NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 61, Issue 4, 2007

In the first part an overview of recent developments with regard to the position of religious education and the teaching about religion (‘religion education’) in Dutch secondary schools is presented. The authors argue that the Study of Religions has become more relevant for religious education than some decades ago because of ongoing pluralisation, secularisation and globalisation processes that have transformed D Read More

The author argues that there are at present three good reasons to introduce education about religions and philosophies of life as a compulsory subject in all European secondary schools: (1) the growing complexity of religions and life philosophies in European societies; (2) the weakening role of traditional religious institutions in the transmission of religious knowledge to the next generations; (3) the growing number of social co Read More

This article presents the image of Hinduism and Buddhism as presented in textbooks that are generally used in the Netherlands for secondary education. In general, we observe that where Hinduism is imagined, the presentation tends to be on the negative side. Hinduism is above all associated with the unchanging caste-system and with the repression of women. The image of Buddhism tends to be much more positiv Read More

The subject of this contribution is the present state of affairs regarding religious education and the teaching of worldviews (Dutch: ‘levensbeschouwing’) on the one hand and the quality of the textbooks used on the other. The approach is that of a teacher in secondary education. The author starts by giving a brief outline of the general situation of religious education in the Netherlands. Then he deals wit Read More

Abstract The German discussion about religious education focuses mainly on the question which discipline, apart from pedagogy, is most relevant to religious education: theology or the Study of Religion (Religionswissenschaft). In this article, however, it is suggested that this controversy ignores a more fundamental question: why and how can we explore religion with children in a scholarly way? The author argues that both theolo Read More

In this article, Tim Jensen, himself a former teacher of Religion in the Danish Grammar School (1981-1995), outlines the history of Religion, a non-confessional obligatory subject in the Danish Grammar School, as well as of the history of its now very close relations to the academic study of religions. Following the historical outline, Jensen draws a picture of the current aims and contents of Religion and of the related universit Read More

Abstract Despite the fact that there is no religious education in public secondary schools in France, there is a twenty-year-old public debate on the lack of religious knowledge among pupils and the need to provide them with more information to help them understand their cultural heritage and the multireligious societies they live in. What is the context of laïcité at school? What are the issues in religious education? How are religi Read More