Towards a Methodology for Comparative Studies in Religious Education

A Study of England and Norway
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-3-8309-7887-9
Verlag: Waxmann Verlag GmbH
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 231 Seiten

In this book Oddrun M. H. Bråten set out to utilise and test her methodology for comparative religious education. This synthesises two sets of ideas. The first includes supranational, national and subnational processes. Formal supranational processes refer to international (educational) policymaking in international organisations. Informal supranational processes include secularisation, pluralisation and globalisation. Subnational processes refer to variations between regions within a country. The second set of ideas concerns the societal, institutional, instructional and experiential levels of curriculum. They are affected by supranational, national and subnational processes. In discussing the societal level, attention needs to be given to the histories of religion, state and school in each country. Research at the institutional level involves analysis of relevant policy documents and legislation in each country, while research at the instructional level involves analysis of how teachers interpret, plan and teach the curriculum, while the experiential level researches how students interact with one-another and with teachers to develop their understanding. A third set of ideas includes Bråten's use of Schiffauer and collaborators' concepts of social/national imaginary and civil enculturation. These concepts help in grasping the historical and sociological depth of national traditions. This publication is a groundbreaking study in the methodology of comparative religious education and the author won the award for Outstanding Research Student of 2009-2010 in the field of education at the University of Warwick.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Buchtitel;1
2;Foreword;5
3;Contents;10
4;Acknowledgments;14
5;Abstract;15
6;Abbreviations;16
7;1. Introduction;19
7.1;1.1 A systematic approach to comparative studies in Religious Education;19
7.2;1.2 The cases: RE in England and Norway;20
7.3;1.3 Different school systems;23
7.4;1.4 Scope and limitations;24
7.5;1.5 Main research questions;25
7.6;1.6 Summary and Conclusion;26
8;2. Towards a Methodology for Comparative Religious Education;27
8.1;2.1 Introduction;27
8.2;2.2 Comparative studies in related fields;27
8.3;2.3 Pioneering work in the field of RE;32
8.4;2.4 Challenges in comparative studies in RE;35
8.5;2.5 Methodological considerations;38
8.6;2.6 Is this a new methodology?;40
8.7;2.7 National imaginaries and supranational processes;40
8.8;2.8 Three dimensions in comparative studies;42
8.9;2.9 The supranational dimension;45
8.10;2.10 A template for comparative studies in RE;50
8.11;2.11 Summary and Conclusion;52
9;3. Societal Level: Themes within Academic Debates about Religious Education in England and Norway;54
9.1;3.1 Introduction;54
9.2;3.2 The contribution of ‘secular’ religious studies to the development of multifaith approaches to RE in England and Norway;55
9.3;3.3 The institutional basis for RE research;61
9.4;3.4 Can we talk about ‘traditions’ for pedagogy of RE?;63
9.5;3.5 The reading of two ‘power texts’ by looking for characteristics of academic debate in England and Norway;67
9.6;3.6 The supranational dimension in academic debates on RE today;77
9.7;3.7 Summary and conclusion;80
10;4. Institutional Level: Legal and Policy Developments in England and Norway;81
10.1;4.1 Introduction;81
10.2;4.2 The Legal Framework;81
10.3;4.3 Laws regulating RE in state schools;82
10.4;4.4 Laws regulating the right to opt out;85
10.5;4.5 The Norwegian law suits;86
10.6;4.6 Religion in laws regarding schooling in general;87
10.7;4.7 Comparative discussion on legal issues;88
10.8;4.8 Introducing QCA 2004 and UD 2005;93
10.9;4.9 QCA 2004;94
10.10;4.10 UD 2005;96
10.11;4.11 Comparative remarks regarding layout and structure;98
10.12;4.12 The place in the school curricula;99
10.13;4.13 Comparative points;100
10.14;4.14 Structure and content of RE in England and Norway exemplified through QCA 2004 and UD 2005;101
10.15;4.15 Comparative discussion regarding structure and content;106
10.16;4.16 Concluding discussion;108
10.17;4.17 Summary and Conclusion;112
11;5. Religious Education in Practice:Introduction to Case Studies from England and Norway;113
11.1;5.1 Introduction;113
11.2;5.2 Representation and national imaginaries;113
11.3;5.3 Different styles of civility in the school systems;116
11.4;5.4 Characteristics of the schools;121
11.5;5.5 Location of the schools and characteristics of the school populations;124
11.6;5.6 Do classroom activities reflect different national styles?;125
11.7;5.8 Reflecting on the empirical studies in the methodology;134
11.8;5.9 Summary and Conclusion;136
12;6. Instructional Level: Teachers’ Perspectives;137
12.1;6.1 Introduction;137
12.2;6.2 The teachers and their contexts;138
12.3;6.3 Describing their school and its RE;139
12.4;6.4 Aims of RE;141
12.5;6.5 The importance of RE;142
12.6;6.6 National aims and local adjustments;146
12.7;6.7 Text books and schemes of work;148
12.8;6.8 Content of teaching;150
12.9;6.9 Social enculturation gives nationally distinctive patterns in teaching?;152
12.10;6.10 Learning about and from religion;153
12.11;6.11 Reflecting on multifaith RE as integrative RE;156
12.12;6.12 Is RE creating otherness?;158
12.13;6.13 How is ‘Norwegianness’ and ‘Englishness’ imagined?;159
12.14;6.14 Summary and conclusion;160
13;7. Experiential Level: Pupils’ Perspectives;164
13.1;7.1 Introduction;164
13.2;7.2 The pupils and their context;165
13.3;7.3 Which modernities?;168
13.4;7.4 Aims of RE;172
13.5;7.5 Content of learning;175
13.6;7.6 What can explain the difference in quality of factual knowledge?;176
13.7;7.7 Religion in Britain? Norwegian religion?;178
13.8;7.8 Learning about and from religion;181
13.9;7.9 What kind of imaginary would be inclusive?;184
13.10;7.10 Summary and conclusion;187
14;8. Concluding Discussion;190
14.1;8.1 Introduction;190
14.2;8.2 A systematic approach to comparative RE;190
14.3;8.3 Is this a general model, a template for comparative studies?;191
14.4;8.4 Obstacles and limitations;193
14.5;8.5 Results: Examples of findings;194
14.6;8.6 Different national styles;196
14.7;8.7 Inclusive RE and construction of otherness;200
14.8;8.8 Summary and conclusion;205
15;Appendix 1: Interview Schedules;208
16;Appendix 2: Norwegian Legal Texts;213
17;Appendix 3: The Teachers’ Educational Backgrounds;217
18;References;219