Numerous initiatives, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Race and Values in Education process of the Department of Education, the government-initiated (but now civic-led) Moral Regeneration Movement and the pervasive indigenous African philosophy of "ubuntu" have, over the past twelve years since South Africa's…

This article argues that the emergence of the era of terrorism, fuelled in part by a form of Wahhabist Islam, impels a religious education imperative of improving understanding about Islam, both in terms of the historical roots with Judaism and Christianity, as well as ongoing conflict between the three traditions. On this basis, this article…

This article examines the theological perspective known as Body Theology in order to reflect on its implications for how we do religious education. Part one provides a summary of the viewpoint s basic arguments and part two both suggests broad pedagogical implications and offers examples of specific instructional practices directly generated from…

This article examines phenomena of late modern religiosity that have been called a "return of the sacred", especially in relation to the life experience and religious experience of adolescents. The article starts with information about recent pilot studies within religious education, and moves on to evaluate developmental theories as well as ideas…

The thesis of this article is that teaching through oral history cultivates a spirit for justice and peace, as well as knowledge and skills that contribute to that spirit. The authors examine periodical literature focused on justice and peace education and analyze a course taught through oral history. Both the literature and case study yield…

Whereas educational research has provided evidence that students' characteristics affect their performance, at this stage little is known about which characteristics influence their learning processes and achievement in religious education. This article looks into characteristics that influence students' cognitive achievement in religious…

As countries' populations become more religiously diverse, a need to review the religious education syllabus that operates is often perceived. One such country is Zambia, which was not only traditionally religiously diverse but has become even more so with the advent of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and other non-African faiths. This article…

Based on interviews and surveys of two groups of lay pastoral leaders at one predominantly African-American Catholic Parish, this qualitative study explores the "learning organization" dynamics of the congregation based Peter Senge's (1990) description of the five disciplines of learning organizations (personal mastery, shared vision,…

This article examines the application of a recent interpretive trend in the field of gender studies to the study of Talmudic texts as well as its potential role in the teaching of Talmudic literature. It explores what kind of contribution we can make to our students' education in seminaries and Jewish Day schools when we open our texts up to…

The aim of this paper is to articulate a new "post-liberal" paradigm for religious education in Britain. As criticisms of British religious education have mounted over the last few decades, it is becoming increasingly obvious that familiar inherited ways of conceptualising the nature and practice of religious education in schools are…

This article reports on an investigation into the retention of secondary religious education teachers trained at one institution over a ten-year period. The initial hypothesis was that many of these teachers would no longer be teaching, or would no longer be teaching religious education. However, the authors found that a high percentage of…

This article evaluates the portrait of faith development theory and research in James Fowler's article,"Faith Development at 30." Questions are raised: Does Fowler's emphasis on the practical-theological and pastoral focus of faith development contradict its aspiration and disposition for empirical scrutiny? Does Fowler's principal concern with…

For over 30 years official disapproval of confessional approaches to religious education in community (formerly county) schools has been the norm. However such forms of religious education persist. Some arguments put forward in favour of non- confessional religious education are now shown to be weak. Confessional religious education is now thought…

In the final decades of the twentieth century there was a considerable increase in the scale of religious education in Russia. Inasmuch as the targets of influence of religious institutions are citizens of Russia who profess a particular religion, the activities of the institutions have to be carried out on the basis of laws in force in Russia, in…

The small-scale study focuses on a number of Muslim parents and practitioners who have rejected local primary community schools in favour of Muslim faith schooling. The rejection of the type of schools that we support and that we train our student teachers to prepare for prompts considerable concern. This concern has led us to question in what…