Growing interreligious and intercultural competence in the classroom

Building on various models for intercultural and interreligious competence (IC/IR competence), this essay argues that classroom learning about religious and cultural diversity will engage students' "sociological imaginations" and lead to increased IC/IR competence. The current strateg...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lindsay, Jenn (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2020]
In: Teaching theology and religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 23, Issue: 1, Pages: 17-33
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
AH Religious education
AX Inter-religious relations
ZF Education
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Summary:Building on various models for intercultural and interreligious competence (IC/IR competence), this essay argues that classroom learning about religious and cultural diversity will engage students' "sociological imaginations" and lead to increased IC/IR competence. The current strategy for increasing intercultural competence (attitude, skills and knowledge, to be developed in that order) does not reflect best practices for educating about social difference. Instead, knowledge acquisition about other cultures and religions is the "front line" task for increasing alterity competence, and the liberal arts classroom can represent a "safe space" for learning about cultural and religious differences in a depersonalized, sociological manner. Supporting this argument are self-assessments of IC/IR competence collected from primarily European and white American students enrolled in "Religions of the World" or "Intercultural Communications," allowing an analysis of IC/IR competence in light of the two distinct disciplines and contributing valuable data toward a broader theory of IC/IR pedagogy.
ISSN:1467-9647
Contains:Enthalten in: Teaching theology and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/teth.12527