Topic
Religious education
About: Religious education is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 9554 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65331 citations. The topic is also known as: faith-based education & RE.
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01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The authors explored the beliefs and practice of early childhood teachers in Catholic schools in Australia and investigated the teachers' beliefs about teaching, learning and religious education, and the factors that impacted on their stated beliefs and translation into classroom practice.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to explore the beliefs and practice of early childhood teachers in Catholic schools in Australia. In particular, the research investigated the teachers' beliefs about teaching, learning and Religious Education. Also examined in this thesis was the classroom practice of early childhood teachers and the factors that impacted on their stated beliefs and translation into classroom practice.
17 citations
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that modern interpretations of Islam within madrasas cannot be achieved simply through the introduction of secular subjects, but they are only possible if the leadership of Qomi madrasa is successfully convinced of the need for a modern reinterpretation of religious texts and is supported in that process.
Abstract: Within South Asia, Bangladesh has apparently been most successful in implementing state administered madrasa modernization: 30 per cent of secondary students in Bangladesh are in Aliya (reformed) madrasas. Given the current emphasis on madrasa reform programmes by many donor agencies, this study attempts to understand the nature of madrasa reforms in Bangladesh and to identify factors that led to acceptance of the programme within the religious establishment. The study argues that Aliya madrasas have indeed been able to combine secular subjects with religious education. On the other hand, while some present day Aliya madrasas might have converted from the traditional Qomi madrasas, as argued by some authors, these state reformed madrasas have failed to displace the Qomi madrasas’ control over the Bangladeshi religious establishment. It is the Qomi madrasa students that are being trained to fill religious positions in Bangladeshi mosques. Aliya madrasa students, on the other hand, are being trained to compete for jobs teaching the children enrolled in the secular schools. The control over religious authority and public interpretation of Islam remains in the hands of the ulema of the Qomi madrasas. Therefore, the study argues that it is misguided to see the Bangladeshi madrasa reform programme as a model for a more liberal interpretation of Islam, which is the focus of current reform efforts. Rather it is a very good model for making madrasas an effective tool for promoting education in conservative societies, where there is a clear demand for combining secular education with a strong religious input. Also, it argues that good financial incentives alone do not explain the rise of Aliya madrasas. The spread of the Aliya madrasa is embedded in a complex interaction between Islam and the Bengali language movement, in pre- and post- liberation (1971) politics, and in the support for the Aliya tradition within an influential segment of the Bangladeshi religious establishment, that is Jamiat-i-Islami. The paper thus argues that in studying madrasa reform programmes, it is important to be clear about the objectives of the reform. Modern interpretations of Islam within madrasas cannot be achieved simply through the introduction of secular subjects. They are only possible if the leadership of Qomi madrasas is successfully convinced of the need for a modern reinterpretation of religious texts and is supported in that process.
17 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that moral knowledge does not derive exclusively from religious sources, but none the less involves relevant (and sometimes critical) religious considerations, and that moral education in American public schools needs curricula that help students explore and understand various moral rationales and motivations from a variety of cultural sources, religious and otherwise, providing opportunities for students to engage with difference and develop the capacity for mutual respect and (when necessary) reasonable disagreement.
Abstract: Through a critique of a recent argument by Larry Nucci, this article claims that for many religious believers, religion and morality cannot be wholly separated. Accordingly, efforts at moral education that seek to ignore the role of religion in moral judgement will fail to engage with the realities of many students' moral frameworks. In contrast to Nucci's claim that religion is irrelevant to moral judgement, this essay argues that morality is only weakly independent from religion. Moral knowledge does not derive exclusively from religious sources, but none the less involves relevant (and sometimes critical) religious considerations. Accordingly, moral education in American public schools needs curricula that help students explore and understand various moral rationales and motivations from a variety of cultural sources, religious and otherwise, providing opportunities for students to engage with difference and develop the capacity for mutual respect and (when necessary) reasonable disagreement.
17 citations
TL;DR: In a broad sweep of history, from early Christianity to the present day, Liam Gearon attempts an appraisal of the interaction between religion, politics and education in religious education as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: MasterClass in religious education is an ambitious book. In a broad sweep of history, from early Christianity to the present day, Liam Gearon attempts an appraisal of the interaction between religion, politics and education in religious education (RE). The book opens and closes with the story of the conversion to Christianity of Edwin, the king of Northumbria, which serves as an analogy for the need even in the midst of the temporal world to be mindful of the urgency to question the nature of human existence and reflect on the role of religion in life. MasterClass in religious education has six chapters: Religion, Politics and Education; Religion in Education; Religious Education and the Religious Life; Religious Education and Secularity; Pedagogies of Religious Education; Religion across the Curriculum. The first chapter, subtitled ‘modern world, ancient disputes’, introduces the central thesis that despite the secularisation of public and private life RE maintains a prominent, if controversial, position in education. Post 9/11, however, there has been a significant shift of emphasis towards serving a social need for inter-cultural dialogue in which religious perspectives are subsumed by historical and political purposes in the service of democracy. Gearon sees this as an instrumentalist use of religion, exemplified by recent international policies on the role of religion in education such as the Toledo Principles. Whilst such policies may have good intentions, they threaten the integrity of RE as too close an alignment to political purposes jeopardising its connections with religious life. Chapter 2 focuses on UK, European and US research perspectives on religion in education from projects with a dual emphasis on research and pedagogy. Unfortunately, the reader is subjected to an ‘acronym soup’ of various initiatives without sufficient contextual information to make sense of particular projects. The resulting confusion results in an account that shares the faults Gearon identifies in the research.
17 citations