RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY Sharing experiences of and approaches to teacher education in the context of “Education and Training 2020” (ET 2020) Erasmus Project

Project Title

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

Sharing experiences of and approaches to teacher education
in the context of “Education and Training 2020” (ET 2020)

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Ethics, religion and philosophy (incl. Inter-religious dialogue)

Project Summary

In contemporary European societies children grow up and form their identities in a world of diversity and plurality. Together with the increasing number of multi-faith classrooms, this emphasises the need to equip prospective teachers and teacher educators, and thereby also pupils, with adequate interreligious and intercultural skills and competences that allow them to navigate such complex and diverse contexts and cope with the resulting implications for individual life-styles. Subjects like Religious Education (RE) or Ethics play an important role in facilitating the discussion of these issues and offering answers and explanations. RE in public schools in Europe is designed in many ways. Each country’s respective situation and form of organization differs significantly for mainly historical reasons. Despite the different contexts, an increasingly widespread discussion about the possible future of RE is taking place. These discussions, however, are rarely linked together and have not yet reached the level of teacher education and training. Future religion teachers are normally only rather superficially familiar with the situation of RE (and related subjects) in other European countries and thus insufficiently prepared for a joint European perspective. In addition, RE is faced with a growing religious and ideological diversity of pupils and stakeholders alike across the entire European area. Current changes to the curricula and school structure, as well as wider debates on religion in the public sphere, have produced noticeable controversy about the place of RE in schools, how it should be delivered and what young people should be taught.

In the three-year Erasmus+ project “Religious Education and Diversity – Sharing experiences of and approaches to teacher education in the context of ‘Education and Training 2020’ (READY)”, teacher training institutions in Austria, England, Germany, Scotland and Sweden explored the topic ‘Religion and Diversity’ in two respects: the mutual exchange of diverse forms of Religious Education and the variety of approaches to subject teaching and learning, in which the question of religious heterogeneity has been considered and discussed. The results were examined and proposals for teaching Religion and Diversity in Europe have been published.

A main target group of the project was teacher trainees for Religious Education. The project began with a structured online communication between teacher trainees from different European countries. As a pilot project the online platform eTwinning of the European Commission was used to document these exchanges. Guidelines for online communication were developed that may also be helpful for other projects. The process also lead to the development of educational modules on ‘Religion and Diversity’ exchanged between the teacher education institutions. At the same time, profile descriptions of the situation of religion teacher education in the participating countries were exchanged, an interactive READY website was set up and linked with activities on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Through these communication tools promising activities started for unfolding the diversity of RE across Europe, and also a guideline for one-week study visits was developed.

In the second year of the project, groups of teacher educators and trainee teachers observed RE lessons in a European partner country for a week and held discussions with trainee teachers, pupils and stakeholders responsible for RE. Visits and exchanges happened between Tübingen and Aberdeen, between Vienna and London and also in a trilateral setting between Karlstad, Vienna and London. These experiences were analysed and documented. In parallel to these exchanges, local model RE lessons on “Religion and Diversity” were systematically evaluated and their delivery in the classroom was also partly videotaped. The pupils were encouraged to establish eTwinning contacts with an RE class in a partner country and in this way deepen their knowledge and experience of religious diversity across Europe. READY workshops happened as part of regional, national and international conferences.

From the very beginning, the entire project has been designed to achieve broad dissemination and a long-term impact, which has been facilitated by the experience, expertise, contacts and structures of the Comenius Institute Münster. This includes, inter alia, a READY Newsletter, an interactive READY website, two national study days in Tübingen and London, a two-day multiplier conference in Vienna as well as a printed publication with the story of the project and its main outcomes.

READY focussed mainly on issues of didactics and pedagogy. The results of the project can, however, also be used by stakeholders and decision makers of state, churches and other religious communities.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 267746 Eur

Project Coordinator

Staatliches Seminar für Didaktik und Lehrerbildung (Gymnasien) & Country: DE

Project Partners

• THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN
• Comenius-Institut Evangelische Arbeitsstätte für Erziehungswissenschaft e.V.
• UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
• KIRCHLICHE PADAGOGISCHE HOCHSCHULE WIEN
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO
• KARLSTADS UNIVERSITET