The challenge of religious education to deal with past and present Catholicism

Religious education (RE) in secondary schools in the Netherlands is challenged to redefine the educational aims. Concerning this debate, the preference for a cognitive approach is remarkably dominant, not only among scholars but among RE teachers as well. This appeal for a cognitive turn is based up...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Journal of religious education
Main Author: Elshof, Toke (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 2019
In: British Journal of religious education
Year: 2019, Volume: 41, Issue: 3, Pages: 261-271
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Netherlands / Religious instruction / Catholicism / Reflexivity / Interfaith dialogue
RelBib Classification:CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
KBD Benelux countries
KDB Roman Catholic Church
RF Christian education; catechetics
Further subjects:B interreligious tolerance
B Religious Education
B religious blankness
B religious reflectivity
B religious (non-)affiliation
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Religious education (RE) in secondary schools in the Netherlands is challenged to redefine the educational aims. Concerning this debate, the preference for a cognitive approach is remarkably dominant, not only among scholars but among RE teachers as well. This appeal for a cognitive turn is based upon two hypotheses: first on the presumption of religious blankness among religiously unaffiliated pupils and second on a specific view on the way religious affiliation, religious reflectivity and religious tolerance are intertwined. The current article elaborates on a empirical research that questions both hypotheses. It first discovered the ongoing connection religiously unaffiliated pupils have with a former and conventional type of Catholicism, which impedes the development of their reflective personal religiosity as well as that of their interreligious openness. Second, this investigation revealed that personal connectedness with contemporary Catholic faith encourages these two developments. As such, this research contributes to a nuanced perspective on the chances and bottlenecks within religious learning by religiously unaffiliated and affiliated pupils. Concerning the redefinition of religious educational aims, it provides empirical arguments for a balanced combination of cognitive, attitudinal and experiential aims and advocates a preference for experiential and attitudinal aspects as a didactical starting point.
Item Description:Das Heft ist als Doppelheft erschienen "Volume 41 Numbers 3-4, June-September 2019"
ISSN:1740-7931
Contains:Enthalten in: British Journal of religious education
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1484689