COVID-19 and religious education reimagined: discovering a reflective space through Hannah Arendt’s concept of thinking
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its rapid spread around the world, the normality of people’s lives was disrupted. Education was not immune from this. In many countries, to limit the spread of the infection, students were required by the government to study remotely. This social i...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
British Journal of religious education
Year: 2024, Volume: 46, Issue: 3, Pages: 236–244 |
| Further subjects: | B
Covid-19
B Religious Education B Thinking B reflective space |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its rapid spread around the world, the normality of people’s lives was disrupted. Education was not immune from this. In many countries, to limit the spread of the infection, students were required by the government to study remotely. This social isolation in a limited space generated concerns among educators about the quality of learning, notably through virtual platforms. However, this crisis also brought with it an opportunity for change for the better. Social distancing could allow for a ‘reflective space’ that extended students’ learning beyond the physical space. This research paper explores how the disruption of the normality of our lives and the provision of reflective space might enrich religious education, both in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. I will analyse this issue philosophically in light of Hannah Arendt’s concept of ‘thinking’. This thinking refers to the quest for meaning which occurs when we withdraw ourselves from inter homines esse (being among humans) into a solitary realm. Drawing on Arendt’s ideas, I argue that the reflective space enables us to reimagine religious education such that it better prepares students from across the cultural and religious spectrum for a democratic society. |
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| ISSN: | 1740-7931 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: British Journal of religious education
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2023.2233055 |