Religious education in Russia: a comparative and critical analysis

RE in Russia has been recently introduced as a compulsory regular school subject during the last year of elementary school. The present study offers a critical analysis of the current practice of Russian RE by comparing it with RE in Sweden, Denmark and Britain. This analysis shows that Russian RE is ambivalent. Although it is based on a non-confessional religious studies approach, Russian RE also serves the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church, which aims to educate students into Orthodox Christianity, as well as the interests of the Russian state itself, which turns RE in a kind of citizenship education focusing on the patriotic upbringing of students.     

Religious education in Greece: a new curriculum,an old issue

Religious Education (RE) in Greece is a compulsory school subject according the 2011 new framework for compulsory education, entitled ‘New School’. This article focuses on two statutory documents for RE, ‘The Curriculum for RE’ and the ‘The Teacher’s Guide for RE’, and the pilot scheme of the new curriculum running in school years, 2011–2014, in 188 schools (primary and secondary education). Findings of the research demonstrate that, though the revision seems inevitable, the pedagogical and theological dimension of the RE curriculum is radical as it is based on contemporary theories and methodologies of the construction of the curriculum and RE approaches. However, the article indicates constructivist and critical approaches to RE that influenced the change to an actual non-confessional compulsory subject and also highlighted the tension between an overall constructivist approach to learning and the traditional orthodox content of much of the curriculum. The author opens a discussion on problematic aspects that need to be taken in to consideration when revising the curriculum.     

Religious education in Russia: a critical analysis of a widely used textbook

Religious education (RE) has been recently introduced into the Russian educational system as a compulsory regular school subject. The present study offers a critical analysis of one of the most popular Russian textbooks of RE. This critical analysis supports our earlier findings regarding the controversial character of RE in Russia. Despite the official cultorological and religious studies approach to RE, the textbook on the module of Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture is catechetical in content and approach and also serves the political indoctrination of students. The textbook enhances patriotism and turns Russian RE into a specific kind of citizenship education.     

Religious education as a research discipline: an activity theoretical perspective

This article raises the question of how to conceive of religious education as a research discipline. The theory of activity systems is used in an analysis of the relationship between theory and practice, the systems of research and the systems of school. The author argues for a dialectical relationship between research and school practice, where understandings of school practice may enable theoretical expansion and where the language used in the field of research may give renewed understanding to the field of practice.     

Religious studies,religious education and the aims of education

This article interacts with a recent article by Denise Cush and Catherine Robinson in which they call for a new dialogue between religious studies in universities and religious education, and identify a number of developments in religious studies that have implications for the practice of religious education in schools. Cush and Robinson are representative of an influential body of opinion among religious educators that looks to religious studies for inspiration. It is argued that they, along with others, fail to appreciate the difference between the aims of religious studies and those of religious education and that this unrecognised difference leads them both to engage uncritically and superficially with the history of post-confessional religious education and to fail to recognise that the roots of some of the weaknesses in contemporary religious education can be traced to the influence of religious studies over it. Showing that religious education has (and is required to have) a different set of aims from religious studies (though some aims may be held in common) alerts us to its distinctive nature, and this in turn facilitates a clearer understanding of its role in schools, which can serve both to direct and to evaluate educational outcomes.     

Islamic education and the challenge of democratic citizenship: a critical perspective

This article analyzes how concepts of liberal and progressive Islam, which have been developed in the political and theological academic literature, may inform the curriculum of Islamic education and the practice of religious educators in Islamic schools in the US. We investigate the meaning of in-faith Islamic education and how it can conform to the life in a democratic, multicultural, and multi-faith society. Liberal Islam challenges the transmission-oriented and rigid interpretations of Islam and seeks to appreciate and to contextualize the religious claims which are compatible with ideals of reflective education, rational thinking, mutual respect, and equal citizenship. It suggests that students become critical ‘consumers’ of Islam, its moral and civic purposes, and the cultural politics of religious interrogations.     

Religious Differences: Psychological and Sociopolitical Aspects of Counseling

The author, reflecting on her Hindu socialization in India and her work in graduate training in diversity issues in the United States (U.S.), discusses reasons why therapists should develop an understanding of Islam. U.S. therapists' potential biases against Muslims may parallel the sociopolitical relations between the U.S. and the Middle East, as well as their religious and cultural differences; critical factors in these biases are discussed. Relevant recommendations are accompanied by training vignettes to provide suggestions for working with Muslim immigrants in the U.S. The author also discusses political events related to Muslim populations, such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.; the U.S. War Against Terrorism; and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This discussion is placed within the framework of intractable conflict. Suggestions are given for therapists' resolutions to disaster events, these being framed within existential psychotherapy and an analysis of societal contexts. This information is useful to therapists in any nation that is struggling with increasingly diverse populations and the effects of international relations.     

简析《伊斯兰的反叛》中的宗教宇宙观

宇宙观是基督教神学中的一个基本论题。通过对其关照,可以看出作家对整个宇宙乃至人类的态度。通过雪莱的名作《伊斯兰的反叛》来关照雪莱的宗教宇宙观,可发现其所受到的基督教宇宙观的影响及其宇宙观中所折射出的意义。     

Religious education and the feminisation of witchcraft: a study of three secondary schools in Kumasi,Ghana

This study, conducted during the summer of 2008 in Kumasi, Ghana analysed the role of religious and moral education (RME) in ameliorating the witchcraft discourse in three Ghanaian junior secondary schools. Although the syllabus acknowledges the pernicious effects of witchcraft allegations, it adopts a ‘Thou shalt not’ approach that fails to adequately grapple with the challenge. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and a questionnaire, pupils’ attitudes towards witchcraft were analysed. The study reveals deep-seated beliefs to the effect that women – particularly elderly females – engage in witchcraft for devious purposes. Employing the theoretical framework of Foucault’s knowledge – power symbiotic nexus, I explore the misogynous nature of the witchcraft discourse as evidenced through these responses. It is argued that RME can benefit from attending more closely to the subtle ways in which the ‘dense web’ of knowledge – power is internalised and perpetuated by pupils.     

论爱人如己的宗教团体性

基督宗教的教义始终主张,“爱人如己”是一种指向所有邻人的“普世之爱”。但进 一步的分析可以表明:由于坚持上帝至上的神本主义立场,基督宗教提倡的这种“爱人如己”必然 呈现出鲜明的宗教团体性,甚至还会引发宗教仇恨,从而最终陷入难以消解的深度悖论。     

Towards a common ground: Arab versus Western views about challenges of Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century

The Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century is a cornerstone in a hot debate about necessary educational reforms in the Islamic World. This study aimed at investigating the depth of agreement/disagreement between Arab and Western educational views about challenges of this curriculum through reviewing academic articles/reports that were published in this field between 2001 and 2011. Fifty-seven Arabic and English academic articles/reports were chosen from a pool of around 500, to be analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Contrary to expectations, findings revealed that views of Arab authors about reforming Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century are not far from those of Western authors. Conferences and co-projects between Arab and Western educators are recommended.     

宗教民族主义刍议

宗教民族主义是基于宗教认同基础上的民族主义。宗教的文化性,文化的宗教性,宗教的民族性,民族的宗教性以及经济发展的滞后性是其产生的根源。这种思潮在世界范围内都有影响。由于宗教民族主义作用的两重性,我们要对其作辩证的看待。     

The place of religion in public education

There is a legitimate place for genuine religious education within publicly supported schools in western pluralist democracies. The idea of the single common school is dead or dying in the densely populated parts of the western, English-speaking democracies. Once choice of school is conceded, then the religious school should be a central offering.Religion has a traditional place in most western democracies, eitherde jure orde facto. Further, there is evidence that religious adolescents make at least as good, and probably better, citizens than do those without religion.Finally, the idea of a consensually acceptable secular alternative based on high moral values is no longer tenable. Anything approaching a common school must be bound by minimal values not a high-level set, because there is simply no large set that is universally acceptable and agreed upon. In practice, urban, public schools serving heterogeneous clients rely heavily on exactly such a minimal set.     

Religious education and hermeneutics: the case of teaching about Islam

ABSTRACT

This article attempts to do three things: the first is an exploration of the ways in which Islam is presented in an essentialist way (with a focus on religious education (RE) in England and Wales), leading to stereotypes and unsubstantiated generalisations that are then embedded in resources and agreed syllabi, secondly, it provides a critique of essentialism, and finally a case is made for the role of hermeneutics in the teaching and learning of Islam. We argue that a hermeneutical approach is a sound way to both conceptualise the phenomenon of Islam and a pedagogical opening to make sense of it, that may help overcome some of the weaknesses of the current ways of teaching about Islam.     

Religious discrimination discourse in the mono-cultural school: the case of Poland

The article forms an analysis of the religious discrimination discourse in Polish public schools, with special attention paid to the culturally specific, Polish understanding of the notion of religious discrimination. The introductory part presents the concept of religious discrimination as present in anti-discriminatory policies. The following part outlines the Polish system of religious education and its relation to the religious discrimination. Studies on religious discrimination in Poland are presented and discussed. Important context is supplied by a presentation of two recent cases of religious discrimination in Polish public schools, and the actions undertaken by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Authors of the article point out the important influence of cultural context on the perception of religious discrimination. The attention is drawn to the seemingly homogenous environment of the Polish school and of the discriminative discourse used in political and social debates. The analysis shows that the presence of religion as a subject in Polish schools remains a cause of conflict between the religious and atheist citizens, a conflict in which concepts of religious discrimination and religious freedom are used as arguments by both sides.     

Religion in education policy in South Africa: a challenge of change

Since 1995, the National Department of Education has developed a number of policies to give effect to the proposed transformation outlined in White Paper 1 (Notice 196 of 1995) and in subsequent legislation. A range of Acts and policies were introduced, many of them dealing with how religion should be dealt with in schools and it culminated in the promulgation of the National Policy on Religion and Education (2003). In all these policies the role of the school and, in particular, of the school principal has been foregrounded as important for effective implementation of policies. This article is based on research conducted to determine how school principals dealt with religion and the implementation of the religion and education policy. This study found that school principals often ignore the policy and maintain the status quo. When faced with conflict of religious interests, they partially sub-contract into the policy. The study also found that past experiences with religion in education, either as students or educators, had a major impact on how principals perceive the role of religion in schools and how they dealt with it.     

Religious experience as an aim of religious education

This article presents a model for religious education based on three central elements. First, it is argued that religious experience, or direct experience of the Divine, is an essential part of a full religious life, that religious experience is based in, enabled by and examined against, the body of knowledge in a given religion, and that religious experience is itself a form of knowing. Second, it is suggested that there be three sets of aims in religious education curriculum: knowledge aims, moral value aims and spiritual aims, the last of which encompasses religious experience, which religious education should aim to encourage and facilitate among students. Third, the teacher is presented as the central factor in such facilitation, and the pedagogical and personal characteristics of this ideal teacher are described.     

宗教教育与20世纪中国文化现代化

北洋时期的宗教教育事业有了很大的进步,在全国教育事业中占有举足轻重的地位,成为国民教育的一个重要组成部分．北洋军阀统治下的中国社会、政治、文化等诸领域都发生急剧的变动,作为历史存在——宗教教育也给予了巨大的影响和作用于这一时期社会生活的各个领域,特别是20世纪中国文化走向现代化的历史进程。     

罗马帝国早期宗教政策与基督教的发展

基督教产生以后发展异常迅速,其原因是多方面的,其中罗马帝国早期相对宽容的宗教政策是一个不能忽视的因素.罗马的一般性宗教政策具有"宽容"的特征,-帝国早期延续了这种宗教宽容政策,对早期基督教的政策也以宽容为主,甚至在特定时期还对基督教的传教活动进行保护.在这样相对宽容的环境中,基督教得以稳步发展,为后来基督教成为罗马帝国国教奠定了基础.     

Human rights education and religious education: from mutual suspicion to elective affinity

What are the prospects for joining religious education and human rights education? (1) Human rights educators may cite good historical and philosophical reasons for teaching about human rights without making any reference whatsoever to a religious foundation. (2) For their part, many religious communities have resisted opportunities to form alliances with human rights organisations, citing one form or another of ‘incommensurability’ between their faith and rights. (3) However, there also appear to be some occasions and some projects in which these two communities of discourse can embrace each other, and work for similar goals. How can we come to a better understanding about these regions of ‘elective affinity’ and their implications for religious education and human rights education?