Human rights education as a framework for transmitting religion as cultural heritage
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.4452Abstract
The child’s right to freedom of religion and belief and fundamental principles such as equality and non-discrimination constitute an international frame for religious education (RE). However, these rights might be challenged when RE is allocated a major role in transmitting the majority religion as national cultural heritage and national identity. This article will explore and discuss this issue. It is based on an analysis of the transmission of Christianity as cultural heritage in the national RE curriculum for primary and lower secondary schools in Denmark. The article argues that principles from human rights education could provide a basis for a more pluralistic, objective, and critical approach to RE, thus enabling the classroom to function as a community of disagreement.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Andersen, P. B., Erkmen, J. & Gundelach, P. (2019). Udviklingen i (ikke)religiøsitet [Developments in (non) religiosity] In M. Frederiksen (Ed.), Usikker modernitet – Danskernes værdier fra 1981-2017 (pp. 231-264). Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels.
Anderson, B. (2016, 1983). Imagined communities. Reflection on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Andreassen, B.-O. (2013). Religion education in Norway: Tension or harmony between human rights and Christian cultural heritage? Temenos, 49(2), 137–164. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.9544 https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.9544
Appel-Irrgang and others v. Germany, Application no. 45216/07, §9 P1-2. ECtHR. 20 October 2009. Retrieved from http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-112539
Benner, D. (2005). Tekster til dannelsesfilosofi – mellem etik, pædagogik og politik [Texts on the philosophy of formation - between ethics, pedagogy and politics]. Aarhus: KLIM.
Biesta, G. J. J. (2011). God uddannelse i målingens tidsalder - etik, politik, demokrati [Texts on the philosophy of education - between ethics, pedagogy and politics]. Aarhus: KLIM.
Biesta, G. J .J. (2014). The beautiful risk of education. London: Paradigm Publishers. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315635866 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315635866
Biesta, G. J. J. (2021). Education, education, education: Reflection on a missing dimension. In G.J.J Biesta & P. Hannam (Eds.), Religion and education. The forgotten dimensions of religious education (pp. 8-19). Leiden: Brill sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004446397_002 https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004446397
Bogisch, B., & Lindhardt, E. (2020). Kristendomskundskabs potentiale i forhold til fortælling og dannelse [The potential of ‘Knowledge of Christianity’ in relation to narrative and formation]. Fortælling og dannelse. KVAN 40(118), 46–57.
Böwadt, P. (2009). The courage to be: the impact of Lebensphilosophie on Danish RE. British journal of religious education, 31(1), 29–39. https://doi-org.ez-jmk.statsbiblioteket.dk:12048/10.1080/01416200802559981 https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200802559981
Breuilly, J. (2016). Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities: A symposium. Nations and nationalism, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12236 https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12236
Bråten, O. M. H. (2014). New social patterns: Old structures? How the countries of Western Europe deal with religious plurality in education. In M. Rothgangel; R. Jackson ; M. Jäggle (Eds.), Religious education at schools in Europe: Part 2: Western Europe (pp. 287-313). Vienna University Press. https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737002684.287 https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737002684.287
Buchardt, M. (2008). Identitetspolitik i klasserummet. ’Religion’ og ’kultur’ som viden og social klassifikation. Studier i et praktiseret skolefag [Identity politics in the classroom. ‘Religion’ and ‘culture’ as knowledge and social classification. Studies of a practised school subject]. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen.
Buchardt, M. (2014). Pedagogized muslimness: religion and culture as identity politics in the classroom. Münster: Waxmann.
Christoffersen, J. (2016). Menneskeret og magtbalance [Human rights and balance of power]. In A.F. Jacobsen & S.L.B. Jensen (Eds.), Kampen om menneskerettighederne – En debatbog (pp. 15-28). Copenhagen: Gad.
Council of Europe. (1950). Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Council of Europe Treaty Series 005. Retrieved from https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/convention_eng.pdf
Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights. (2021–regularly updated). Guide on article 2 of protocol no. 1 to the European convention on human rights - Right to education. Retrieved from: https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/guide_art_2_protocol_1_eng.pdf
Danish Education Act. Act No. 1887 of October 1 2021. Retrieved from https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2021/1887
Erdal, M. B. & Strømsø, M. (2018). Children’s rights, participatory research and the co-construction of national belonging. Human Rights Education Review, 1(1), 25-45. http://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.2610 https://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.2610
Folgerø and others v. Norway. Application no. 15472/02, § 34. ECtHR (GA), 29 June 2007. Retrieved from: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre?i=001-81356
Franken, L. (2021). Church, state and RE in Europe: Past, present and future. Religion & education, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2021.1897452 https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2021.1897452
Geertz, A.W. (2004): Sladder som religiøs fortælling – kognitive og socialpsykologiske betragtninger [Gossip as a religious narrative - cognitive and social psychological considerations]. In A.W. Geertz, et al. (Eds.), Det brede og det skarpe – Religionsvidenskabelige studier (pp. 47-64). Copenhagen: Anis.
Grimmitt, M. (1987). Religious education and human development: The relationship between studying religions and personal, social and moral education. Great Wakering Essex: McCrimmon.
Hørning, S. (2004). Hvad er menneskerettigheder? [What is human rights?]. In Andersen, V.; S. Hørning & L.Reuter (Eds.), Tanken om menneskets ret (pp. 90-107). Copenhagen: Anis.
Hasan and Eylem Zengin v. Turkey. Application no.1448/04, §46. ECtHR, 9 October 2007. Retrieved from https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=002-2493&filename=002-2493.pdf&TID=ihgdqbxnfi
Iversen, L. L. (2014). Uenighetsfellesskap. Blikk på demokratisk samhandling [Community of disagreement. A glance at democratic interaction]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Iversen, L. L. (2017). Uenighetsfellesskap: Kan skolen være et treningsrom for offentlig uenighet? [Community of disagreement: Can the school be a training room for public disagreement?]. In M. von der Lippe & S. Undheim (Eds.), Religion i skolen (pp. 101-116). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Iversen, L. L. (2020). Controversial issues and the rhetoric of common values. Religions, 528(11), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100528 https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100528
Jackson, R. (2004, 1997). Religious education: An interpretive approach. London: Hodder & Stroughton.
Jackson, R. (2014). ‘Signposts’: Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious worldviews in intercultural education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Retrieved from https://book.coe.int/en/human-rights-democratic-citizenship-and-interculturalism/6101-signposts-policy-and-practice-for-teaching-about-religions-and-non-religious-world-views-in-intercultural-education.html
Jackson, R. (2018). Human rights in relation to education about religions and world views: The contribution of the Council of Europe to classroom religious education. Journal of Religious Education, 66, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-018-0062-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-018-0062-z
Jawoniyi, O. (2012). Children’s rights and religious education in state funded schools: An international human rights perspective. The international Journal of Human Rights, 16(2), 337–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2005.10012351 https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2011.563512
Jensen, J. S. (2008). Introduktion: Religiøs narrativitet, kognition og kultur [Introduction: Religious narrativity, cognition and culture]. In J. S. Jensen & A. W. Geertz (Eds.), Religiøs narrativitet, kognition og kultur (pp. 5-25). Højbjerg: Univers.
Jensen, T. (2005). European and Danish religious education: Human rights, the secular state, and rethinking religious education and plurality. Religion & Education, 32(1), 60–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2005.10012351 https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2005.10012351
Jensen, T., & Kjeldsen, K. (2013). RE in Denmark - Political and professional discourses and debates, past and present. Temenos, 49(2), 185–224. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.9546 https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.9546
Jerome, L., Liddle, A., & Young, H. (2021). Talking about rights without talking about rights: on the absence of knowledge in classroom discussions. Human Rights Education Review, 4(1), 9–26. http://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3979 https://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3979
Kjeldsen, K., (2019a). A study-of-religion(s)-based religion education: Skills, knowledge, and aims. Center for Educational Policies Studies Journal, 9(4), 11–29. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.678 https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.678
Kjeldsen, K. (2019b). Et kristent funderet religionsfag [A Christian-based religion education]. Copenhagen: Unge Pædagoger.
Lindhardt, E. & Decara, C. (in press). Human rights issues related to the place of religion in early childhood education - a case from Denmark. In A. Kuusisto (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook for the Place of Religion in Early Childhood Education. London & New York: Routledge.
Ministry of Children and Education. (2019). Kristendomskundskab. Faghæfte [Knowledge of Christianity. Curriculum]. Retrieved from https://emu.dk/sites/default/files/2020-09/Gsk_fagh%C3%A6fte_Kristendomskundskab.pdf
Nestby, D. H. (2019). Hvordan kan KRLE-faget fremstille islams mangfold? [How can the KRLE subject portray the diversity of Islam?]. Prismet, 70 (4), 327-341. https://doi.org/10.5617/pri.7514 https://doi.org/10.5617/pri.7514
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. (2007). The Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching About Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools. Warsaw: OSCE, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Retrieved from www.osce.org/odihr/29154
Osler, A. (2015). The stories we tell: Exploring narrative in education for justice and equality in multicultural contexts. Multicultural education review, 7(1–2), 12–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2015.1048605 https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2015.1048605
Osler, A., & Starkey, H. (2018). Extending the theory and practice of education for cosmopolitan citizenship. Educational review, 70(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1388616 https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1388616
Pew Research Center (2018). Being Christian in Western Europe. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2018/05/29/being-christian-in-western-europe
Riceoeur, P. (2017). Tid og fortælling: Den trefoldige mimesis [Time and narrative: The threefold mimesis]. Danske værker. Copenhagen: Tiderne skrifter.
Struthers, A. E. C. (2015). Human rights education: Educating about, through and for human rights. The International Journal of Human Rights, 19(1), 53–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2014.986652 https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2014.986652
Strøm-Hansen, M. (2020, November 11). Kristendomskundskab: Er fritagelsesparagraffen et levn fra fortiden eller et juridisk bolværk? [Christian studies: Is the exemption clause a remain of the past or a legal bulwark?]. Religion.dk. Retrieved from https://www.religion.dk/kristendomskundskab-er-fritagelsesparagraffen-et-levn-fra-fortiden-eller-et-juridisk-bolvaerk
Søgaard, J. I. (2009, October 28): Et flertal i Folketinget ønsker folkeskolens fritagelsesparagraf i kristendomskundskab sløjfet [A majority in the parliament wants the primary and lower secondary school exemption clause in Christian studies abolished]. Kristeligt Dagblad. Retrieved from https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/kirke-tro/bertel-haarder-under-politisk-pres
The Children’s and Education Committee. (2016). Svar på spørgsmål 302 om fritagelsesparagraffen [Answers to question 302 on the exemption clause]. Retrieved from https://www.ft.dk/samling/20151/almdel/buu/spm/302/svar/1336965/1655034/index.htm
The Constitutional Act of Denmark. Act No. 169 of June 5 1953.Retrieved from https://www.thedanishparliament.dk/-/media/pdf/publikationer/english/the_constitutional_act_of_denmark_2013,-d-,pdf.ashx
United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. RES/217A (III). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.
United Nations. (1966a). International Covenant on Civil and political rights. United Nations, Treaty series, vol. 999, p. 171. Retrieved from https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%20999/volume-999-i-14668-english.pdf
United Nations. (1966b). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. United Nations, Treaty series, vol. 993, p.3. Retrieved from https://treaties.un.org/doc/treaties/1976/01/19760103%2009-57%20pm/ch_iv_03.pdf
United Nations. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3. Retrieved from https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4
United Nations. (2011).United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. RES/66/137. Retrieved from https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N11/467/04/PDF/N1146704.pdf?OpenElement
United Nations Human Rights Committee. (1993). CCPR General Comment No. 22: Article 18 (Freedom of Thought, Conscience or Religion). CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4. Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb22.html
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. (2011). Rapporteur’s digest on freedom of religion and belief. Excerpts of relevant paragraphs of 25 years mandate reporting practice (1986-2011). A/HRC/16/53, paras.47-62. OHCHR. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/documents/issues/religion/rapporteursdigestfreedomreligionbelief.pdf
von der Lippe, M. (2017). Fritak for hvem og fra hva? [Exemption for whom and from what?]. In M. von der Lippe & S. Undheim (Eds.), Religion i skolen (pp. 87-100). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
von Oettingen, A. (2001). Det pædagogiske paradox [The pedagogical paradox]. Aarhus: KLIM.
Zembylas, M. (2014). Human rights and religious education in the contentious context of conflict-troubled societies: Perspectives from human rights education. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 35(3), 303-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2014.980118 https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2014.980118
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Eva Lindhardt
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Human Rights Education Review agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Cited by
