases. There are, for example, various ways of organising religious instruction in public schools. Neutrality consists in presenting these models and conflicts, not in saying that there is one right or wrong answer. This, of course, does not exclude critical examination and discussion. This article examines one model attempting to accommodate religious freedom within a public education system while including religious instruction on the curriculum, and juxtaposes it to a second model of organizing religious instruction that has given rise to conflict. The models discussed have different problems and potentials. However, both trigger a critical analysis of how law perceives religion, especially religious manifestation and, within this framework, what it means to be a religious person. The analysis offers a contribution to ongoing debates about how to understand the human right to freedom of religion or belief.

Troska biskupa Czesława Domina o wiernych świeckich w świetle dekretów powizytacyjnych parafii diecezji koszalińsko-kołobrzeskiej

The Canon Law Code which is obliging within the Catholic Church, obliges the diocesan bishop to pay pastoral visits within his diocese (can. 396 § 1). The Vatican Council II points out that the bishops should run the particular churches entrusted to them, by counsels, encouragem ents and example, and that they should do it by the power of their authority (LG 27). During his 4-year pastoral work in the diocese of Koszalin and Kolobrzeg, bishop Czeslaw Domin visited 55 parishes. In each one of them he was concerned not only about the priests, but also lay people, and especially their spiritual lives. Bishop Domin was undertaking some actions aimed to revive charity activities within the parishes. Also, he was encouraging pastoral care for married couples and families, and tried to change things concerning religious education in public schools. He was always encouraging parishioners to be more active in different church activities.

A More Neutral Liberal Education: Why Not Only Liberals, But Religious Conservatives Should Endorse Comparative Religious Education in Public Schools

If we value religious tolerance and autonomy, we must breach the silence about religion in public schools, and add a comparative religious education to the compulsory curriculum at the high school level. This education would expose students to a variety of religious beliefs in a fair manner by allowing religious denominations themselves to participate in deciding how their beliefs are presented to students. The major obstacle to the implementation of such an education is the objection of religious conservatives and fundamentalists that it would violate neutrality. Not only is a comparative religious education able to survive the criticisms that religious conservatives routinely make against a liberal education, but the inclusion of such an education is the only way to make a liberal education truly neutral. This education would provide the recognition of the importance of religion in general and of conservative religions in particular that religious conservatives complain is lacking from the status quo compulsory curriculum in public schools.

Ensino religioso nas escolas públicas: a propósito de um seminário internacional

O status do ensino religioso nas escolas públicas em cinco países é apresentado neste artigo, que é resultado da participação do autor em seminário da Association Francophone d'Education Comparée, em Sèvres (França), em outubro de 2005. Com base nos textos apresentados e na bibliografia dos conferencistas principais, a diversidade da situação internacional é apresentada e nela se verificam surpreendentes contrastes e semelhanças.

Access of Muslim Organizations to Religious Instruction in Public Schools: A Comment on the Decision of the Federal Administrative Court of 23 February 2005

In the last years, several Muslim associations applied at the competent Ministries of Education of the German Federal States for the introduction of Islamic religious instruction in public schools. These applications raise a series of legal questions, in particular, whether the States are obliged to allow associations to teach their version of Islam in schools. Of particular concern is that this religious instruction may not have a religious purpose, but rather a political, or even militant or criminal, purpose. Further, there is the possibility that the associations may invite students to take part in a “holy war”, to call for racial hatred, or to proclaim that women were inferior human beings. The answer to these questions is laid down in Article 7 paragraph 3 of the German Basic Law which is a typical provision of the German Law on Church and State that is molded not by a strict separation or laicism as it is, for instance, in France but by a cooperation of the State and the religious communities.

Religious education in Romania

This article provides an overview of the Romanian post-communist legislation on religious education in public schools, examined against the background of the 1991 Constitution and international provisions protecting freedom of conscience, critically assesses the pre-university textbooks used in Orthodox and Roman Catholic religion courses, and discusses the churches attempts to ban evolutionary theory from schools and the efforts of the Orthodox Church to introduce religious symbols in public universities.

Separation of Religion and State in the Twenty-First Century: Comparing the Middle East and Western Democracies

While religion has often been ignored as an important political factor, it is becoming increasingly clear that it plays a substantive role in world politics, both international ly and locally.1 Fundamentalist movements, such as the religious right in the U.S. and the numerous Islamic movements in Islamic states, have had a significant impact on domestic politics. Many localized disputes with religious elements have had international implications due to the spread of conflict across borders and increasing international involvement in solving local disputes. They include conflicts in Israel, Chechnia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Sri Lanka. In addition, the interna tional network of Al-Quaeda has demonstrated the potential international impact of religious movements, though it is likely an extreme example. This article reexamines the relationship between religion and politics using the recently compiled Religion and State (RAS) dataset, which is the most detailed data on the separation of religion and state. The focus here is on domestic politics, specif ically the extent or lack of separation of religion and state in western democracies and the Middle East.2 The correlation between religion and democracy is examined implicitly through the comparison of the Middle East, the world's most autocratic region, with western democracies, the most democratic states in the world.3 Theoretically, this study also asks whether the predictions of eighteenth and nine teenth century philosophers like Voltaire and Nietzsche that religion's influence on public life would decline in modern times have come true.4 While many western democracies like the U.S. have official separation of religion and state, others like Denmark and the U.K. have established religions. Some countries like Austria and Belgium give different official statuses to different religions, officially recognizing some but not others. Some European countries restrict minority religions. For instance, France and Germany restrict proselytizing. Also, every western democracy other than the U.S. provides funds for religious education, and for most of them this funding includes religious education in public schools. Is the U.S. model of separa tion of religion and state the norm for western democracies or the exception? In order to answer these issues, this study examines five aspects of the separation of religion and state: the structural relationship between religion and the state (the existence of an official religion or the legal position of religion within the state); the

TIME OF UNCERTAIN CONVERSATIONS: RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE POST-SOVIET LATVIA

This article describes the development of religious education within the system of public education in Latvia. It consists of three parts. The first part deals with the social context of a post-Soviet society and its impact on the development of religious education. The second part describes the four approaches to religious education in public schools that have emerged in Latvia during the last ten years: the confessional approach, the ecumenical Christian approach, the world religions approach, and the Christian ethics approach. The third part analyzes the problems and opportunities presented by the current stage of plurality of approaches.