European religious education teachers' perceptions of and responses to classroom diversity and their relationship to personal and professional biographies

Abstract

and Norway. It presents a study of the teachers' perceptions of and responses to the diversity within their classes, in relation to their professional role and their personal and professional biographies. The study employed biographical research methods and 36 teachers were interviewed. Key findings were that, in every country, there was a clear relationship between individual teachers' personal biographies and how they responded to religious and/or cultural diversity and common cross-national strategies for dealing with these aspects of diversity. However, socio-cultural factors within each country (including dominant views of the relationship between religion and education) affected the ways in which the teachers perceived the diversity within their classes and there were national differences in how teachers prioritised aspects of diversity. The study concludes that if teachers of religion are to extend the range of their responses to classroom diversity, they would benefit from opportunities to reflect on the relationship between their perceptions of and responses to religious and cultural diversity, their personal biographies, and national requirements and expectations related to their professional role.

Religions constructed as similar or different by teachers of religious education from a citizenship education perspective

“…Lisa and Sara focus on the similarities. Their preparedness to encounter the prejudices of other cultures and their distanced approaches to different ways of understanding life is to some extent comparable with the teachers in the REDCO project and their playing down of religious differences in the classroom (Everington et al 2011). This approach to the connections between the religions is one that is also used by Emil, who at the beginning of the interview talks about religions in terms of different sociocultural tracks.…”

“…In the project, four scholars (Everington et al 2011) studied RE teachers' approaches to diversity in England, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. One general conclusion was that:…”

‘We’re all in this together, the kids and me’: beginning teachers’ use of their personal life knowledge in the Religious Education classroom

“…A desire to create a classroom atmosphere of trust and openness was found to be a common theme in the responses of RE teachers from six European countries who participated in a study of teaching about and in situations of diversity (Van der Want et al 2009;Everington et al 2011). This suggests that, despite different national understandings of the subject, there may be a particular need in RE to decrease traditional teacher-pupil 'distance'.…”

Faith-Based Schools in Contexts of Religious Diversity: An Introduction

“…They find that whereas teachers and pupils sometimes present strong differences in personal commitment towards religion or pluralism, they also share perceptions and attitudes that are strengthened by the school environment. Everington et al 19 showed that the way secondary education teachers address religious diversity issues is at the crossroads of their personal perceptions of these issues, their personal biographies, and national educational policies.…”