Paul Vermeer

Religious Education and Socialization

Abstract This article considers Religious Education (RE) from the perspective of socialization theory. After clarifying the concept of socialization, an understanding of socialization processes, requiring the simultaneous development of both a personal and a social identity, is linked with RE. The development of both a personal and a social identity calls for hermeneutic and critical reflective skills, which may be acquired in RE classes. Therefore, RE is an important means of socializing children and youths that may have great civic value and has a rightful place in the school curriculum. The article concludes with the argument that schools with an open religious identity are best suited to provide the type of RE advocated here.

Denominational schools and the (religious) socialisation of youths: a changing relationship

This article considers the desirability and legitimacy of denominational schools from the perspective of socialisation theory. It examines the popular criticism that nowadays the common reason for the existence of denominational schools – the religious socialisation of children – is endorsed by a dwindling number of parents, which renders the existence of these schools obsolete. It is shown, however, that this popular criticism is based on a traditional understanding of religious socialisation as the transmission of faith. Counter to this traditional understanding, the article presents a more modern conception of socialisation as personality development. On the basis of this interpretation of socialisation, the pedagogical function of denominational schools is reconsidered. It is argued that the pedagogical task of denominational schools today is not so much to transmit faith but rather to facilitate the formation of personal identity as a core aspect of contemporary socialisation processes.

Citizenship education in religious schools: An analysis of tolerance in Catholic schools from a virtue ethical point of view

The question explored in this article is whether religious schools can contribute to the formation of the civic virtues in pupils by means of citizenship education. It is commonly agreed that civic virtues are needed in pluriform Western societies to promote social cohesion and reduce hostile attitudes. However, some argue that religious schools cannot further this process: in such schools pupils do not learn to deal with people from other religious or cultural backgrounds, which is necessary for the development of civic virtues. In this article we investigate this supposition from a virtue ethical perspective. Using the example of a specific civic virtue (tolerance) and a specific religious educational context (Catholic schools), we argue that religious schools can make a positive and valuable contribution to citizenship education of pupils. We conclude with four implications for religious schools that wish to make such a contribution: (1) creating a moral community, (2) setting a moral example, (3) arranging moral practices, and (4) organising moral conversations.

Authoritative parenting and religious transmission in the Netherlands: a panel study

This study was designed to explore the effect of authoritative parenting, over and above the effect of explicitly religious parenting practices, on the juvenile and adult church attendance of offspring. Data were collected as part of a panel study in which 474 Dutch respondents were questioned in 1983 as youths and in 2007 as adults. In 2007 the respondents retrospectively answered questions about how they were raised by their parents. Analyses revealed that juvenile church attendance depends mainly on parental and more specifically on maternal church attendance, whereas adult church attendance is largely an outcome of juvenile church attendance. No effects of an authoritative parenting style, that is, a simultaneous effect of responsiveness, strict control, and the granting of psychological autonomy as the three dimensions of authoritative parenting distinguished in this study, were observed. Only the dimension of strict control turned out to be a negative determinant of adult church attendance.

Meta-concepts, thinking skills and religious education

This paper proposes that the acquisition of meta-concepts and thinking skills in order to facilitate scholarly religious thought should be the principal aim of religious education in schools. As a result, the aim of religious education is primarily stated in cognitive terms and religious education is understood as closely related to education about religion. The educational value of this approach is explained in a cultural–historical perspective on learning. It is shown that there is a close connection between learning and development and that school learning especially contributes to development of pupils’ higher cognitive functions, if school learning aims at the acquisition of subject-specific meta-concepts and thinking skills. In order to apply these insights to religious education, the aim of religious education is reconsidered and some examples of meta-concepts and thinking skills that may serve as the content of religious education are discussed.

Religious Socialization and Church Attendance in the Netherlands from 1983 to 2007: a Panel Study

The authors explore the effect of a religious upbringing on church attendance later in life. To this purpose, people who had been interviewed in 1983 as secondary students about their upbringing as well as other characteristics, were interviewed again in 2007 about the same topics. Comparisons between the 1983 and the 2007 data reveal that church attendance dropped significantly among these people during this period. Furthermore, it is shown that a religious upbringing is not a good predictor of church attendance later in life. These conclusions apply to Protestants and Catholics alike, as separate analyses for Catholics, Dutch Reformed and Re-Reformed reveal.

The impact of parental religiosity on parenting goals and parenting style: a Dutch perspective

Several studies, conducted mainly in the United States, have revealed that parental religiosity influences the way parents raise their children. Against this background, the current study explores if such an effect is also discernible in the Netherlands. Data were gathered as part of a longitudinal study, in which 356 Dutch parents answered questions about their religious beliefs and practices, their parenting goals and parenting style. Analyses revealed that there is only a weak, ambiguous relation between parental religiosity and a preference for autonomy as a desirable value to be instilled in children. Parental church attendance is negatively associated with a preference for autonomy, but parents who are actively involved in a religious community tend to value children’s autonomy more positively. Effects of other indices of parental religiosity were not found, nor was there an effect of parental religiosity on parenting style. As far as this sample is concerned, the conclusion is that religion is not an important factor when it comes to the way parents raise their children.

Students’ perceptions and teachers’ self-ratings of modelling civic virtues: an exploratory empirical study in Dutch primary schools

This is a study of teachers’ modelling of civic virtues in the classroom. It focusses on three virtues of good citizenship: justice, tolerance and solidarity. The aim is to explore the extent to which teachers can be regarded as models of these virtues. Questionnaires were developed for both students and teachers. Factor analyses showed that the three virtues could be empirically distinguished in teachers’ behaviour. The students rated their teachers higher on the justice and solidarity scales than on the tolerance scale. The teachers rated themselves as less just, but more tolerant than they were rated by their students. Furthermore, the correspondence between students’ perceptions and teachers’ self-ratings was not high: correlations were only found between ratings of teachers’ level of justice. The results of the study indicate that teachers need to become more aware of their exemplary function and the way they are perceived by their students.

Religious Consciousness of Dutch Youth. Consequences for Religious Education.

This article offers a survey of the religious consciousness of Dutch secondary school students. From an educational point of view, this survey is understood as a description of the actual, initial situation of the student population that the comtemporary religious educator faces. Against the background of this survey, the question is raised, therefore, what can still be a ligitimate, general goal of religious education in school given the fact that these students hardly have any affinity with any religious tradition anymore. In order to provide an answer to this question, three concepts of religious education are discussed: education in religion, education about religion and education from religion. However, on the basis of empirical data and a number of pedagogical and theological minimum requirements, it is concluded, then, that none of these concepts offers a sufficient basis for religious education in school today. As a result, an alternative conception of religious education, which focusses on the formation of a personal religious identity, is presented as a possible and viable concept for religious education in the future.

Religious education in Russia: A comparative and critical analysis.

Abstract RE in Russia has been recently introduced as a compulsory regular school subject during the last year of elementary school. The present study offers a critical analysis of the current practice of Russian RE by comparing it with RE in Sweden, Denmark and Britain. This analysis shows that Russian RE is ambivalent. Although it is based on a non-confessional religious studies approach, Russian RE also serves the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church, which aims to educate students into Orthodox Christianity, as well as the interests of the Russian state itself, which turns RE in a kind of citizenship education focusing on the patriotic upbringing of students.