From religious to inter-religious education? Objections, theoretical clarifications and empirical results concerning the effectiveness of inter-religious approaches

Abstract

This article makes the plea for broadening religious education to inter-religious education its starting point. While this plea may often be found in public debates and in politics there have also been objections to respective programs which are based on fears of “religionism” and effects of religious “othering”. These objections are discussed theoretically but most of all in connection with the question of the effectiveness of inter-religious education. The state of the art of respective research is summarized, including different conceptual models as well research results and, as an example, an empirical study on “inter-religious education through perspective-taking”. The results show that interreligious education is, in part, effective but that there are no effects on pupils’ attitudes. Moreover, there seems to be a need for further refinements concerning methods and teaching designs. The conceptual models indicate that it is possible to conceptualize inter-religious education such that entrenched or self-absorbed religious identities are avoided while supporting familiarity with other religions as well as strengthening openness for religious convictions different from one’s own.