Christian Conference of Asia
| Home | About CCA | e-Letter | Programs | Resource | Contact Us |


Faith, Mission and Unity

   
About CCA

Program Clusters:
»
Ecumenical Formation, Gender Justice and Youth Empowerment

» Faith Mission and Unity
»
Justice, International Affairs, Development and Service

Special Programs:
» HIV/AIDS Concerns

Congress of Asian
Theologians VII:
» Call to CATS VII
» Application Form CATS VII

 

ctc1.gif (2102 bytes)

sbhcover.jpg (6195 bytes)
Sound the Bamboo
[CCA Hymnal]

 

 

Dealing with Religious Differences in Schools

 
How do religiously affiliated schools deal with cultural, socio-economic, gender and religious differences within the school population? Should the schools be advocates for the truth of their religious communities or should they be sites for learning to participate in interreligious dialogue?

These and other questions were behind the holding of the 4th Conference of the Education and Ethos Network held at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands on January 20-22. CCA-FMU executive secretary Hope S. Antone was invited as one of the keynote speakers on "Religious Differences in Religiously Affiliated Schools"

Key points in Hope's paper, shared with a powerpoint presentation, are the following:
* There is definitely a place for education in the 'first language', i.e. Christian Education for church-related schools for even other religious adherents would expect and understand that. But schools need to guard against fostering an oppositional identity which can become the foundation for intolerance and demonization of the other.

* Knowing that there are different religious adherents in the religiously affiliated schools, educators need to teach in ways that stimulate among students a deep and learned commitment to their own traditions while urging them to participate in religiously pluralistic societies.

* The language of conversation and encounter begins with recognizing, appreciating and valuing differences, including the differences in our lenses for viewing the world.

* Learning from differences needs to be viewed not simply to foster tolerance but for mutually enriching each other, including learning from and correcting each other.

* Venturing into the second language of Religious Education would at its best require a different curriculum that involves the participation of religious educators from other faith communities.

There were four keynote addresses, each tackling a section of the theme of "Matters of Difference: Cultural, Socio-economic, Gender and Religious Differences within Religiously Affiliated Schools". Other speakers and paper presentors on other related themes came from religiously affiliated schools in Europe and some from USA and Canada.

The invitation for Hope came from the office of Dr. Chris Hermans upon the recommendation of Prof. Aad de Jong, both of Radboud University. The organizers felt the need to hear from a voice from another continent where religious differences were a common reality.

posted by hope on Saturday, February 05, 2005  



Archives:
May 2003 / September 2003 / December 2003 / February 2004 / April 2004 / May 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / December 2004 / February 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / June 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / March 2009 / April 2010 / July 2010 / October 2010 / November 2010 / December 2010 / April 2011 / May 2011 / August 2011 / October 2011 / December 2011 / February 2012 / March 2012 / June 2012 / July 2012 / October 2012 / November 2012 / December 2012 /

This page is powered by Blogger. Why isn't yours?