Religions and beliefs in changing times: perspectives of student stakeholders in third-level educational contexts in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT

Religions and beliefs are complex, contested and challenging aspects of the educational systems and cultural landscapes both in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and in Northern Ireland (NI); part of a long and protracted history of colonial oppression and political struggles underpinned by religious and ethnic divisions. The deficit in the literature on third-level students’ attitudes to religion and belief in the ROI and NI was a springboard to this multi-disciplinary funded research. Perspectives of 900 second-year university initial teacher education (ITE) and social science students, from 6 tertiary educational contexts were explored within an analytical framework provided by the European Values Survey and the European Social Survey for understanding values and beliefs among its citizenry. The research was undertaken to understand students’ attitudes to a belief diverse society involving newly arrived immigrant and refugee groups. The authors argue that based on the research findings key issues such as religious or belief bias, and fear of religious or belief other, emerge for student stakeholders which will inform their professional practice(s). Research of this nature is particularly important in the context of Ireland (ROI and NI) where religious diversity has underpinned political turmoil and educational and cultural division in the past.

KEYWORDS:

• Third-level
• student perspective
• religion
• belief
• diversity
• Ireland
• bias

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute for Studies in Education (NISE) [€4,000]; National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning [€1,000]; Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS) [£5,000].

Notes on contributors

Patricia Kieran

Patricia Kieran teaches Religious Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. She is Director of the Irish Institute for Catholic Studies. She has co-written and edited books on a range of topics including Catholic theology, Religious Education in an Intercultural Europe, Children and Catholicism & Trends and Challenges in Education. Her most recent book Connecting Lives: Inter-belief Dialogue in Contemporary Ireland (2019) focuses on dialogue among belief diverse communities.

Marie Parker-Jenkins

Marie Parker-Jenkins is Professor Emerita in the School of Education University of Limerick. She has taught in seven universities in three countries, and the overall theme of her research is that of Social Justice, drawing on human rights law, issues of ethnicity and school leadership which she has disseminated in over 100 books, articles, conference papers and through the media.

Anne Ryan

Anne Ryan is an Academic Developer and Lecturer in Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. Her research is on student beliefs and values, including religious values, how student beliefs impact learning and student beliefs on personal finance. Anne’s previous research included developing Psychological Capital and resilience in the student to support  learning.