On Ethics and Religious Culture in Québec: Comments and Comparative Perspectives from a Norwegian and European Context

Abstract

In this article attention is drawn to how the term religious culture and how the Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) subject is related to personal development. Questions are raised whether emphasis on religious culture might be seen as an expression of regionalism. Critical remarks are made regarding the relationship of the ERC subject and students' personal development. This is related to a general discussion in religion education regarding whether students should learn from religions or about religions. In discussing these topics, comparisons to the Norwegian context and the implementation of a mandatory secular religion education in Norwegian schools are made.

KEYWORDS:

• curriculum
• education
• personal development
• religious education

Notes

KRL is an abbreviation for “Kristendomskunnskap med religions- og livssynsorientering” (translated means “Christian knowledge and religion and life view orientation”). In 2002 the full name was changed to “Knowledge of Christianity, Life views and Ethics. And finally in 2008 a completely new name was introduced, “Religion, Philosophies of life and Ethics” abbreviated RLE.

N. Høstmælingen, “The Teaching of Religion in Primary and Secondary Schools in Norway,” in Family Life and Human Rights, eds. P. Lødrup and E. Modvar (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal akademisk, 2004), 291–304.

UN Communication No 1155/2003, accessed June 15 2011 http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/ 6187ce3dc0091758c1256f7000526973?Opendocument.

ECHR, Case of Folgerø and others v. Norway, accessed June 15, 2011, http://strasbourgconsortium.org/document.php?DocumentID=4221.

Gouvernement du Québec, Establishment of an Ethics and Religious Culture Program: Providing Future Direction for all Québec Youth (Québec, Canada: Gouvernement du Québec, 2005), 4.

Ibid., 4.

Ibid., 5.

T. S. Popkewitz, “Globalization/Regionalization, Knowledge, and the Educational Practices,” in Educational Practice, ed. T. S. Popkewitz (New York: State University of New York Press, 2000), 3–27.

W. Alberts, Integrative Religious Education in Europe: A Study-of-Religions Approach (Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter, 2007).

Establishment of an Ethics and Religious Culture Program, 4.

Ibid., 8.

Ibid., 8.

Jensen, “RS based RE in Public Schools: A Must for a Secular State,” Numen 55 (2008): 125.

Gouvernement du Québec, Québec Education Program. Secondary Education, Update May 2008 (Québec, Canada: Éducation, Loisir et Sport, 2008), 425.

Ibid.

L. Fendler, “Educating Flexible Souls: The Construction of Subjectivity through Developmentality and Interaction,” in Governing the Child in the New Millennium, eds. K. Hultqvist and G. Dahlberg (London and New York: Routledge Falmer, 2001), 120.

Québec Education Program. Secondary Education, 425.

L. Fendler, “Educating Flexible Souls,” 120–121.

M. Foucault, “Technologies of the Self,” in Technologies of the Self. A Seminar with Michel Foucault, eds. L. H. Martin, H. Gutman, and P. H. Hutton (Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1988), 145–162; M. Foucault, “Governmentality,” in Power: Essential Works of Michel Foucault 1954–1984. Vol. 3, ed. J. D. Faubion (New York: The New Press, 2000), 201–222.

T. Ziehe, “Schulische Lernkultur und zeittypische Mentalitätsrisiken,” in Subjektdiagnosen. Subjekt, Modernisierung und Bildung, ed. B. Hafeneger (Schwalbach: Wochenschau-Verlag, 2004).

L. Gearon, “Human Rights and Religious Education: Some Postcolonial Perspectives,” in International Handbook of the Religious, Moral and Spiritual Dimensions in Education. Part 1, eds. M. de Souza et al (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2006), 375–385.

Québec Education Program. Secondary Education, 427.

O. Murray, “Introduction,” in Memory and the Mediterranean, F. Braudel, (New York: Vintage Books, 2001), ix–xx.

H. Leganger-Krogstad, “Religious Education in Norway” and P. Schreiner, “Religious Education in the European Context,” in Religious education in Europe. Situation and current trends in schools, eds. E. Kuyk et al (Oslo, Norway: IKO and ICCS, 2007).

B.-O. Andreassen, “Seige strukturer—perspektiver på endring og diskursivt arbeid i norsk religionsdidaktikk”, Din (2009): 5–29.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bengt-Ove Andreassen

Bengt-Ove Andreassen is a Ph.D. in Religious Studies and currently works as an Associate Professor at the Department of Education at University of Tromsø (Norway). His research interests include religious education, religion the public sphere, curriculum and textbook analysis.