This book analyzes the changes and shifts in religious education in Europe over the past 50 years. In a post-secular age, it has become increasingly difficult to make sharp distinctions between what is religious and non-religious, confessional and non-confessional. Reforms in religious education in Sweden in the 1960s appeared as part of a process of wider secular liberalization, giving more credence to the idea of absolute neutrality in religious education. However drastic shifts in society, culture and the European religious landscape raise the need for a reevaluation of the foundations of religious education. Drawing on a range of case studies from across Europe, this book will appeal to students and scholars of religious education as well as post-secular education more generally.
Author(s): Olof Franck, Peder Thalén
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 272
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Notes on Contributors
1: Introduction: Religious Education and the Notion of the Post-secular
Post-secularity as a Slow Cultural Change
Post-secularity as a New Form of Cultural Relativism
Post-secularity as a Rediscovery of a Continuity With the Past
Post-secularity as the Resolution of the Sharp Boundary Between “the Religious” and “the Secular” or “Non-religious”
Post-secularity as the Return of Religion in Society
Post-secularity as a New Public Role for Religion
Some Further Interpretations of the Concept of Post-secularity
References
2: Religious Education, Post-secularity and Neoliberalism
Introduction
The Emergence of the Post-secular
Habermas: Religion and the Public Sphere
Post-secularity and Religious Education
The Rise of Neoliberalism in Education
Milton Friedman: Transactional Freedom
Religious Education and Neoliberal Theory
Post-secularity and Neoliberalism
Conclusion
References
3: Dealing with Religion in Education in Post-religious and Post-secular Times
Introduction
Religion in Secular Education
Religion in Scandinavian Education
Norway: A Post-secular Religious Education?
Discussion
References
4: Religious Education Curriculum Constructions in Northern and Western Europe: A Three-Country Analysis
Curriculum Theoretical Perspectives and “Why Study a School Subject”
The Concept of Curriculum
A Study of a School Subject
Curriculum Perspectives on School Subjects
Reading and Analyzing Policy Texts/Curricula in a School Subject
The Background and Context of RE in Denmark
An Analysis of the RE Non-denominational Subject in Denmark
The Background and Context of RE in Scotland
An Analysis of the Non-denominational RME Curriculum in Scotland
The Background and Context of RE in Sweden
An Analysis of the RE Curriculum in Sweden
RE and Post-secularity—A Concluding Discussion
References
5: What About Transformative Religious Education?
Introduction
Changes in Religious Education: Iceland as an Example
Transformative Education in Social Studies?
What About Religious Education?
Conclusion
References
6: Transition in RE in Finland
Introduction
The Historical Trajectory Surrounding RE in Finland Until the 2000s
A Developing Finnish Research Community Around RE
Formation of Religious Education as a Modern Research Field in Finland
Characteristics of the Emerging Finnish RE-Scholarly Community after the Turn of the Millennium
Current Challenges in Finland in Framing the Core of RE for a Post-secular Society
Discussion (Grounding RE ‘Otherwise’)
References
7: Uncertainty and Mortality: Two Stubborn Particulars of Religious Education
Introduction
Uncertainty in Religious Education
The Certainty of Mortality and Our Uncertain Knowledge of Death
Conclusion: The Stubborn Particulars of Uncertainty and Mortality
Bibliography
8: Changing the Game in English Religious Education: 1971 and 2018
Schools Council Working Paper 36 and Its Impact on RE in England and Wales (and Me)
Ninian Smart and the ‘Phenomenological’ Approach to RE
Philip Barnes’ Critique of the Approach to RE Recommended by Working Paper 36
Further Critiques of a Phenomenological Approach, Smart and WP36, in Both Religious Studies at University Level and RE in Schools, and a Case for the Defence
Changes to the Religious Landscape of the UK and Some Trends in Academic Study in the Last Five Decades
The Commission on RE as a New ‘Game-Changer’ in English RE?
Conclusion
Bibliography
9: World View Instead of Religion?
Introduction
Varieties of “World View”
Reinforcing a Relativistic Spirit
An Illusion of Intellectual Freedom
A Superficial View of Critical Thinking
Creating Inclusiveness by Adopting General Terms
A Parochial Term
Does Everyone Have a Personal World View?
Do World Views Exist?
Religion and Science
RE as Facilitating a Spiritual Journey?
A Route for the Renewal of Religious Education?
References
10: A Study-of-Religion(s) Based RE: A Must for All Times—Post-modern, Post-secular or Not!
Unframing the Editorial Framework
Why a Study-of-Religions Based (Secular, Non-religious, Non-confessional) RE?
Core Contents for RE 2020
References
11: Autonomy and Shared Citizenship: A ‘Neutral’ Justification for RE?
RE in Post-secular Societies: From Confessional to Non-confessional
Framing the Debate: The Atheist and Anti-religious Confession of Non-confessional RE
Autonomy, Citizenship and Education
School Curriculum and RE
Habermas, Reflexive Religion and RE
No Privileged Status for RE
Autonomy, Citizenship and Non-confessional RE
Paternalism, Neutrality and the Right to Dissent
Conclusion
References
12: Facing Religious Ethical Claims in Post-secular Ethics Education: Challenges and Contributions
Introduction
Religious Ethical Claims as Situated Democratic Iterations in Post-secular Contexts
Religious Versus Secular Ethical Authorities—In Symmetry or Asymmetry?
Secular Ethics Education
Post-secular Ethics Education
Epistemological and Moral Justification
The Labor of Criticizing Religious Ethical Claims
Conclusion
References
Index
