Religious Education in a Plural, Secularised Society. A Paradigm Shift

Download or read book Religious Education in a Plural, Secularised Society. A Paradigm Shift written by Leni Franken and published by Waxmann Verlag. This book was released on 2011 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many European societies are characterised by increasing forms of secularisation and religious diversity. This results in a paradigm shift with regard to religious education. For a long time, the main aim of religious education was, clearly, to educate children in their own religious tradition. Today, the aims of religious education are much broader: contributing to pupils’ general education (Allgemeinbildung) and preparing them for participation as a citizen in the future, multicultural society. As a result, the following question arises in many countries: how can ‘teaching into religion’ be transformed into or complemented by ‘learning about’ and ‘learning from (the study of) religions’? This book brings several distinguished authors in the field of religious education together to reflect on this paradigm shift. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is rather descriptive and gives an informative and up to date overview of the different discussions about religious education in several European countries. The second part is a normative reflection on the question of how religious education should be organised in plural secularised societies. “This book is very important for the discussion about religious education. Its comparative approach combined with the interdisciplinary dialogue between the different schools in the field of religious education, make this book highly recommendable for everyone who is interested in the state of the art and the future of religious education in Europe.” Didier Pollefeyt, full professor in theology and religious education at the Catholic University of Leuven