Author: Woodward

A NEW GENERATION OF RE SYLLABUSES IN EUROPE

Herbert Schultze

Member of the Shap Working Party on World Religion in Education 
and European correspondent

A revolution in the approach to teaching
RE was initiated by the Shap Working
Party on World Religions in Education
in 1969. This initiative was illustrated with
bright colours through the publication of the
Birmingham Agreed Syllabus and its hand-
book 'Living Together' in 1975. Subsequently
the World Religions approach was developed
further through the no less famous Hampshire
Agreed Syllabus and its teachers' guide 'Paths
to Understanding'. From this new initiative
within the RE scene, the teaching of world
religions has become more and more an
integral part of religious and moral education
in European schools. In some countries the
development occurred earlier and in others
later, however, it is true to say that it has
gained importance in all of them.

The following article outlines the situation in
Europe twenty years after that revolution. In
the meantime we observe an increasing
migration of ethnic, cultural and religious
groups across the whole of Europe, no longer
confined to the British Isles but also to the
Continent, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
A remarkable number of political conferences
have evaluated this development and tried to
design measures which lead the tremendous
streams of people into more modest lanes,
preferably to other countries than one's own.

It is interesting to ask how the well elaborated
aims and objectives of tolerance, dialogue and
enrichment should be realised in the new
political and social climate. In most European
countries factually new RE syllabuses have
been developed or such development is taking
place. Therefore in this first section we look at
different ways of curriculum development
which suggest that an overall harmonisation
can never be successful. The dreams of the
bureaucrats will not be fulfilled in this area. In
the second section we focus on interesting
examples of how world religions in various
countries are to be taught according to their
syllabuses. In the third section we discuss the
attempts of national education authorities to
(what they sometimes call) 'concentrate'
syllabuses on the national, cultural (and
religious) heritage. Some concluding remarks
will be presented in a short fourth section.

1. DIFFERENT WAYS OF
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT FOR
EUROPEAN SCHOOLS

The development of national syllabuses for all
aspects of school education is self under-
standing in such different countries as France,
Greece and Sweden. No citizen in these
countries could imagine different syllabuses
for the departments or provinces within the one
nation. National syllabuses have in such
countries a long tradition, and intended reforms
aim at a broad variety of issues but not at all at
the national structure of curriculum develop-
ment, implementation and evaluation. The
recognition of cultures or religions in school
education is therefore a national task. All
society and the different cultural groups within
society express their demands for education
reforms on a national level.

In the countries mentioned school education is
regarded as the task of the secular state, which
in principle has a neutral position opposite the
different religious communities represented in
those countries. We observe some differences
in the place of religious education teaching in
schools. In France there is no religious education
in schools, except in the Eastern provinces. In
Greece there is, in practice, Christian Orthodox
religious education teaching in most schools

and in North Tracia Islamic teaching because
of the traditionally strong Muslim minority in
this part of the country. In Sweden, which
contrasts to France, all schools have religious
education, but this is also different from
Greece, because it is taught in an open way to
children from any religious or non-religious
background. Fascinating new perspectives in
Sweden will be looked at below.

National RE syllabuses are also produced in
Austria, but not one programme for all. At
least twelve religious communities in this
country have the right to their own religious
education in schools; they include: Roman
Catholic, Protestant, New Apostolic, Jewish,
Islamic and Buddhist to mention a few. This
regulation goes back to imperial edicts
concerning religious tolerance more than two
hundred years ago. Some similarity in this
respect can be observed in Belgium, but with
some special provisions built into the system.

The example of regional curriculum development 
in Europe is to be found in Switzerland
where each of the cantons has its own system,
some with confessional RE, others without any
and others with a variety of mixed forms
between the two. Regional syllabuses became
a tradition in the Federal Republic of Germany
after the second world war. Due to a differentiated 
school system in combination with
constitutional influences and the principles of
religious communities (see below) some 400
syllabuses are in practice at the same time.

The national or regional ways of curriculum
development as such say nothing about how
far teachers are bound by the syllabus in daily
classroom practice. The centralised Swedish
syllabuses leave the teacher with much freedom
in choosing topics or teaching materials etc.
The regional German syllabuses have the
authority of law. Completely different is the
situation in the Netherlands. The constitution
states that there should be freedom of
education. Every school therefore has the right
and freedom to issue its own syllabus. This
must fit in with general educational standards
and be accepted by the local school board i.e.
representatives of parents.

From time to time in the Netherlands a
suggested syllabus or curriculum is well
received by a large number of schools. One
example was the LOGO Project in the 1980s.
This took over the thematic approach which
was developed in some British syllabuses, and
combined it with a structure based on the well
known 'six dimensions' of Ninian Smart. A
traditional openness for different world
religions in this country enabled the project to
find its way into many school classes. As a
result a rich diversity of teaching methods
reflected local situations and needs. This is
still the case nowadays. As it is with other
learning or teaching schemes, there are still
several schools where the input of the Logo
project still works. We are now in a post logo
period with new perspectives.

A formal right of religious communities to
influence ordinary school teaching - as in
Austria or Germany - does not exist. Informal
influences have only local effect depending on
the school board and staff. The principle of
'intercultural education' is valid in all schools
of the country particularly primary schools, for
the ages of 5 - 12 years.

The different ways of constructing the
curriculum in European countries have no
special consequences for the teaching of world
religions. A generally broader recognition of
religions in education happened in parallel but
within traditional structures, as with national
(Greece) and regional (Germany) curriculum
development methods. The consequence for
the teaching of world religions has been little
influenced by local situations or tendencies.

2. THE POSITION OF WORLD
RELIGIONS IN RECENT EUROPEAN
SYLLABUSES.

We can look at a few examples of European
syllabuses to find out the position of world
religions within them and also examine some
of the motivating forces which led to their
inclusion. We begin with the Austrian syllabus
for Roman Catholic RE. This is, as we can
expect, influenced by the declaration of the
Second Vatican Council 'Nostra Aetate' about
relationships between the church and other
religions. School teachers read a fair presentation 
of, for example, Judaism and Islam.
Christian persecution in the past is not hidden
at all. Non-religious motivations of some
Christian states are clearly named and regret of
what happened is expressed. The sympathetic
and empathetic approach can be recognised by
calling   adherents   of   other   religions
'neighbours' in learning material and videos
produced by a state agency. One may find
some detail slightly formal or intellectual, but
the distorted images of the past have departed.
Roman Catholic pupils learn that there are
believers of factually diverse religions. This
provides useful starting points for dialogue.

When we look at Roman Catholic learning
material, syllabuses and schoolbooks, in Italy
we can easily identify the same orientation to
the Vatican Council and its call for openness
for the partition of other religions in God's
revelation. But in this country the traditional
societal sphere is more influenced by the
Catholic religion. Although the state is neutral
and the teaching, according to the syllabuses,
has to be objective, schoolbooks and other
learning materials mirror places and rites of
Catholic observance. Also in Italy the teaching
of world religions has been very much
extended. The ways of presentation, however,
are rather that of an encyclopaedia than an
empathetic visiting neighbour.

Against this background it seems understandable 
when Dr. Elio Canale, director of an
important Protestant upper secondary school in
Torre Pellice, sees the need to design his
courses on world religions so that they are a
contribution to freedom of conscience and
expression. The predominance of Roman
Catholicism in Italian society, is at least partly
responsible for a restriction of freedom. This is
not always in keeping with the multicultural
society which is Italy today. Therefore Dr
Canale regards his courses as an alternative for
better preparation for living in society. This is,
no doubt, in accordance with the Council of
Europe's programme for secondary education
called 'Preparation for Life', because it tries to
strengthen the autonomy of young people
within plural societies. Autonomy is also a key
word in the Roman Catholic teaching schemes
in Italy, but this is more closely connected
with tradition.

There are some Central and Eastern European
countries   where   'tradition'   has   been
interrupted, for some 40 years. These formerly
Socialist or Communist countries are still
building nationally appropriate systems of
school education. In these countries religion
was officially regarded as unimportant in all
respects. Here the freedom of conscience and
belief was particularly excluded from schools
and professional life. Only Christian churches
and, in some of the countries, Jewish
communities were respected, but this was more
for political reasons. They were, for example,
presented as allies who fought against Fascism.
Therefore their image was that of anti-fascists.
The state authorities in this period distinguished
between representatives of religious communities 
regarded as 'friends of peace' and,
others in whom a Socialist couldn't trust. This
was the case for official propaganda but it did
not have an impact on education at any level.

The only exception was ritual education,
which was restricted to inner-church or inner
religious areas of life, and not permitted at all
in public. After 1989 the situation altered and
churches and religious communities became
free again. This includes freedom for the
teaching of religious education in the Middle
and Eastern European countries. However,
despite signed contracts in all of these
countries between state and religions and
churches, no clear idea exists as to how
religious education should be organised.

Certain Christians thought that old privileges,
among them the right to teach religious
education in schools, should be restored.
Others found good relationships between
church and state, but thought that a clear
separation between both would serve better the
needs of rebuilding a free society. Professor
Lajos Szabo from Budapest University saw in
these discussions an important means to
explore the best way to do justice to all
different groups in society. Until today, liberal
groups in Hungary have looked for a way to
prevent particular predominance in schools.
Now  the  freedom  given  to  religious
communities has paved the way for a kind of
competition, especially between Christian
denominations.

In this situation, according to Professor Szabo,
a remarkable event brought the competing
groups together. Representatives of different
Christian schools and also Jewish schools met
deputies of the Government at the national
Parliament in Budapest to discuss common
issues of education. Influential educators hope
that more discussions of this nature will
follow. Although there is only minimal
experience with the teaching of religious
education in the new Hungarian schools it is
obvious that the ignorance that exists confronts
children, families and teachers of religions all
the time. This is a good reason for closer
co-operation between state and church.

It also means that there is a need to introduce
pupils to the world of religion and religions,
says Professor Szabo. He emphasises that this
should be done 'carefully'. The reason being
that after more that 40 years of isolation from
Western states and their citizens, and after
more than 40 years of restriction in the field of
religious ideas, many children are beginners in
RE lessons. Some have little or no idea of their
own religion, for them another religion must
be strange. This is a state which in Western
countries is a part of history. The situation in
Hungary is more complicated because groups
representing nationalism together with those
open to right-wing extremism take every
opportunity to push xenophobia or anti-
semitism. This, for young people searching for
their own identity is not always helpful.

If we compare the situation in Hungary with
those in Austria and Italy, the contrast could
not be greater. The issue of the superiority of
Christianity over other religions is a danger
that education has to address. The first
programmes  for religious education  in
Hungary are therefore aimed at beginners.
Contact between religious communities is very
important. The Professor says, these have to be
built up 'urgently' and 'carefully'. Professor
Szabo belongs to the Lutheran church, the
smaller of the Protestant minority churches in
Hungary. The Roman Catholic Church has far
more members than the Protestant and Jews
who live there. However, compared with their
numbers the Lutherans make a remarkable
impact on national and cultural heritage.

A different, but somewhat similar picture is
found in Czechia where the Protestant
minority is much smaller again. This minority
is also very active and open to religions other
than Christianity. In this country, an important
Jewish minority became victims of the Shoah
or the Holocaust. The Reichsprotecktor
Reinhard Heydrich of the German occupation
government was at the same time the head of
the 'Final Solution', the Nazi programme of
extermination of European Jewry. Czech
resistance against persecution and killing of
Jews was often interlinked with national
resistance against occupants. After these
experiences some parts of the Nazi-propaganda
met  Czech  Antifascism.  The   'smooth
revolution' in 1989 removed Communism but
not that nationalism which was supported by
the former regime. In spring 1995 an exhibition
in Prague was aimed at distinguishing between
the real Czech history and the myth of
Communist propaganda.

All this did not influence the rebuilding of
education. Representatives of 18 religious
communities, most of them Christian, but also
Jewish, now have the right to offer their own
religious education in schools. This is in some
respects similar to the Austrian way. There are
at the moment still no new syllabuses. Boys
and girls ask their RE teachers questions about
life, purpose and every day problems. This is
because they are searching for answers about
meaning and their identity. In addition to this
programme of spontaneous RE, events from
local contemporary history are used to form
the basis for discussion in RE lessons. This
means that teaching about Judaism starts very
often with the Shoah. This in itself is
connected with issues of sense and meaning -
a life question and at the same time a religious
theme. Encounter with Jews and Judaism is
only by way of exception but the memories are
alive in this society.

3. 'BACK TO OUR HERITAGE'

The examples of religious topics in recent
European syllabuses show that political and
social processes of recent years have influenced
the planning of education according to the
various national histories. Although there is no
government which accepts xenophobia, many
European governments now practice a much
less open policy against members of other
ethnic, cultural or religious groups as they did
some years ago. This is not without consequence
for schools. This will be illustrated with two
countries - The Netherlands and Sweden.

Dutch schools have been since 1980 the
example for intercultural education. They have
been preparing their youth for living together
with people of different ethnic, cultural and
religious backgrounds. This is particularly true
for Dutch primary schools and their programme
of teaching spiritual streams (religions and
world views). This was instituted by law in
1980 and came into power in 1985. The
politicians intended from the outset, to
establish a similar scheme in all levels of
education, but this in recent years has been
refused and even in primary schools there is
talk of cutting back the programme. Almost all
European countries, including The Netherlands,
try to stop immigration. One of the conclusions
for schools is to make tolerance and oneness a
rather abstract concept. This means   that
teaching about other religions, than the
majority religion, becomes a more academic
issue and less empaphetic than in the past.

In Sweden, religion was for decades integrated
into social studies, history and geography.
Certain political groups intended the courses
of the 1990s to loosen this integration and to
isolate religion as a special subject on its own.
The aim of the groups was to abandon the very
speciality of Swedish (integrated) orientation
of the subject. Resistance came from teachers
and after long debates a compromise was
found. The new syllabus, according to the
compromise, emphasises knowledge rather
than attitudes and behaviour as the educational
aim. One can say that even in Sweden, despite
traditional openness to plurality of religions
and world views, the national heritage has won
ground, and the enriching encounter with
difference has lost something.

4. CONCLUSION

European countries are becoming more and
more connected with each other. Many things
have to be subordinated under common
regulations. One of the reasons for the number
of Norwegians against the European Union
was this overall harmonisation. There are
tendencies to harmonise in a similar way with
the immigration policy which ultimately
means a closing of borders for more
immigrants. RE must not serve these aims. The
examples of recent syllabuses show that in all
European countries there still exist sufficient
possibilities to create openness and tolerance.
The  tension,   however,  between  these
possibilities and restrictions must never lead to
giving up the important progress of the RE
since the 1970s.