Emerging relationships between religious education and citizenship education: teachers’ perceptions and political dilemmas in Cyprus

The politicisation and securitisation of religious education in Greek–Cypriot schools

“…The six participants were selected with the use of snowball sampling on the basis of four criteria: geographic area (urban/rural); gender; teaching experience; and religious standing (Christian Orthodox believer/atheist) (see Table 1). These criteria of ‘purposive sampling’ reflected our experience of working with teachers on these matters for many years (Loukaidis and Zembylas, 2017; Zembylas and Loukaidis, 2018) to ensure that there was maximum variability in their views of religious education.…”

“…The politicisation and securitisation of a sensitive subject such as RE, then, seems inevitable in conflict-affected societies; what needs to be explored empirically is how schools and teachers engage with (or not) peace and security issues and with what implications. 3 Our previous research has shown some of the tensions that exist in teachers’ perceptions of RE, particularly between the desire to encourage mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence, on the one hand, and the political demands for entrenching ethnic cleavages, on the other (Zembylas and Loukaidis, 2018; Zembylas et al, 2018). Our discussion in this paper builds on this work, focusing in particular on teachers’ perceptions and pedagogical practices about RE in relation to teaching about issues of peace and conflict.…”

“…Thus, generally speaking, RE aims at providing some basic religious literacy to students and supporting them in developing their ethno-religious identity by teaching mainly Greek Orthodoxy (Loukaidis, 2017). However, in practical terms, RE in the Greek–Cypriot educational system still remains largely confessional, as most of the curriculum units promote the Greek Orthodox content or the issues covered take on the Greek Orthodox orientation, taking for granted that all students believe or have to believe in Greek Orthodox doctrines and traditions (Zembylas and Loukaidis, 2018; cf. Koukounaras Liagkis, 2015).…”

Civic and Religious Education in Marginalised Migrant Families: New Challenges for Education in Multicultural Societies

“…As the importance of religion grows in 21 st century Western countries, questions arise about the entanglement of the civic and the religious and their relevance to both social and political identity and citizenship (Zembylas & Loukaidis, 2018). In this context, "civic education and the teaching of the civics subject matter continue to raise numerous questions and pose ongoing challenges in countries across the globe" (Cohen, 2019, p. 4).…”

Engaging with religious epistemologies in the classroom: Implications for civic education

“…This challenge is usually addressed in two ways. On the one hand, and in more encompassing terms, religion is believed to serve stability, but religious cultivation is usually allocated to the communal ethos; on the other hand, in more dismissive approaches, religion is considered a regime blocking multiculturalism and the prospects of peace and reconciliation (Papastephanou, 2008; Zembylas and Loukaidis, 2016). For example, it might be argued that Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland follow the first approach, while integrated schools are keener to follow the latter approach (McGlynn, Zembylas and Bekerman, 2013).…”