This study aims to investigate the challenges of developing character education based on Islamic pluralism in the curriculum of Modern Islamic Boarding Schools in the Pandemic era. The research location is the modern Islamic boarding school Gontor in East Java Province. The qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach examines five…

Recently, national populist politics has been translated with the emergence of two overlapping narratives of Islamophobia and anti-EU immigration media discourses. Such discourses have been made highly visible in the increased spike in hate crimes that have been a hidden cost of the national(ist) debate about Britain leaving the European Union…

The purpose of this article is to describe with examples what kind of challenges there are in the handling of religion in public school. This is done with case examples from interactions between teachers and Somali Muslim pupils and guardians in a school. The school is located in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and has 350 pupils in grades 1-6. The…

After illustrating the joys of teaching religious studies abroad with an anecdote from my trip to China, I warn of some of its inherent pedagogical and ethical challenges. I argue that teaching some of the "new directions" in religious studies scholarship might address these challenges. These include a turning away from the abstract…

This article aims to analyze the views and teachings of Islam and the Islamic religion in order to determine the requirements of interaction and media use. This article is of qualitative kind and content analysis approach and has done based on the study of Islamic texts and sources associated with the media. Because of the multiplicity and…

Increasing numbers of Australians identify with a multiplicity of religion groups or have no religious affiliation. Despite this, the representation of religious groups other than Christian--and the implications of this for anti-racist pedagogy in Australian schools--is seldom explored. This article interrogates the ways in which the most…

This qualitative study aimed to develop theory about psychological constructs relevant to spiritual development in diverse adolescents. Exemplar and Consensual Qualitative Research methods were used to explore 30 interviews of adolescents aged 12 to 21 years ("M" = 17.73 years) representing eight religions and six countries from around…

This study describes the use of literacy--including the written word--in the maintenance and practice of Lukumí, a Diasporic African spiritual tradition. While Lukumí is decidedly orally transmitted, the written word is still a critical part of its contemporary practice. Relying on data collected during participant observation of ceremonies and…

Tourism at historic religious sites requires balancing the needs of historic preservation, the tourist experience, and community use of the site. The sacredness of these places is defined by the behaviors that occur there, the experience of users and visitors, and the meanings associated with the place by various groups. This research examines the…

In its effort to provide solid religious foundation for Muslim students, the Ministry of Education Malaysia has launched a national religious literacy initiative known as the j-QAF Programme in 2004. This programme has since been implemented in public primary schools throughout the country and incorporated as a part of the curriculum of studies.…

Using Jack Goody and Ian Watt's theory of literacy as a normalizing agent, I show how the presence of the English language and "English Only" values and policies have affected the Amish and their home language, Pennsylvania Dutch, and their religious language, "High" German. These changes are seen as detrimental to the Amish…

This dissertation manuscript reports on a study that explored the ways in which the focal children in three Muslim immigrant families enacted identity by way of literacy practice. This study set out to construct a better understanding of Muslim American immigrant families by providing a "thick description" of their identity performance…

In this article the authors examine the reasons for the establishment of Hindu schools in the Netherlands and how the Dutch system of education facilitates these and other voluntarily separate schools. In particular, the authors explore the manner in which Hindu schools aim to cultivate and sustain attachments to their own group through a…

Religious categorisation occurs at enrolment in Australian state-run (public) primary schools, with children segregated into religious instruction classes during their first week. Lesson content has no government oversight and, in some schools, options are limited to Christianity. The effect of this categorisation on children's attitudes to…

Voluntary religious conversion is a topic of great interest and fascination. However, this fascination is increased when the religion is Islam and the convert is female. Through the use of three in-depth interviews, this research hopes to answer the following questions: how much does a dissatisfaction with typical British individualism contribute…