As a result of secularisation and increasing religious diversity, several European nation have states adapted their policy with regard to the organisation of Religious Education (RE) (or its equivalent) in state schools (schools funded and established by the state). In this article, different strategies will be outlined and evaluated: (1) the…

"Life Design-Ethics-Religion Studies" (LER) is the only non-confessional form of religious education (RE) in Germany. Six years after German reunification, the federal state of Brandenburg introduced LER with its dimension of non-confessional RE into the school curriculum. In this contribution, LER will be elucidated in three steps.…

The Canadian province of Alberta runs a unique school system that offers ten options for school plurality and choice, nine of which provide some form of faith-based schooling. This article argues that Alberta has created a pragmatic version of a "pluriform school system." This system breaks with the assumption, shared by many Christian…

Interreligious education has been a concern over the past few decades and continues to be a challenge. This article will review ways in which religious education has attempted to face the issue of education for increasingly multifaith societies. It identifies objectivity in religion as a major concern and will provide a perspective based on the…

The process of teaching world religions is fraught with dispositional and pedagogical concerns for pre-service teachers. To address these issues, middle grades pre-service teachers were asked to integrate an inquiry-based approach while considering their own histlexia, which we define as an inability to articulate positions. The findings of this…

The disestablishment clause of the U.S. Constitution has led educators in the United States to establish guidelines about addressing religion in the classroom. As a basic rule, districts have allowed teaching about religion without encouraging or supporting a particular religion. This article suggests that patriotism and patriotic expressions are,…

Scholarship programs authored by state legislatures may conflict with a state's constitution. In the case of "Locke v. Davey" 540 U.S. 807 (2003), Joshua Davey challenged the State of Washington's withdrawal of his Promise Scholarship claiming violation of his First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. This…

Religious pluralism led to the colonies' separation of church and state by 1776, to Mann's campaign for common schooling, and to the complete secularization of public schools by 1900. The dependence of Western theology upon untenable Greek metaphysics justifies an explanation that the evolutionary purpose of religion was to promote personal…

Many religious-studies professors consider personal references to one's own faith to be out of place in an academic context. However, the author contends that students nowadays need to know what a professor thinks, including what he believes about some matter of faith, if the comments compare his position with other possibilities and invite…

In this article, the author describes how throughout her academic career she has tried to answer the question "What should the appropriate place be for religion in the public schools of a liberal, pluralistic, democratic state?" The view the author embraces is that taking religion seriously in schools also means taking the purpose(s) of public…

Religion plays an important role in social studies content and is difficult to ignore, especially because of current world events. In our global society, it is more important than ever to know about and understand the religious beliefs of others. The social studies curriculum is infused with religion, but teachers circumvent the issue, mistakenly…

In China, from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, it was thought that religion would disappear with the development of society and the freedom not to believe in religion was stressed. During the Cultural Revolution religion became the object of oppression. However, from the end of the…

The proper relation between religion and public schooling is addressed in this paper which reviews the secular humanist position and recommends ways to pursue the study of religion in classrooms. This dual purpose is achieved through the following process: (1) reconstruction of an empirical-naturalistic image of reality (Image 1); (2) construction…

Describes appropriate school district policies and procedures in light of two U.S. Supreme Court religion-in-schools decisions: "Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe" and "The Good News Club v. Milford Central School." (PKP)

Describes religious illiteracy among undergraduate students. Examines high school textbooks in United States and world history, economics, home economics, and biology. Finds religion almost completely ignored. Argues that the religious neutrality mandated by the Supreme Court effectively eradicates religion from the curriculum. Suggests a new test…