Church, State and RE in Europe: Past, Present and Future

Franken, Leni

doi:10.1080/15507394.2021.1897452

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Nation-building through schooling is based on a cultural approach to citizenship and, in many cases, the assumption that stable communities need shared values (Jerome, Liddle & Young., 2021;Osler, 2015;Iversen, 2014). Although modernity and pluralism have challenged society's shared values, the relation between state and church still influences the structure and content of RE in European countries (Bråten, 2014;Franken, 2021). RE scholar Oddrun Bråten, uses the concept of national imaginary: 'A national imaginary is the most common ideas about a nation's culture and history.…”

Section: Narratives and Imagined Communities In Nation-buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historically, the public school has served as a crucial platform for the inculcation of both national and religious identity (Jensen, 2005;Kjeldsen, 2019a), and religious education (RE) has in particular implied an enculturation of the dogma, norms and practices of the majority religion. In spite of supranational factors such as increasing plurality, secularisation and globalisation challenging the role of RE in nation building, recent European research shows how the new social patterns meet 'old' institutional structures, and that church-state relations in national contexts still have a major effect on how RE is structured (Bråten, 2014;Franken, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The structuring of RE in different national contexts reveals different solutions to the problem of balancing transmission of the majority religion as cultural heritage with the inclusion of other outlooks and religious diversity (Franken, 2021;Bråten, 2014). To secure minority rights and pluralism, international human rights obligations such as the right to freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) and non-discrimination form a legal framework for the state's interest in RE.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human rights education as a framework for transmitting religion as cultural heritage

Lindhardt

2024

Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education

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The child's right to freedom of religion and belief and fundamental principles such as equality and non-discrimination constitute an international frame for religious education (RE).However, these rights might be challenged when RE is allocated a major role in transmitting the majority religion as national cultural heritage and national identity. This article will explore and discuss this issue. It is based on an analysis of the transmission of Christianity as cultural heritage in the national RE curriculum for primary and lower secondary schools in Denmark.The article argues that principles from human rights education could provide a basis for a more pluralistic, objective, and critical approach to RE, thus enabling the classroom to function as a community of disagreement.

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Section: Narratives and Imagined Communities In Nation-buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human rights education as a framework for transmitting religion as cultural heritage

Lindhardt

2024

Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education

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“…One of the benefits of such an approach is that educational practices can be adapted to the changing societal contexts, without profound -and often very slow -structural (and sometimes also constitutional) changes (cf. Franken, 2021a).…”

Section: A Core Curriculum For Religion?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion Education and ‘weak’ Religious Education: Common Concerns

Franken

2023

RpB

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As a response to the increasing plurality of the student population, there have been several shifts in religious education over the past decades. After a brief sketch of these shifts, particular attention will be given to ‘weak’ religious education and to religion education. In order to do so, attention is amongst others given to the principle of neutrality and to several critiques on this concept. Subsequently, we will focus on several common concerns in religion education as well as in weak religious education: the need for religious literacy, the importance of (interreligious) dialogue, identity formation, and socialization. In order to comply with these concerns in different school types and in religion education as well as in (weak) religious education classes, the development of a common curriculum for religion and worldviews could be an interesting option. We will have a closer look at such a curriculum, which is at present in an advanced stage in the Netherlands, and which could inspire other nations as well.

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“…There are profound differences in how education about religions is provided in different countries based on each country's religious composition, the structure of its educational system, its history, and the relations between church and state (Berglund et al 2016;Franken 2021). In addition, different schools in one country may apply different policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Literacy in National Curricula of Estonia

Sooniste

Schihalejev

2022

Religions

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Religious literacy may be seen as a prerequisite for religious freedom. This article analyzes how the development of religious literacy is supported in the curricula of Estonian primary and secondary schools and the extent to which these schools guarantee religious freedom. We assume that developing religious literacy is not limited to the lessons of Religious Education but can also be achieved in schools in which Religious Education is not taught. We analyze the national curricula for both basic and upper secondary schools to understand how religious literacy is represented, whether implicitly or explicitly. We are particularly interested in how the competencies of religious literacy are supported in the curricula and how freedom of religion is ensured in state-funded schools. The texts are analyzed according to the core curriculum analysis method and the religious literacy model, which identifies four stages in the development of religious literacy: examining religion as a category, engaging with a disposition towards religions, building up relevant knowledge, and promoting skills to interact well in multicultural society. This analysis shows that the dominant discourse related to religious literacy in the curricula focuses on social skills for future citizens, but religious literacy itself, a vital skill for operating in the modern multicultural world, is scarcely mentioned. Instead, it is present primarily as an implicit concept, and religion is portrayed as distant both in time and in space. Thus, this approach to education contributes insufficiently to the freedom of religion needed in a contemporary multicultural society.

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Church, State and RE in Europe: Past, Present and Future

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Human rights education as a framework for transmitting religion as cultural heritage

Human rights education as a framework for transmitting religion as cultural heritage

Religion Education and ‘weak’ Religious Education: Common Concerns

Religious Literacy in National Curricula of Estonia

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