6. This is where dialogue comes
in…
First study -
Yablon, Y. B. (2010). Religion as a basis for
dialogue in peace education programs,
Cambridge Journal of Education, (40), 341-
351.
8. REDCo – 2006 - 2009
‘Religion in Education: a Contribution to Dialogue or a
Factor of Conflict in ‘Transforming Societies of
European Countries’
Mixed Methods Study
Eight European Nations
Quantitative survey based on Qualitative data
8,000 participants, not statistically representative but
sites chosen based on certain criteria developed by
the researchers.
9. Results:
Students want peace
Students believe religion is a key component
Religion and Dialogue
Students don’t want conflict
Students want to be safe
Students want religious studies not theology
10. References:
Jackson, R. (2011). Religion, education, dialogue and
conflict: editorial introduction. British Journal Of
Religious Education, 33(2), 105-109.
doi:10.1080/01416200.2011.545266
Yablon, Y. B. (2010). Religion as a basis for dialogue
in peace education programs. Cambridge Journal Of
Education, 40(4), 341-351.
doi:10.1080/0305764X.2010.526590
Weisse, W. (2010). "REDCo: A European Research
Project on Religion in Education." Religion &
Education 37 (3) : 187-202. Web.
Editor's Notes
I am currently a PH.D. student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia with a specialization in International Education with a secondary emphasis in Religious Studies. My country of focus is the United States, with emphasis on its public secondary schools.
The person that got me started was Dr. Diane Moore. I watched her speak a few years ago and when she brought up how woefully ignorant, not just U.S. public school students are regarding world religions but worldwide society and how this ignorance fuels the culture wars, promotes antagonism and bigotry not to mention violence, I thought to myself, this is it. When U.S. public schools are turning out students incapable of understanding worldwide societies and the role of religion within those societies, including their own, then we have done our students a disservice.
Religious Illiteracy. This combined with rhetoric like that coming from a certain Republican Presidential Candidate is a lethal combination towards an already sensitive situation not just here but worldwide. This makes my and arguably our jobs that much more difficult.
This happened this past December in a part of Virginia that my family and I visit frequently. Religious illiteracy in the U.S. combined with the high sensitivity in the U.S. regarding Islam can lead to events like this happening.
While my hope is for my work to mitigate what Galtung would term “cultural violence” among U.S. secondary students `Cultural violence' is defined here as any aspect of a culture that can be used to legitimize violence in its direct or structural form – The first article was a study done in Israel on the role of religion in intergroup relations. The audience was educators, policymakers and government officials. The study focused on positive aspects of including religion in intergroup relations because previous studies noted in the article focused on the destructive nature of religion in Jewish-Arab relations. The author is a Professor at Bar-Ilan University.
Keywords “Jews; Muslim; peace education; RCT and religion” were defined. One assumption was the role of religion as a common factor bringing people together from different groups to enhance peace (Yablon, 2010). Measurements were taken shortly after the intervention so it should not be assumed that these results are applicable in the long term. Implications for further research were based on the context of the study. One other limitation was that the study was done between students who identified themselves as Jewish and students who identified themselves as Muslim (Yablon, 2010).
The findings provided evidence within the Israeli context that adding religion into discussions between Jewish and Muslim eleventh graders facilitated positive intergroup relations. For further research; a similar study could be done between American students who identify as Christian and those who identify as Muslim. Also, a study could be done to measure the long- term impact of adding more religious elements to the United States public school curriculum at the secondary level.
Students involved in the study want peaceful coexistence across differences and think it is possible.
Students believe that peaceful coexistence depends on knowledge of religions, worldviews and sharing common interests.
The more knowledge about religions these students have the more willing they are to engage in conversations about these religions and beliefs.
Students want to avoid conflict
Students want to learn in a safe environment
Students want instruction about religions, not instruction into a particular religion
