This essay proposes a novel approach to religious education, one that stands in stark contrast to the often rigid and dogmatic nature of traditional religious instruction. The proposed approach seeks ...to cultivate deep awareness within students regarding their inherent limitations and their role as entrusted stewards in the grand design of God. It encourages students to move away from the temptation of godlike aspirations, such as the pursuit of boundless power and knowledge, instead positioning life on Earth as a divine destiny offering opportunities for growth, learning, and realizing one’s God-given potential. This form of religious education embraces doubt, uncertainty, and ambiguity, recognizing them as sources of motivation and meaning in a profound journey of faith. Inspired by John Hick’s and Abdolkarim Soroush’s works, this approach transcends traditional religious literacy, focusing on an encounter with the transcendent noumenal Real, and it is characterized by a sense of speechless awe, wonder, and astonishment before the riddles of existence and the beauty of the world. Ultimately, this essay underscores the importance of approaching religion as a system of relationships rather than as an ideology with all-encompassing answers.
As the literature on the philosophical and theological aspects of religious pluralism concerning Islamic education is indeed scarce and sporadic, this article discusses the complexity of religious ...pluralism in the Quranic discourse, while highlighting the tension between inclusive and exclusive interpretations. In doing so, the article reflects on the notion of religious pluralism, arguing that this notion should not be approached as a truth to be verified, but as a hypothesis to be tested. Additionally, the article presents various educational implications as to how to encourage religious pluralism in Islamic education. Specifically, I will advocate for a new type of education: education for religion.
This paper underlines three foundations upon which the current condition of the Israeli education system is predicated. These are: (a) the separation between Palestinians and Jews in the Israeli ...education system and isolating both from any significant contact; (b) endorsing a strong ethno-religious ethos and narratives that widen the chasm between the Jewish 'us' and the Palestinian 'them'; and (c) shaping education for the Palestinians in Israel as a highly standardized and de-contextualized endeavor that excludes ideology and politics, which are seen as irrelevant to good professionalism, while substantiating and thickening the ideological education in the Jewish education system in line with the right political agenda . In doing so, this paper contextualizes these foundations in the recent developments of Israeli politics. Particularly, the paper associates these foundations with the rise of the extreme right politics in Israel, arguing that these, taken together, serve the state's efforts to continue preserving its excluding ethnocentric political regime and controlling the Arab Palestinian education in Israel under conditions of subordination and inequality.
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Over the past few years, the civics curriculum for Israeli high-schools has become the centre of a heated political debate. Following this debate, in May 2016 a revised official textbook was ...introduced. This paper draws on an in-depth analysis of the revised official textbook, comparing it to the previous official textbook published in 2000. The analysis focuses on the discursive changes that took place regarding the ways in which the revised textbook conceptualises Israeli citizenship. A particular focus is placed on how the revised version of the official textbook often prioritises the ethno-national model of the nation state over and above the commitment to democratic values, including minority rights. The main argument of this paper is that these changes are a reflection of the penetration of a neo-Zionist discourse into the civics curriculum.
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Many schools advocates for the integration of religious education (RE) and citizenship education (CE), especially in the context of multicultural societies. Yet, how this integration is to happen is ...contested, due to the politicized nature of religion and citizenship. To explore the potential intersections of these two subjects, we interviewed Palestinian Islam teachers in Israel, to gain further insights into how they integrate civic issues in their teaching. Our study highlighted both tensions and connection points between Islam education and civic issues in Israel. While the teachers were critical of their citizenship, they interpreted Islam education as a potential 'remedy' to repair CE. They presented examples from their teaching of how Islam can contribute to making CE more meaningful. The importance of the teachers' living context for their interpretation of this intersection became evident. Our findings support the argument that the two subjects should be further integrated.
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This essay discusses the role of religion as a central facet when researching the emerging social group - the global middle class (GMC). It is argued here that religion is a particularly relevant ...feature for the constitution of this social group because of the GMC's transnational and cosmopolitan character. In this essay, I will draw on several examples focused on Islamic education provision in Western, pre-dominantly Christian societies to illustrate why and how religion should become critical to our study of the GMC. The essay's central argument is that there remains a gap in research related to the role of religion in the making and practising of the GMC as a social group. I conclude by proposing a future research agenda that addresses the intersections of religion, education, and the GMC on an individual, national, and global level.
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The study of the Quran is central to Religious Islamic Education (RIE). Exposed to different political and social pressures, teachers in RIE still struggle between traditional approaches concerning ...the divine nature of the Qur’an and more secular approaches emphasizing the historicity and critical analysis of the religious text. Mohammed Arkoun (d. 2010), an Algerian-born Sorbonne professor, offered a hermeneutical methodology for reading the Quran that was Western, scientific, and critical, and at the same time related to the Living Islamic Tradition, faith, and thought. The article analyzes Arkoun’s methodology for reading the Quran and its possible implications on RIE in a way that creates a space for creativity, criticism, and dialogue between worldviews and opens new possibilities for the faithful to teach and learn the Qur’an.
This article discusses the case study of a programme for Jewish and Palestinian educators in Israel and our initial insights into the outcome of the initiative. The programme aims to address racism, ...segregation, and prejudice and to support educators to teach culture and tradition in a more humanistic, inclusive, and critical way. To achieve this, it draws on inter-religious and intercultural dialogue. We will discuss how this method is rooted in both Judaism and Islam thus paving the way for participants to not only develop a better understanding of their own but also of others' tradition. Importantly, it also highlights the interrelations of these traditions, which can contribute to the development of a shared society.
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This study examines citizenship education in Israel from the point of view of Arab teachers, as they rework and negotiate the content and boundaries of their Israeli citizenship. Specifically, the ...paper studies how teachers of citizenship education in Arab high schools in Israel perceive their sociopolitical reality, how they respond to it in their classrooms, and how they conceptualize Israeli citizenship for their pupils. In doing so, the paper ponders the pedagogical strategies and emphases of these teachers, as they mediate the citizenship education curriculum, with its heavy emphasis on the ethno-national character of Israel, to their Arab pupils.
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Focusing on recent developments in the field of education, this article grapples with the educational activism of Arab civil society in Israel. Specifically, it presents a case study of a recent ...initiative to establish an independent Arab Pedagogical Council (APC). I argue that this initiative, although controversial and challenging to the very definition of Israel as both a Jewish nation-state and a democracy, should be considered to be an act of citizenship, rather than a sign of radicalization and separatism. The initiative to establish the APC is a political and ethical act, through which Arab civil society organizations and activists in Israel constitute themselves as independent political actors, citizens, and claimants of rights, entitlements, and responsibilities for the quality of life and future of the Palestinians in Israel.
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