An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion’s place in the social studies

Abstract

An introduction to this special issue of Social Studies Research and Practice on religion's place in the social studies Religion's presence permeates across the globe influencing millions of people on a daily basis. Politicians use religion to shape policy, families use religion to celebrate customs and millions of other individuals use religion on a daily basis to both find solace and guide them in their decision making. Religion is everywhere and impacts the lives of all human across the globe. Citizens from all countries and of all backgrounds need to be exposed to various religions from an early age so they have better chances of developing into citizens who can effectively participate in our global pluralistic society that heavily relies on religion to function.No more viable place exists for exposure to the world's wide range of religions than in the pre-Kindergarten-12 classroom. Despite the often-homogenous nature of many classrooms, such environments frequently offer students more diversity in terms of views and beliefs than do students' families, religious institutions, sports teams or friend groups (Gutmann, 1999;Hess, 2004). The classroom, therefore, has the potential to provide students with opportunities to learn about and speak with individuals of different religious backgrounds in a controlled and supportive environment.Within the context of the K-12 school system, there perhaps exists no content area better suited to engage students in inquiry and experiences with diverse viewpoints on various religions than the social studies. The social studies is essential to a powerful curriculum given all of the opportunities it provides students to understand the world around them through conversations on culture, current issues and events and the ways in which humans interact (Parker, 2015). Further, the social studies aim to promote reform-oriented, tolerant citizens capable of entering into a democratic, pluralistic society (NCSS, 2014).Despite the potential to engage students in discussions on religion (and other forms of culture) teachers in both the social studies and in other content areas more often than not choose to avoid the inclusion of religion into their pedagogical practice. Avoidance occurs for a variety of reasons includingthough certainly not limited toa fear of offending students or parents, a lack of knowledge regarding specific religions or concern about showing bias (Marks et al., 2014;Moore, 2012). Avoiding speaking about religion does a disservice to students and, subsequently, society as it can perpetuate a consistent problem of ignorance, intolerance and misinformation regarding various religions (Moore).Though research exists on the place of religion in education, there is limited scholarship exploring religion's place in both the social studies classroom and the preparation of social studies educators. This special issue seeks to explore these topics by collecting and disseminating work from scholars and practitioners within the field of social studies education. To that end, the...