This article proposes the notion of 'worldliness' as a necessary companion to the Religion and Worldviews curriculum. We posit that an understanding of 'worldliness', grounded in empirical research, in which the individual negotiates commitments to one's home (filial) and host (affilial) communities, is pedagogically relevant and heuristically…

The purpose of this study is to explore whether happiness is the ultimate goal of higher education. In order to discuss this article systematically, four research questions are addressed. First, what are the concepts and principles of happiness in terms of religion and philosophy? Second, what are significant factors of happiness? Third, what are…

Quebec's Ethics and Religious Culture program (ERC) requires teachers to adopt a professional stance of pedagogical impartiality. This article examines the complex regulatory framework surrounding the impartiality requirement from the perspectives of teachers' legally recognized right to professional autonomy, their constitutional rights to…

In this article, the author John Volk, professor of Worldview Studies at Renaissance College, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, looks forward toward the November 2017 Religious Education Association Conference, which is entitled "Learning in Encounter: Crossroads, Connections, Collaborations", and says that…

Despite the increased trend towards secularisation in state schooling, issues of religion and spirituality have remained important. Increased pluralism within societies through expanding migration patterns is changing the religious and cultural contours of many countries in Europe and North America, and is creating a need for a deeper…

In 1874, 6000 Old Colony Mennonites, an ethno-religious minority sect, immigrated to the Canadian prairies from Russia, after negotiating a charter of privileges with the federal government. Chief among these freedoms was the right to educate their children without government interference. Between 1890 and 1922, tensions mounted between the…

Despite the increased trend towards secularization in state schooling, issues of religion and spirituality have remained important. Increased pluralism within societies through expanding migration patterns is changing the religious and cultural contours of many countries in Europe and North America, and is creating a need for a deeper…

This article focuses on the need for dialogue in the form of a "third space" for multi-faith realities. In exploring the idea of a "third space," the author draws on the use of the term borrowed from Homi Bahha. Third space, as it is defined in the context of this article, understands the complexities of hybridity, or multiple…

In 2008 Quebec introduced a new ethics and religious culture course. This marks a significant development in Canadian education as the mandated curriculum is intended for use in publically funded secular schools. In the past such courses have been in the domain of denominational schools. This new approach is examined in the context of the profound…

What opportunities and challenges are presented to religious education across the globe by the basic human right of freedom of religion and belief? To what extent does religious education facilitate or inhibit "freedom of religion" in schools? What contribution can religious education make to freedom in the modern world? This volume…

The purpose of this article is to compare the teaching of religion in government-run primary and secondary educational institutions in Poland and Canada (Ontario and Quebec). The theoretical framework for this work is supplied by the general idea that the school is an organization and social institution. It is concluded that religious instruction…

Replies to a number of criticisms by Tom Settle, Hugh Lacey, Michael Poole, Brian Woolnough, John Wren-Lewis, and Harold Turner in a series of comments on the authors' paper entitled "Is Religious Education Compatible with Science Education?" Offers counterarguments and clarifies certain misunderstandings to show that these criticisms…

Focuses on the school's role in transmitting Canada's Christian culture. States that Christianity has been the dominant religion of Canada for centuries and is part of the very fabric of the country. Ponders questions such as (1) When ethnic and religious pluralism exists, should the schools transmit Christian heritage as part of Canadian culture?…

Challenges the claims made by Mahner and Bunge that science and religion are incompatible and that a religious education hinders the development of a scientific cast of mind. Presents a philosophically superior way of viewing the relation between science and religion which can have a humane influence upon how both science and religion are taught.…

This issue includes a syllabus for a world religions course from the Windsor Board of Education, Ontario; a teacher's experience in developing a world religions course in Cathedral Girls' High School, Ontario; and a rationale for teaching philosophy in the high school. (JH)