Comparative Studies in Religious Education: Perspectives Formed Around a Suggested Methodology

Abstract

In this chapter, I present the methodology from my book Towards a Methodology for Comparative Studies in RE: A Study of England and Norway. This is a new suggested methodology for systematic comparison of religious education, mainly between different states. Comparative studies in related fields (such as religious studies and comparative education) and pioneering works in comparative religious education inform the methodology. This is a synthesis of two sets of ideas. The first is an idea of three dimensions in comparative education: supranational, national and subnational processes. The second set of ideas regards levels of the curriculum: societal, institutional, instructional and experiential. The book explores the levels by examining how supranational, national and subnational processes affect them. Civil enculturation, social imaginaries and national imaginaries are important analytical concepts. In this chapter, I illustrate the methodology by presenting some findings from the original study and some discussions from later publications. I also reflect on some of the topic from the Religious Education in a Global–Local World conference held in Cork, Ireland, August 29–30, 2013, such as ‘historical and political contexts’ and ‘youth and children’, in light of this methodology.