Teaching Controversial Issues in Diverse Religious Education Classrooms
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3347817 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karin Kittelmann Flensner (0000-0002-5192-6327, University West, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 465 |
| Publication date | 2020-09-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel11090465 |
| OpenAlex | W3084184309 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 28 |
In educational contexts, certain issues are perceived as controversial, since they reflect conflicts of interest and reveal divergent views. This is especially evident in debates related to religion in societies regarding themselves as secular but whose population is multi-religious. The aim of this article is to analyse how some issues that are considered controversial in the public debate are represented in the teaching of non-denominational and integrative Religious Education in a Swedish multicultural classroom practice, where the majority of students have a Muslim cultural background. The ethnographic empirical material consists of classroom observations of Religious Education lessons in upper secondary school. The analysis is based on the debate about how controversial issues ought to be taught-as empirically or politically open/settled or in a directive/non-directive way. The results indicate that a number of issues-divergent interpretations of religious narratives and religiously motivated rules, holidays, views of forgiveness, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and abortion-were regarded as open political issues in classroom practice and these were taught in an open, non-directive way. Issues represented as settled were value-oriented issues related to female genital mutilation, forced marriage and child marriage and gender equality. The arguments supporting these values were mainly rooted in religion
Directive · Ethnography · Geography · Islam · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Population · Religious education · Religious values · Sociology · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Gender Studies · Jewish Identity and Society · Law · Religious Education and Schools
Is Discussing Controversial Issues in RE a Magic Bullet to Promote Social Cohesion? Mapping Opportunities and Challenges Based on Previous Research
Learning to Judge Religious Conflicts
Mångfald och sekularitet i religionskunskapsundervisning
Controversial issues in social study subjects
Democratic education and the teaching of controversial issues in polarising times
Using forum theatre to address homosexuality as a controversial issue in religious education
Ethnographic Research in Educational Settings
What Should We Teach as Controversial? A Defense of the Epistemic Criterion
Sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom
What is a controversial issue? Implications for the treatment of religious beliefs in education
Why Are Danes And Swedes So Irreligious
Evolution education
Democracy and Social Justice in Sarajevo’s Schools
Where are You?’ Giving Voice to the Teacher by Reclaiming the Private/Public Distinction
Dealing with difference in the divided educational context
Teaching and Learning about Controversial Issues
Deciding What Is a Controversial Issue
Citizenship education in divided societies
Super-diversity and its implications
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |