{"title":"Church School Students’ Narratives on Their Schools and the Hidden Curricular Effects","authors":"Eszter Kodácsy-Simon, Etelka Seres-Busi","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231152","url":null,"abstract":"The particular atmosphere of church schools in Hungary is an exciting field of research. Of special interest is the question as to how students perceive their schools, what image they construct of them, and what they think about its purposes and hidden messages. In our exploratory research, we conducted 37 student interviews, followed by content analysis, during which we identified “diversity” as a core concept with multiple associations. Diversity was frequently mentioned in relation to different aspects of school life, but was also discussed as an important reference point in connection with their experience of faith. Diversity is also a personal resource for students when they reflect on specifically relevant and sensitive issues in their lives. This paper presents a conceptual web of diversity identified as a core concept in the students’ narratives.","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139585412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Engaging in a Secularized Public Sphere – a Possible Qur’anic Perspective?","authors":"Sara Rahman","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231154","url":null,"abstract":"For Habermas, social cohesion in liberal democratic societies is created and ensured by public discourse, which creates and regulates democratic virtues through non-hierarchical communication in which all citizens participate equally. According to the understanding of post-secularism, this public discourse must be secular. This requires religious citizens to translate religious arguments into secular ones in public discourse. However, it remains an open question to what extent religious citizens in plural societies can or want to participate in such a communication process based on their religious self-understanding. In this article, an attempt will be made to investigate this question, at least within the Islamic faith tradition. A Qur’anic narrative will be examined for possible indications of how the Qur’an conceives communication with those of different worldviews. The analyzed narrative reveals perspectives of understanding from which remarkable contributions to social cohesion can be derived.","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139585260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning to Judge Religious Conflicts: A Model of Religious Judgement Competence for RE","authors":"Frederike Gabelt","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231151","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In times of increasing polarisation and fragmentation in societies, the ability to form a judgement gain in importance. Judgement competence is, therefore, one of the key competencies that students at German schools should develop. In <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">RE</span>, however, teachers often avoid addressing religious conflicts that disrupt social cohesion. This is due to the circumstance, that it is widely undefined in <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">RE</span> didactics, what is to be learned and tested in terms of judgement competence. Moreover, there is limited knowledge on how to empirically measure such competence.</p>","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139408153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diagnostic Competencies of Religious Education Teachers – Requirements and Challenges","authors":"Annalena Sieveke","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231153","url":null,"abstract":"<p><em>Assessing</em> and <em>supporting</em> are, in addition to teaching, educating and innovating, core competencies of teaching professionals. Particularly in the field of didactics of mathematics and educational sciences an increased interest in the conceptualization of diagnostic competencies of teachers has emerged in recent years. In contrast, research on diagnostic competencies of <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">RE</span> teachers is still limited to few conceptual approaches (Reis, 2018, 194) and requires further investigation.</p><p>This contribution sharpens domain-specific challenges of diagnostic competencies of <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">RE</span> teachers based on the concept of formative Assessment. In view of current research findings of educational sciences challenges of assessment in <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">RE</span> such as the epistemological structure of religious knowledge in assessment tasks and questions to elicit student thinking and <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">RE</span> teachers’ professional reflection in formative assessment processes are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139408150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Religion, Ecology and Human Flourishing","authors":"Francis-Vincent Anthony","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231141","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract During the past six decades, there has been an ever-growing awareness of the global ecological crisis threatening human survival. Concern for the future of human life has led to the necessity of upholding environmental rights and sustainable development. As in the case of other human rights, obligations of the state that derive from these need to be complemented by civic engagements, and sustained by shared values in the societal sphere. The question that we raise is if religions can play a significant role in favouring environmental rights, civil engagements and environmental care, given that in varied ways religious traditions appeal to the interdependence of divine-human-cosmic realities. The empirical research that we undertook in the multi-religious context of Tamil Nadu, India, seeks to verify if the religious identity of the senior secondary school students and college students has some influence on their attitude towards environmental obligations, engagements and care. The results show that senior school students are highly sensitive to state’s obligations and civil engagements, but their religious affiliation does not seem to influence it. Instead, college students manifest strong agreement to environmental care, with Hindus displaying higher sensitivity. Besides, variables such as transformative function of religion, religious pluralism, human dignity, and empathy have favourable association with environmental care for Christians, Muslims and Hindus. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of the predictors for eco-education.","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135874031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards an ‘Eco-Theo-Logy’","authors":"Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231145","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The paper seeks to draw the contours of an “Eco-Theo-Logy” in the context of the unprecedented crisis of our Common Home and with special reference to Laudato Si’ , Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical on creation care. An “eco” theology would begin with the sense of awe and gratitude for Earth, our unique common planetary home blessed with the gift of life, and listen attentively to the growing “cry of the Earth and of the poor” ( Laudato Si’ , 49). Secondly, it seeks to articulate anew the theological understanding of an ‘in-carnate’ God, a God who enters human and cosmic vicissitudes and manifests in the pangs of creation. It also strives to a religious vision of the natural world as the “Gospel of creation”. Thirdly, it’s time to re-imagine the logos component of an eco-theo-logy, embracing an integral and relational approach, raising a prophetic theological voice in the face of profound inequalities and injustices that exist in our one common household, and adopting a decisively practice/action orientation.","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135874032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Religion, Ecology and Human Flourishing: Institutional and Personal Dimensions of Religiosity and Current Societal Challenges","authors":"Francis-Vincent Anthony, Lluis Oviedo","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20230361","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20230361","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135874033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human Rights Education and Religious Education: Design-based Research on Integrating HRE into RE Teacher Education","authors":"Franziska M. Trefzer, Manfred L. Pirner","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231159","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper explicates the conceptual background, design and first results of the empirical research project “ The Rights of the Child and the School Subject of Religious Education ” that aims to integrate children’s rights into RE as well as into RE teacher education with a design-based research ( DBR ) approach. It starts by claiming a central significance of human rights for humanity and social cohesion in society and the world and therefore also for school education. It continues to clarify the relationship between human rights values and religious values and argues for a special potential and obligation of RE for promoting human rights and children’s rights – which is to date only partly fulfilled in German RE . Building upon this, the sub-project “ Human Rights Education for Religious Educators ” ( HRE4RE ) is introduced. This research demonstrates that it is necessary to establish human rights and children’s rights education for student teachers of RE , in order for them to be able to adequately integrate children’s rights perspectives into school culture as well as into RE for generations to come.","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136361793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Debated issues in the Church of England: The Roles of Theology and Psychology","authors":"A. Village","doi":"10.1163/15709256-20231170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231170","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper tests whether or not psychological type preferences predicted the extent of liberal versus conservative attitudes towards a range of controversial moral issues among 3,515 clergy and laity from the Church of England who took part in the 2013 Church Times survey. Summated rating scales were produced from Likert items related to four different issues: same-sex relationships, the ordination of women, divorce and remarriage, and cohabitation. After allowing for general theological stance, psychological type preferences for sensing over intuition and thinking over feeling were significantly associated with more conservative attitudes. For theological liberals, sensing types had slightly more conservative moral attitudes, on average, than did intuitive types, but there was no difference among theological conservatives. For theological conservatives, thinking types had slightly more conservative moral attitudes, on average, than did feeling types, but there was no difference among theological liberals.","PeriodicalId":42786,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49395806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}