This article discusses how Islamic religious education (IRE) can complement citizenship education by nurturing shared values and norms. The article first discusses the ideal of transformative citizenship in the context of Western liberal democracies as the dynamic interplay of four core dimensions: identity, legal status, participation, and…

This paper brings attention to the notion of 'religious affects', namely, the affects, emotions and feelings related to religion and religious experience. It is argued that educators and students have a lot to gain from paying attention to and exploring the meaning and role of religious feelings in the context of controversies and debates…

Many educational centers for instructing Muslim children in the principles of Islam and the Arabic language have been established in Europe. These centers are called weekend schools; students attend these schools on the weekend to learn the Holy Qur'an in addition to Arabic language skills. The current study aimed to examine the nature of these…

A strong current in contemporary Catholic thought -- the theology of interreligious or interfaith dialogue -- stresses the importance of dialogue and collaboration with followers of other world faiths. This article proposes that religious education in Catholic schools, particularly at post-primary level, needs to engage more with this theological…

Field visits to churches, mosques, temples or other buildings used by religious groups, are often valued by students of religious education as an opportunity to engage with the 'reality' of the subject: religions as they exist in the world. The Council of Europe text "Signposts" specifies field visits as an important contributor to the…

This article focuses on the reported experiences of Muslim students that regularly shift between Muslim 'supplementary education' (including its traditional confessional focus on learning to read Arabic and then memorise and recite the Qur'an) and mainstream school education (including its 'inclusive' form of religious education'). The aim has…

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…