Religion, Migration and Educational Practice: Empirical, Postcolonial and Theological Perspectives

Abstract

Educational institutions serving Germany’s immigrant communities struggle with many challenges. About one-third of the refugees are school-aged children and youth, so that every third child has a migration biography, with many of them coming from Arabic countries. They bring their various religious affiliations and cultures into a secular society formerly moulded by Christianity. This situation requires special accommodations for educational institutions (like schools, kindergarten and religious communities). Apart from language barriers and being mindful of their traumatic experiences, educational actors need to be sensitive, in particular, to intercultural and interreligious conflict situations, anti-Semitic or Islamophobic positions and radicalisation tendencies of cultural and/or religious identity. This essay considers the following questions: How does the theology of migration change social context, religious identity and theological thought and action in the host country? From the Christian perspective, what are the new responsibilities that arise as a result of migration? And, not least, what are the resulting challenges for inter-religious education in both formal and informal settings?