Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

CoGREE - Wien 2002

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

A guided tour through Religious Education in

Europe• ‘Biographies’ of RE • Dimensions• Models • Schematic Overview• Emerging Commonalties• Challenges

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

‘Biographies’ of RE

• the religious landscape of the country

• the role and value of religion in society

• the structure of the education system

• the historical tradition and politics

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Dimensions

Religious Educatio

n

Ultimate Questions

Shared human experiences

Living faith systems

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Models

• Learning Religion

• Learning about Religion

• Learning from Religion

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Schematic OverviewResponsibilities:

ReligiousCommunities

Co-operative models betweenreligious communities and the

state

Responsibilities:schools (state

agencies)

Denominational Confessional / non-confessional Religious Studies

Voluntary subject Voluntary / Compulsory subject Compulsory subject

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Emerging Commonalities

- To deal with questions of meaning from the perspective of different world views and religions

- To enable pupils to clarify their own values and to give reasons for them.

- To encourage pupils to question their own value based decisions

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Challenges

• Expectations

• Plurality

• Secularisation

• Concepts of teaching and learning

• Exchange and Cooperation

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Expectations• Society

• Parents

• Religious Communities

• Politicians

• Problem solver for conflicts

• Good RE

• Authentic representation

• Ethical potential of religion

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Plurality

• “In societies where religious indifference, cultural intolerance and rapidly changing norms and values seem to prevail, RE can be the space in which young people learn how to deal with challenges to identity, manage conflict and develop sensitivity in interacting with difference. The task of conceptualising RE, in dialogue with other faith traditions is an essential way forward.”

(WCC 2000)

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Secularisation

• A successful secularisation shall not destroy what a religious tradition once has offered

(Jürgen Habermas)

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Concepts of Teaching and Learning

• Content - centred

• Transmission

• Student centred

• Transformation

Peter Schreiner -Wien 2002

Exchange and Cooperation

• Alliance for good religious education

• Increasing collaboration

• Using new technologies

• Common activities