An active discussion of the questions of the advisability of forming new principles of national unity and creating an orderly harmonious world in the minds of people, strengthening the educational functions of the state, its concern for public morality do not primarily concern education, humanization of its content, and revision of the educational…

This article investigates the normative logic and orientation of civic and religious education in seven countries in northern Europe. One main underlying argument is that public schooling must be generically regarded as a heavy functional contributor to the "soft" normative reproduction and validation of certain ethical and cultural…

In April 2010 a new school subject group called "Foundations of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" (FRCSE) was introduced as an experiment in selected regions of Russia. It consists of six subjects, or "modules." One module is "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" (FOC). This article examines FOC within the context of…

A new textbook in religious education is analysed, first, in comparison to earlier ones, and, second, with respect to its content and goals. The aim of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is threefold--to educate into religion, to foster the ethnic Russian identity and to make youngsters loyal to the state. Actually, the state rather than society is…

REDCo findings question the ideal of neutrality of the teacher on ethical, epistemological and didactical grounds showing in particular that the exposure of the teacher's personal commitments and beliefs stimulates students to participate in dialogue. The findings support hermeneutical approaches to the empirical studies in education showing that…

For a long time in Russia, education was conducted in isolation from any fundamental theological conceptions of the universe. However, religion not only harmoniously synthesized in itself the culture of the world and universal human values, it also served to mitigate the harsh influence of many social doctrines on the spiritual and moral…

These days, problems of relations between the church and the schools are at the focus of attention of sociologists. In present-day Russia, religion, particularly the Orthodox religion, is acknowledged to have the right to contribute to the formation of the Russian state and culture. According to the findings of recent sociological surveys, many…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 11th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 14-17 May 2013, and papers submitted to the 1st International Distance Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre "Scientific Cooperation,"…