How do German RE teachers deal with truth claims in a pluralist classroom setting?
Religious education has to explicate truth claims because every religion has convictions which its adherents regard as true. At the same time religious education-at least at public school-has to acknowledge the students' pluralist beliefs. How do teachers deal with this constellation? Based on...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer
[2016]
|
| In: |
Journal of Religious Education
Year: 2016, Volume: 64, Issue: 2, Pages: 75-86 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KBB German language area RF Christian education; catechetics |
| Further subjects: | B
mixed methods
B Religious Education B truth claims |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | Religious education has to explicate truth claims because every religion has convictions which its adherents regard as true. At the same time religious education-at least at public school-has to acknowledge the students' pluralist beliefs. How do teachers deal with this constellation? Based on an exploratory sample (N = 3) and a mixed-methods design this article analyses (a) the ideal of RE teachers how to mediate truth claims in religiously pluralist classrooms, (b) how these teachers realise this ideal in religious instruction, and (c) how they evaluate the relationship between ideal and reality after the lessons. Regarding the ideal all teachers are well aware that they have to discuss the issue of truth claims while respecting the students' religious autonomy. Giving personal testimony is a shared instructional strategy to do so. However, it is only one teacher to realise this ideal by showing a discursive instructional style. The other teachers show an affirmative instructional style without offering personal testimony. Even more they are not able to critically scrutinise this practise after the lessons. These empirical results point at the importance of developing reflective competence and discursive interaction in teacher training. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2199-4625 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Religious Education
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s40839-017-0034-8 |