Living Together with the Other: Education & Religion in a European Context

1. “Living together with the Other” Education & Religion in a European Context Robert Jackson Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit Coordinating Group for Religious Education in Europe (CoGREE) Conference, Berlin, October 2005

2. Political and Social Context Events – global and local • Sept 11, 2001 in USA • Afghanistan and Iraq wars • Bali, Casablanca, Jakarta, Madrid, London etc • Israel/Palestine and other ‘ethnic’ conflicts • Civil disorder in northern UK towns in 2001 – economic & demographic factors

3. Context of Late/Post Modernity • Traditional plurality • religious and ethnic diversity • stereotyping and boundaries • Modern/postmodern plurality • instant communication • globalisation • multiple influences on identity • erosion of cultural boundaries • responses to relativity and truth • Interaction of ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ plurality

4. Cultural Discourse • ‘Dominant discourse’ reifies cultures - ‘communities’ defined by ethnic and religious identity • ‘Demotic discourse’- the language of cultural interaction ‘on the ground’ • ‘Culture’ as both • a possession of an ethnic or religious ‘community’ • a dynamic process relying on personal agency

5. Religious Education in England and Wales • Agreed Syllabuses • Partnership of teachers, faiths, politicians • National Framework • Informs AS conferences • A national syllabus? • Towards a National Strategy • Teacher training and professional development

6. National Framework for Religious Education • Religious education actively promotes the values of truth, justice, respect for all and care of the environment. It places specific emphasis on: • pupils valuing themselves and others • the role of family and the community in religious belief and activity • the celebration of diversity in society through understanding similarities and differences • sustainable development of the earth • Religious education also recognises the changing nature of society, including • changes in religious practice and expression • and the influence of religion in the local, national and global community

7. Pedagogy: The Warwick Interpretive Approach • Representation of religions and ‘cultures’ showing their diversity • individuals, groups, traditions – ‘culture’ debate • Interpretation • comparing and contrasting familiar and unfamiliar concepts • Reflexivity • Pupils relating learning to their own concerns • constructive criticism at a distance • critique of study methods used • Start anywhere: with examples; with pupils...

8. Warwick RE Project: Bridges to Religions • Source material is ethnographic studies of children in family and school • Children in class compare and contrast their concepts, experiences and beliefs

9. Warwick RE Project: Bridges to Religions • Texts deal with similarity and difference • Diversity of views of children in class is recognised (meat eating, vegetarianism, special diets)

10. Interpretation, Dialogue, Reflexivity • Students listed questions raised by zakah • developed drama pieces out of their questions • dramas prompted discussion about situations that poor people can be in • Muslim boy spoke about what zakah meant to him • students tried to relate zakah to their own moral and spiritual concerns

11. Pedagogy: A Dialogical Approach Ipgrave • Levels of dialogue • Primary (acceptance of plurality) • Secondary (openness to difference ) • Tertiary (pupil interaction) • Use of children’s religious language • Provide opportunities for structured dialogue (children's involvement) • Children negotiate viewpoints • Project development • Phase 1 in one school • Phase 2 between schools in Leicester • Phase 3 eBridges project

12. From eDialogue to Meeting • Children from East Sussex and Leicester meet for a residential weekend at Pyke House, Battle, Sussex, December 2003

13. How can RE contribute to living together? RE teachers should work with other educators: • Council of Europe project ‘intercultural education and the challenge of religious diversity and dialogue’ • Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Teaching Tolerance Project (Values Education, Peace Education, Human Rights etc) • Proliferation of citizenship programmes in Europe

14. Spectrum of Citizenship Educationin Europe(McLaughlin 1992) MINIMAL MAXIMAL exclusive inclusive elitist activist civics ed citizenship ed formal participative content led process led knowledge-based values based didactic interactive transmission interpretation easier more difficult

15. Religion in Education: a contribution to Dialogue or a factor of Conflict in transforming societies of European Countries (REDCo) 1 University of Hamburg 2 University of Warwick 3 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes / Sorbonne EPHE 4 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University Amsterdam) 5 University of Stavanger 6 University of Tartu 7 Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (University of Münster) 8 Deutsches Orient Institut (German Institute for Middle East Studies) 9 Russian Christian Academy for Humanities (St. Petersburg) 10 Universidad de Granada