The professionalisation of Islamic religious education teachers

ABSTRACT

Although Islamic religious education (IRE) has been offered in Austrian public schools since 1982, public opinion and the general opinions of several stakeholders in the school system tend to be negative. One of the main reasons is the shortage of professionals, which led to recruiting personnel from different disciplines, who often lack the proper qualification for IRE. Public discourses do not consider the possibility of professionalisation after lateral entry into the career as an IRE teacher. Based on empirical research considering the biographical experiences and professional development of IRE teachers, the present paper examines how IRE teachers themselves perceive and asses their professionalisation and professionalism. The study’s findings show that professionalisation and recognition as a professional depend on many factors, such as the degree of teachers’ training and education at academic institutions, their work schedule, state accreditation, different types of employment contract, and more. The research results reveal, moreover, the different beliefs and views of IRE teachers regarding their profession and subject. This article focuses on the concept of performative competence staging as part of the professionalisation processes of IRE teachers in the Austrian context and beyond.

KEYWORDS:

• Islamic religious education
• Muslim teacher
• teacher education
• teacher professionalisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. These concerns were, due to the small number of IRE teachers, very legitimate and had to be taken seriously. There are according to reports about 600 IRE teachers (Nimmervoll 2017a). Thus, narratives could easily lead to alleged suspicions about the people behind interviews. Therefore, all information, places, etc. were anonymised.

2. Some of the participants were trained as IRE teachers, others were trained as teacher but not as IRE teacher and others had no training as teacher but as Imam. The different background of the participants did not stand out in relation to the results presented here but in relation to other results, especially when the interviewees discussed other aspects of professionalisation and professionality such us their understanding of being a professional or the goals of IRE, then they presented different views and understandings (Tuna 2019).

3. As part of freedom of religion and conscience, students of the respective religious community can opt out within the first five school days of each school year.

4. All interviewee names are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mehmet H. Tuna

Mehmet H. Tuna is senior researcher at the Department of Islamic Theology and Religious Education, University of Innsbruck. His research focuses on Islamic religious education, teacher education, teacher professionalization, and religious education pedagogy.