The Representation of Religion in Religion Education: Notes from the South African Periphery
Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
Educ. Sci. 2018, 8(3), 146; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030146
Received: 24 July 2018 / Revised: 4 September 2018 / Accepted: 6 September 2018 / Published: 11 September 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue There is a Crack in Everything—Education and Religion in a Secular Age)
Scholars of Religion Education (RE) have promoted a non-confessional approach to the teaching of religions that explores and examines the religious history of humankind, with due attention paid to its complexity and plurality. In this promotion, the public representation of religion and its impact on RE has not received sufficient attention. An often hegemonic representation of religion constitutes an important part of religion in public life. Moreover, this article argues that this representation is a phenomenon shared by secular, secularizing, and deeply religious societies. It shows that a Western understanding of secularization has guided dominant RE visions and practices, informed by a particular mode of representation. As an illustration of how education in and representation of religion merges in RE, the article analyses the South African policy document for religion education. While the policy promotes RE as an educational practice, it also makes room for a representation of religion. This article urges that various forms of the representation of religion should be more carefully examined in other contexts, particularly by those who want to promote a non-confessional and pluralistic approach to RE.
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Keywords:
religion education; secularity; secularism; religion in public life; representation of religion
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MDPI and ACS Style
Tayob, A. The Representation of Religion in Religion Education: Notes from the South African Periphery. Educ. Sci. 2018, 8, 146. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030146
AMA Style
Tayob A. The Representation of Religion in Religion Education: Notes from the South African Periphery. Education Sciences. 2018; 8(3):146. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030146
Chicago/Turabian StyleTayob, Abdulkader. 2018. "The Representation of Religion in Religion Education: Notes from the South African Periphery" Educ. Sci. 8, no. 3: 146. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030146
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