International Perspectives On Citizenship Education And Religious Diversity

Citizenship is high on the agenda of education systems in many of the world's democracies. As yet, however, discussions of citizenship education have neglected issues of religious diversity and how the study of religions can contribute to our understanding of citizenship. International Perspectives on Citizenship, Education and Religious Diversity brings together an international range of contributions from religious studies scholars and educators specialising in the study of religions. Together, these illustrate and explore the key questions for educational theory and pedagogy raised by drawing issues of religious diversity into citizenship education. The chapters address and extend debates over the nature of citizenship in late modernity, highlighting local and global dimensions of citizenship in relation to issues of national, religious, ethnic and cultural identity. As well as emphasising the role religious education has to play in citizenship education, this book also covers wider issues such as state-supported faith schools and cultural diversity in relation to common citizenship. The authors argue that critical, yet reflective, approaches to religious education have a distinctive and valuable contribution to make to citizenship education. Issues addressed within the study of religions are related to new forms of global and cultural citizenship, as well as citizenship within the nation state. Ultimately, this stimulating and original collection highlights the challenges and possibilities for teaching and learning about religion, religions and religious diversity within an inclusive educational practice.

The increasing ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, and language diversity in nations throughout the world is forcing educators and policymakers to rethink existing notions of citizenship and nationality. To experience cultural democracy and freedom, a nation must be unified around a set of democratic values such as justice and equality that balance unity and diversity and protect the rights of diverse groups. Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives brings together in one comprehensive volume a group of international experts on the topic of diversity and citizenship education. These experts discuss and identify the shared issues and possibilities that exist when educating for national unity and cultural diversity. Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives presents compelling case studies and examples of successful programs and practices from twelve nations, discusses problems that arise when societies are highly stratified along race, cultural, and class lines, and describes guidelines and benchmarks that practicing educators can use to structure citizenship education programs that balance unity and diversity. The book covers a broad range of issues and includes vital information on such topics as Migration, citizenship, and education The challenge of racialized citizenship in the United States The contribution of the struggles by Indians and Blacks for citizenship and recognition in Brazil Crises of citizenship education and ethnic issues in Germany, Russia, and South Africa Conflicts between religious and ethnic factions Diversity, globalization, and democratic education

Does religion bring peace or war? In order to discuss this fundamental question, it is essential to reflect upon religious education that shapes the views of religion among young generations. This book has developed from the special panel on "Religious Education and Peace" for the 19th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), the largest international organization in religious studies, which took place in Tokyo in March 2005. Its international contributors discuss the kinds of religious education used for peace education that is attempted or needed, in their respective societies faced with tensions and conflicts, not only between different religions but also between religion and secularism. This is the first book in the field that includes both Asian and Western writers (from Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Israel, Germany, Spain, UK and USA). It is an innovative attempt to build a bridge between the study of religion/religious education and peace education. This book was previously published as a special issue of British Journal of Religious Education

This book examines Religious Education (RE) in over ten countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Mali, Russia, UK, Ireland, USA, and Canada. Investigating RE from a global and multi-interdisciplinary perspective, it presents research on the diverse past, present, and possible future forms of RE. In doing so, it enhances public and professional understanding of the complex issues and debates surrounding RE in the wider world. The volume emphasizes a student-centred approach, viewing any kind of ‘RE’, or its absence, as a formative lived experience for pupils. It stresses a bottom-up, sociological and ethnographic/anthropological research-based approach to the study of RE, rather than the ‘top down’ approaches which often start from prescriptive legal, ideological or religious standpoints. The twelve chapters in this volume regard RE as an entity that has multiple and contested meanings and interpretations that are constantly negotiated. For some, ‘RE’ means religious nurturing, either tailored to parental views or meant to inculcate a uniform religiosity. For others, RE means learning about the many religious and non-religious world-views and secular ethics that exist, not promoting one religion or another. Some seek to avoid the ambiguous term ‘religious education’, replacing it with terms such as ‘education about religions and beliefs’ or ‘the religious dimension of intercultural education’.

This reference book is intended to help teachers, teacher administrators, policy makers and others deal with the important issue of religious diversity in Europe's schools. The religious dimension of intercultural education is an issue that affects all schools, whether they are religiously diverse or not, because their pupils live and will work in increasingly diverse societies. The book is the main outcome of the project 1The Challenge of intercultural education today: religious diversity and dialogue in Europe', developed by the Council of Europe between 2002 and 2005. It is in four parts: theoretical and conceptual basis for religious diversity and intercultural education; educational conditions and methodological approaches; religious diversity in schools in different settings; examples of current practice in some member states of the Council of Europe.

Religion is on the European agenda again. The secularisation paradigm has lost its explanatory power and the newly coined term ‘post-secularism’ is used to describe the realisation that in the current social transformation, religion cannot be ignored any longer. The quantitative study presented in this book is part of the research effort by the REDCo project. REDCo is the abbreviation for “Religion in Education. A contribution to Dialogue or a Factor of Conflict in Transforming Societies of European Countries”. The project brought together nine research teams from eight European countries: England, Estonia, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Spain. The research involved interdisciplinary cooperation between specialists in the different academic fields of education, religious education, sociology, political science, anthropology, psychology, theology and religious studies. The book offers valuable interpretations and inspirations on the question how the students in the 14 – 16 year age group in Europe see the (ir)relevance of religions for dialogue and conflict in their daily lives, in the school environment, and in society as a whole. The young respondents of the quantitative study are clearly aware that the diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews is the reality of the European contexts they have to manage within. Most of them are convinced that religion must be addressed in schools, as it is too important as factor in social life, and for the coexistence of people from different cultural and religious backgrounds throughout Europe, to be ignored.