A Kaleidoscopic Religious Education

Religious education is a cherished subject of mine and one in which considerable steps forward have to be done, especially with regards to the teaching of religious diversity.

To understand and teach system of beliefs, cultures, and philosophy of religions to students, one has to bear in mind that religion have kaleidoscopic formats. For instance, a Catholic from Northern France has developed an entirely different form of Catholicism than the one of Southern Italy. This means that Religious Education, when focusing on the philosophical and traditional aspects of religion should also emphasise the importance of religious practice of a same religion in different contexts, with the prospect of making the student aware that religions are not as homogeneous as one would think.

Moreover, Religious education has to be aware that the students on the receiving end have different conceptions on what it is to be religious.

The aim of Religious Education should be aimed, therefore, at weakening overarching religious theologies and at allowing students to be active in the learning process, through understanding the religious practice of their parents and relatives as the kernel of religion. To create debates in which religion is understood, not along the lines of Judeo-Christianity, but as a malleable entity which encapsulates the differences of opinions and of practice.

In short a religious education that stems from an intellectually guided student rather than from a rigid theory.