Signposts Policy And Practice For Teaching About Religions And Non Religious World Views In Intercultural Education

How can the study of religions and non-religious world views contribute to intercultural education in schools in Europe? An important recommendation from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)12 on the dimension of religions and non-religious convictions within intercultural education) aimed to explain the nature and objectives of this form of education. Signposts goes much further by providing advice to policy makers, schools (including teachers, senior managers and governors) and teacher trainers on tackling issues arising from the recommendation. Taking careful account of feedback from education officials, teachers and teacher trainers in Council of Europe member states, Signposts gives advice, for example, on clarifying the terms used in this form of education; developing competences for teaching and learning, and working with different didactical approaches; creating “safe space” for moderated student-to-student dialogue in the classroom; helping students to analyse media representations of religions; discussing non-religious world views alongside religious perspectives; handling human rights issues relating to religion and belief; and linking schools (including schools of different types) to one another and to wider communities and organisations. Signposts is not a curriculum or a policy statement. It aims to give policy makers, schools and teacher trainers in the Council of Europe member states, as well as others who wish to use it, the tools to work through the issues arising from interpretation of the recommendation to meet the needs of individual countries. Signposts results from the work of an international panel of experts convened jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Wergeland Centre, and is written on the group’s behalf by Professor Robert Jackson.

Can national minorities' participation in decision-making processes be achieved in any constitutional context ? Can developing international standards assist governments in devising national policies? What are the challenges if states are to use cultural autonomy to improve minority participation? This publication presents The UniDem Seminar on "The participation of minorities in public life", which took place in Zagreb on 18 and 19 May 2007, discussed ways of answering these topical questions.This publication contains the reports presented and discussed at the UniDem Seminar organised by the European Commission for Democracy through law (the Venice Commission), under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Croatia and in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia, the University of Zagreb and the University of Glasgow.

An essential complement to the Signposts publication As educators, we often find ourselves at a crossroads. We question our education policies while trying to find the best way to meet the needs of a democratic society that is striving for peaceful coexistence in a diverse world. We try to project a better future and give more power to education so that it can contribute to the process of building that future. Signposts has come at the right time. Starting from the need to deal with religious and non-religious world views in intercultural education, it is a model for addressing diversity and controversy, helping policy makers, curriculum developers and teacher trainers to respond effectively to the new situations and challenges with which the world confronts us every day. Signposts is an important instrument for Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE) that helps to create the culture of democracy.

As educators, we often find ourselves at a crossroads. We question our education policies while trying to find the best way to meet the needs of a democratic society that is striving for peaceful coexistence in a diverse world.We try to project a better future and give more power to education so that it can contribute to the process of building that future. Signposts has come at the right time. Starting from the need to deal with religious and non-religious world views in intercultural education, it is a model for addressing diversity and controversy, helping policy makers, curriculum developers and teacher trainers to respond effectively to the new situations and challenges with which the world confronts us every day.Signposts is an important instrument for Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE) that helps to create the culture of democracy.

This timely volume addresses current debates surrounding the transition from the teaching of religious education (RE) to the more holistic subject of Religion and Worldviews (R&W) in England, and posits criteria for best practice among educators in varied settings and in a broader international context. By examining empirical sources, governmental reports, and in particular the 2018 final report from the Commission on Religious Education (CORE), the volume suggests key principles needed to guide the transition and ensure that R&W is effectively integrated into curricula, pedagogy, and teaching resources to meet the needs of all student groups. By effectively conceptualising R&W, the volume gives particular attention to the intersections of the subject with democratic citizenship education, intercultural competence, and religious literacy. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in religious education and teacher education as well as the philosophy and sociology of education more broadly. Those interested in education policy and politics, as well as citizenship and schooling in the UK, will also benefit from this volume.

Preparing pupils to engage with religious and cultural heterogeneity is increasingly seen as a key task for school education. This book presents research on religion-related dialogue in European schools and addresses the complex intersection of various factors supporting or hindering it. The volume offers findings of the international research project ‘Religion and Dialogue in modern societies’ (ReDi). The chapters present analyses of school case studies in five European cities London (England), Hamburg and Duisburg (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), and Stavanger (Norway), to empirically answer the question: What are possibilities and limitations of religion-related dialogue in schools? Possibilities and Limitations of Religion-Related Dialogue in Schools in Europe will be a key resource for practioners and researchers of religious education, education studies, educational research, religious studies, and sociology. It was originally published as a special issue of the Religion & Education.

Religious Education in schools in Europe is facing societal and cultural diversity. It has become a key issue how to handle diversity adequately in the classroom. Religious Education and diversity are also the background of an Erasmus+ project of teacher training institutions (READY) in five European countries: Austria, Germany, England, Scotland, and Sweden (2016-2018). The book contains contributions from READY, a European project on teacher training in Religious Education. Experts and student teachers worked together on issues of diversity in classrooms of different European countries. Outcomes of the project include guidelines for study visits and online communication, case studies on Religions Education in the participating countries, contributions from national and international multiplier events and academic insights into the project. Statements and voices of student teachers enrich the publication. Dr Peter Schreiner is director of the Comenius-Institut, a Protestant Centre for Research and Development in Education in Münster/Germany. He edited the book on behalf of the READY Consortium. Contributions from Kerstin von Brömssen, Martin Fischer, Heinz Ivkovits, Peter Kliemann, Heid Leganger-Krogstad, Siebren Miedema, Kristian Niemi, Graeme Nixon, Janika Olschewski, Farid Panjwani, Jo Pearce, Jane Savill, Christof Schilling, Peter Schreiner, David Smith, Alexis Stones.

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’.