Religion, Education and Values – serie

This volume brings together three key and contested areas facing educationalists within schools, colleges and universities: values education, religious education and human rights education. Challenges and opportunities within each of these three areas may be illuminated and explored by bringing them into creative dialogue.These core constructs were explored in a recent seminar convened by the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values, the leading international association for religious educators and values educators across the world. This volume presents twenty-one key contributions made to the seminar, spanning both conceptual and empirical perspectives and rooted in both religious and secular traditions. It draws together a unique collection of international perspectives on the interlocking themes of values, human rights and religious education.

This book is a timely and significant contribution to the growing body of empirical studies in Islamic education but also to the wider public at a time when intercultural understanding is so urgently needed. This invaluable research is of relevance to not only those interested in the world of religions and religious education but also those interested in understanding the dynamics of Muslims and Islam in the West.—Professor Jenny Berglund, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Education, Stockholm UniversityIslam is the fastest growing religion in Ireland. Given the debate over the role of faith-based schools in secular societies in the twenty - first century, this book provides deeper insight and understanding into the role of ethos and the teaching and learning of Islamic religious knowledge (IRE) in two primary Irish state funded Muslim schools.

By examining teenage heritage and convert Buddhist communities in the West through the lens of Psychological Type, this book presents hard evidence from hundreds of self-identifying Buddhists in the UK, that the diversity of Buddhists, previously described in terms of ethnic dichotomy, is better explained in terms of Psychological Type preferences. By moving past biologically determined features such as ethnicity, the book represents a long overdue yardstick for the full spectrum of diversity within the Buddhist community – since Psychological Type preferences, such as the sliding scale of Intuition, give more predictive nuance and avoid orientalist prejudice. The book puts Buddhism on the map of Psychology of Religion by showing the statistical links between personality and more than twenty individual differences, including tendency to meditate or visit the temple. The hermeneutic of intra-Buddhist diversity described in this book, apart from providing a mirror of self-understanding for individual Buddhist practitioners, can be applied by anthropologists of Buddhism, Religious Education stakeholders and chaplains to ensure equality and objectivity in their work. Meanwhile, the book’s relatable ‘Type Compass’ style of graphic presentation represents a common ‘language’ for religious study that invites comparison between Buddhism and other faith traditions.

The Catholic Church has recently issued a call for «educating to fraternal humanism» – most notably through the encyclical letter of Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti. Fraternal humanism envisions a pluralist society in which all voices are to be heard and this contrasts with previously held positions of outright rejection of pluralist societies (Augustinian Thomism) or Christianisation of such societies (Whig Thomism). This book proposes an alternative, Dominican Thomist vision of a procedurally secular society that comprises three realms, namely sacred, secular and profane. Such a Dominican Thomist enterprise is founded upon human reasoning whereby Catholic and liberal thinkers collaborate to build this society of three realms in which a fortified secular realm operates as a porous buffer against the sacred and profane realms. In such a society, the public sphere is pluralist and open to all voices. Derived from experience and classroom research into dialogic RE interventions; a socially productive pedagogy is advocated as a starting point for the development of a procedurally secular society. In particular, it identifies a common ground pathway that supports both critical RE from liberal education and critical faith pedagogy from the Catholic tradition.

This volume brings together 15 studies reporting the latest international research on developments and trends in religious education. Together these 15 studies illustrate recurrent themes affecting the development of religious education in diverse locations and also illustrate the distinctive trajectories of locations shaped by different histories and by different contemporary contexts.These contributions were brought together in a recent seminar convened by the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values, the leading international association for religious educators and values educators across the world. This volume has selected key contributions made to the seminar, spanning both conceptual and empirical perspectives, rooted in both religious and secular traditions.

This book provides a comprehensive study of the intersection of mindfulness and ethos in Irish Catholic primary schools. Charting the Buddhist origins of mindfulness to the contemporary evolutions, reinterpretations and iterations of the practice the study asks if, and when, mindfulness is (and isn’t) compatible with the educational vision underpinning Catholic primary schools in an increasingly secularised, detraditionalised Irish society. The book contextualises the explosive popularity of mindfulness across many sectors of society, including Irish educational policy and curricular reform, particularly around wellbeing. The book presents a rich analysis of Church teaching and theological research and literature on Catholic education both nationally and internationally, enabling an authentic dialogue with mindfulness practice in Catholic schools to see if common ground can be identified. This is a compelling account of a new chapter in Catholic education's encounter with contemporary culture.

Religious educators today are called upon to enable young people to develop as fully-rounded human beings in a multicultural and multifaith world. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the history of religions: religion is not relegated to the past. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the observable outward phenomena of religions: religion is not restricted to practices, artefacts, and buildings observable in the outside world. It is also necessary to take seriously what religions believe about themselves, and what religions believe about other religions.Seen from the inside, religions deal in the currency of truth. For the religions themselves, truth matters. Truth-claims can lead to harmony and peace, but they may also engender discord and violence. What ultimately counts is how one set of truth-claims confronts or embraces the truths claimed by other, different voices. Therefore those who teach religion cannot avoid dealing with the theology of religions.In this collection of original essays, religious educators shaped by both Christian and Islamic worldviews discuss the problems and opportunities that now face educators and believers alike, as they are confronted by the challenge of teaching religion and teaching truth. The discussion nurtured at the sixteenth conference of the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values is here developed further, to stimulate wider reflection and shape good local practice.

Faith schools make visible a connection between religion and education, a much-contested aim. Principled arguments are frequently made for and against these schools, without evidence from empirical research. This book attempts to address the issues raised by religious education by offering a rich in-depth ethnographic case study of Catholic secondary schools, exploring pupils’ perceptions of life in the Catholic secondary school in twenty-first-century England. The findings suggest that although the crucifix is in all classrooms, the Catholicity within the school is changing. Catholic pupils are constructing fragmentary Catholic identities; they are asserting a ‘right to bricolage’.This book considers questions pertinent to all faith schools, such as the extent to which they may contribute to or detract from social cohesion, and the extent to which a faith school is able to and/or ought to maintain and transmit the memory of faith tradition in a secular and plural society.

This book addresses an issue of considerable current interest and importance: what is and what should be the role of religion in the education process of a modern, secular society? The subject is tackled through an indepth investigation of a recently established network of small independent Christian schools. First, the controversy itself is examined: what are the arguments for and against faith-based schools in the unique setting of the United Kingdom? Subsequently, the schools themselves are introduced and the key issues are described in detail. The focus then shifts to the teenage population of the schools. Who are these young people? How do they think and what do they believe? These questions are answered by analysing the results of an extensive survey and, where possible, comparisons are made with the attitudes and beliefs of the wider population of British teenagers. The findings show that the young people in the new Christian schools hold different values from many of their peers, and it is argued that the differences are of a positive rather than a negative nature.

Contemporary impressions of Islām – especially in the post-9/11 world – are creating daunting challenges for Muslims everywhere. Muslim women, because of their specific mode of attire, seem to be at the forefront of the growing skepticism surrounding Islamic education. Ironically, it would appear that the same detailed attention devoted by Islamic scholars to the conduct of Muslim women now surfaces in contemporary debates, focusing on the exclusionary practices they remain subjected to in their communities. Yet because these debates seldom move beyond continued diatribes against Muslim women’s subjugation to entrenched societal norms of male chauvinism, little is known about what has given shape to their identity and sense of belonging. This book attempts to further the debate in two ways: Firstly, it offers an insight into how some Muslim women engage with one another and with society more generally, and how their practices reflect the plurality of interpretations constitutive of Islam both within and outside the spheres of cosmopolitanism. Secondly, it offers the opportunity to consider how a renewed Islamic education informed by the principles of democratic citizenship education can begin to reshape multifarious forms of engagement by, with and among Muslim women.

How should the Holocaust be taught in schools, and to what end? What role should religious education play in recounting and remembering this human catastrophe? How has the nature and purpose of religious education changed and developed over time? What contribution should religious education make to identity formation, particularly regarding the role of memory, heritage and tradition? The scholarly reflections in this volume, drawing upon historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives, provide insights into past, present and potential future developments in religious and values education in a range of national contexts, including Germany, Israel, Norway, Canada and South Africa. The chapters fall under three headings: fostering a culture of remembrance; historical perspectives on religious education; and history, tradition, memory and identity. Together they form a unique collection of international perspectives upon these interlocking themes.

Analysing loneliness and solitude in schools and exploring how to deal with them is a vital task. In recent research for the author’s Spirit of the School project, a number of pupils, teachers and headteachers described times when they felt lonely and times when they felt the need for healthy solitude. The causes of loneliness are numerous and its consequences have a significant unrecognised impact on education. How do schools deal with people when they are lonely, and how can they overcome loneliness? How can they create opportunities for healthy solitude, a welcome alternative to loneliness? Schools can sometimes try to include people by being intensely social, but end up making them feel even more excluded. A school that teaches solitude well and helps individuals deal with loneliness can be called an ‘enstatic’ school: a school in which people are comfortable within themselves. The objective of this book – the first comprehensive study of the subject – is to help us all understand loneliness and solitude and thereby to reinvigorate debates on personal, character and values education.

This is a book of conversations with researchers working across Europe, the USA and Africa. It aims to illuminate the lived reality of educational research on a wide variety of topics, including family life in rural South Africa, support for self-harming students in the UK, character development in the USA and Korea, educational leadership in the UK and China, philosophical analysis of education policy, and much more. The book is for and about researchers and is built around a set of conversations with the author – a fellow researcher. Researchers work at the frontiers of our knowledge and understanding of the world, and frontiers can be dangerous places. How are the researchers’ personal qualities – virtues such as courage, honesty and kindness – tested and exemplified in their work? The conversations presented here explore the experience of research and ask what qualities are needed, or wished for, in order to successfully face its challenges. There are many books that include lists of what to do and what not to do when carrying out research. Here, in contrast, we find out what really happens and why – and what it takes to keep going.

Church schools are booming, becoming increasingly popular with parents across the world. However, research shows that teachers face considerable challenges as they try to offer a distinctively Christian education within a church school context. This book is the account of a qualitative research project investigating the joys and difficulties experienced in English church school classrooms. The research team spent a year working alongside fourteen teachers from Catholic and Church of England secondary schools, introducing them to What If Learning, a pedagogical initiative designed by an international team of educationalists to support teachers in developing Christian approaches to teaching and learning. The highs and lows of the teachers’ experience are documented in this book and the lessons that emerge are explored in detail. The findings of the project are highly significant for all those involved with church school education and point towards valuable new ways of thinking about Christian faith and learning.

This book addresses the question of human rights education in a world that is witnessing a resurgence of religion in public life, and a continuation of religion across much of the globe, long after secularization theories predicted its decline. Promoting a universal vision of human rights while acknowledging religious diversity is a challenge for schools. This book starts with the basic premise that human rights are grounded in a belief in the dignity and ultimate worth of the human person. Drawing on key philosophical and theological sources for understanding dignity, it builds a vision of human rights and religious education that seeks to square the impossible circle of universal human rights education in a religiously diverse world.