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Abstract
This article explores two questions: What is religious literacy in the context of teacher education? and Why does teacher education matter for the promotion of religious literacy? The current absence of attention to religious literacy in pre-service education for both generalist and specialist teachers in United States and Canada, particularly Quebec, has implications for educators’ abilities to prepare young people for citizenship in religiously diverse societies. A unique form of religious literacy for educators is described in the Pedagogical Content Knowledge about Religion framework. Equipping religiously literate educators is a first step in fostering a religiously literate public.
Notes
1 K. Soules, “The Impact of Professional Development on Public School Teachers’ Understanding of Religious Diversity” (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston College, 2019).
2 Pew Research Center, “A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World” (Pew Research Center, 2019) https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/15/a-closer-look-at-how-religious-restrictions-have-risen-around-the-world/
3 C. C. Haynes and O. S. Thomas, “Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools” (First Amendment Center, 2011) http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rfc_publications_findingcommonground.pdf
4 R. P. Jones and D. Cox, “America’s Changing Religious Identity: Findings from the 2016 American Values Atlas” (Public Religion Research Institute, 2017) https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/PRRI-Religion-Report.pdf; Pew Research Center, “Canada’s Changing Religious Landscape” (Pew Research Center, 2013) https://www.pewforum.org/2013/06/27/canadas-changing-religious-landscape/
5 J. Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (New York: Macmillan, 1922); J. W. Fraser, Between Church and State: Religion and Public Education in a Multicultural America, 2nd ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016); S. Macedo, Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000).
6 J. G. Starck, T. Riddle, S. Sinclair, and N. Warikoo, “Teachers Are People Too: Examining the Racial Bias of Teachers Compared to Other American Adults,” Educational Researcher 49, no. 4 (2020): 273–84, 281.
7 Ibid., 282.
8 Pew Research Center, “U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey” (Pew Research Center, 2010) http://www.pewforum.org/files/2010/09/religious-knowledge-full-report.pdf; Pew Research Center. “What Americans Know About Religion” (Pew Research Center, 2019) https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/23/what-americans-know-about-religion/
9 D. Anderson, H. Mathys, and T. Cook, “Religious Beliefs, Knowledge, and Teaching Actions: Elementary Teacher Candidates and World Religions,” Religion & Education 42, no. 3 (2015): 268–88; M. J. Marks, R. Binkley, and J. K. Daly, “Preservice Teachers and Religion: Serious Gaps in Religious Knowledge and the First Amendment,” The Social Studies 105, no. 5 (2014): 245–56.
10 D. L. Moore, “Guidelines for Teaching about Religion in K-12 Public Schools in the United States” (American Academy of Religion, 2010), http://www.aarweb.org/Publications/Online_Publications/Curriculum_Guidelines/AARK-12CurriculumGuidelines.pdf
11 Soules, “The Impact of Professional Development.”
12 When capitalized, “Religious Education” refers to the often compulsory school subject found in the national curricula of many European countries. These courses employ a range of academic and confessional approaches and, therefore, the form of teacher education also varies. The lower case “religious education” refers to faith-based or devotional approaches to teaching religion, commonly found in private religious schools and within religious communities. Unless otherwise noted, we are discussing the academic study of religion in this article.
13 L. Pepin, “Teaching about Religions in European School Systems: Policy Issues and Trends” (Network of European Foundations Initiative on Religion and Democracy in Europe, 2009) http://www.nef-europe.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Teaching-about-religion_NEF-RelDem-RELIGION-EDUCATION-Final.pdf
14 In Canada, school boards refer to jurisdictions for the governance of a group of schools, usually based on geography. In the U.S., similar jurisdictions are usually called school districts.
15 I. V. S. Mullis, M. O. Martin, S. Goh, and K. Cotter, eds., TIMSS 2015 Encyclopedia: Education Policy and Curriculum in Mathematics and Science (Boston College, TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, 2016) http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2015/encyclopedia/
16 Ibid.
17 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, “Preparing and Credentialing the Nation’s Teachers: The Secretary’s 10th Report on Teacher Quality” (2016) https://title2.ed.gov/Public/TitleIIReport16.pdf
18 Ibid.
19 Mullis et al., TIMSS 2015 Encyclopedia.
20 U.S. Department of Education, “2019 Title II Reports: National Teacher Education Data” (n.d.) Title II Higher Education Act, https://title2.ed.gov/Public/Home.aspx (accessed July 29, 2020).
21 Ibid.
22 Teach for Canada, while similarly named, is a more targeted program that recruits, prepares, and supports teachers in northern First Nations communities. Teach for Canada teachers are required to have completed, or be about to complete, a teacher education degree prior to applying.
23 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, “Preparing and Credentialing the Nation’s Teachers.”
24 Mullis et al., TIMSS 2015 Encyclopedia.
25 S. Prothero, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–and Doesn’t (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2007).
26 Soules, “The Impact of Professional Development.”
27 E. W. Eisner, The Educational Imagination: On the Design and Evaluation of School Programs, 3rd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1994).
28 Ibid., 103.
29 For example, J. Blitzer, S. Brady, J. Camardella, N. Clements, S. L. Douglass, B. P. Marcus, D. L. Moore, and N. C. Walker, “Supplement: Religious Studies Companion Document for the C3 Framework,” in The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History, ed. National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) (National Council for the Social Studies; 2017), 92–101. https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/2017/Jun/c3-framework-for-social-studies-rev0617.pdf
30 D. J. Flinders, N. Noddings, and S. J. Thornton, “The Null Curriculum: Its Theoretical Basis and Practical Implications,” Curriculum Inquiry 16, no. 1 (1986): 33–42.
31 Eisner, The Educational Imagination, 93.
32 Soules, “The Impact of Professional Development.”
33 B. Marcus, “Religious Literacy in American Education,” in Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Education, eds. M. D. Waggoner and N. C. Walker (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 56–72; D. L. Moore, “Overcoming Religious Illiteracy: A Cultural Studies Approach,” World History Connected 4, no. 1 (2006): http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/4.1/moore.html; Prothero, Religious Literacy.
34 For example, D. L. Moore, Overcoming Religious Illiteracy: A Cultural Studies Approach to the Study of Religion in Secondary Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007); Moore, “Guidelines for Teaching about Religion”; W. A. Nord, Does God Make a Difference?: Taking Religion Seriously in our Schools and Universities (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
35 D. L. Eck and B. W. Randall, “Pluralism in Religion and American Education,” in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Education, eds. M. D. Waggoner and N. C. Walker (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 41–55, 49.
36 National Assembly of Quebec, “Act Respecting the Laicity of the State, No. Bill 21,” (2020) http://legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/L-0.3
37 National Assembly of Quebec, “Act Respecting the Laicity of the State, No. Bill 21” (2020) http://legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/L-0.3
38 N. C. Walker, The First Amendment and State Bans on Teachers’ Religious Garb: Analyzing the Historic Origins of Contemporary Legal Challenges in the United States (New York, NY: Routledge, 2019).
39 Moore, “Guidelines for Teaching about Religion.”
40 Marcus, “Religious Literacy in American Education,” in Oxford Handbook of Religion.
41 Y. W. A. Chan, Exploring a Potential Connection between Religious Bullying and Religious Literacy in Modesto and Montreal Public (Montreal: McGill University, 2019); W. Y. A. Chan, H. Mistry, E. Reid, A. Zaver, and S. Jafralie, “Recognition of Context and Experience: A Civic‐Based Canadian Conception of Religious Literacy,” Journal of Beliefs & Values 41, no. 3 (2020): 255–71.
42 L. S. Shulman, “Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform,” Harvard Educational Review 57, no. 1 (1987): 1–22.
43 Ibid.
44 Wertheimer, L. K. (2015). Faith ed: Teaching about religion in an age of intolerance. Boston, MA, Beacon Press.
45 Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: A.k.a. the remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751
46 S. H. Webb, Taking Religion to School: Christian Theology and Secular Education (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2000).
47 Taylor, C. (1994). The politics of recognition. In A. Gutmann & C. Taylor (Eds.), Multiculturalism: Examining the politics of recognition (pp. 26–73). Princeton University Press.
48 K. Soules, When Religion Isn’t a Part of Culture: A Review of the Literature About Religion in Multicultural Education from 2002-2016 (Forthcoming).
49 Gay, G., & Kirkland, K. (2003). Developing cultural critical consciousness and self-reflection in preservice teacher education. Theory Into Practice, 42(3), 181–187. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_3
50 Howard, T. C. (2003). Culturally relevant pedagogy: Ingredients for critical teacher reflection. Theory Into Practice, 42(3), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5
51 Cutri, R. M. (2009). Race through religious eyes: Focusing teacher reflectivity on race, culture, and spiritual beliefs. Religion & Education, 36(1), 56–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2009.10012431
52 Hartwick, J. M. M. (2015). Public school teachers’ beliefs in and conceptions of God: What teachers believe, and why it matters. Religion & Education, 42(2), 122–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2014.944065
53 White, K. R. (2010). Asking sacred questions: Understanding religion’ impact on teacher belief and action. Religion & Education, 37(1), 40–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507390903559103
54 American Academy of Religion, “AAR Religious Literacy Guidelines: What U.S. College Graduates Need to Understand about Religion,” (2019) https://www.aarweb.org/AARMBR/Publications-and-News-/Guides-and-Best-Practices-/Teaching-and-Learning-/AAR-Religious-Literacy-Guidelines.aspx
55 Chan, Exploring a Potential Connection.
56 There is an option for teachers in religious school boards in Canada to become certified to teach religion. For example: https://coursesforteachers.ca/courses/CONT624
57 S. Jafralie, “The Challenges of Teaching the Religion Component of the Ethics and Religious Culture Program: A Study of Secondary Teachers in the Montreal Area” (McGill University, 2017), https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/m039k781r?locale=en
58 S. Jafralie, and A. Zaver, “Teaching Religious Education: The Ethics and Religious Culture Program as Case Study,” FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education 5, no. 1 (2019): 89–106, 92.
59 Leroux, G. (2006). Éthique et culture religieuse: Un programme de formation pour la société Québécoise [Ethics and religious culture: An education program for Quebec society]. Conférence présentée au forum national sur le programme Éthique et Culture Religieuse [Paper presented at the National Forum on the Ethics and Religious Culture Program], Québec. Retrieved from www. ecr. qc. ca
61 Jafralie, “The Challenges of Teaching the Religion.”
62 Moore, Overcoming Religious Illiteracy.
63 M. Grimmitt, What Can I Do in R. E.? A consideration of the Place of Religion in the Twentieth-Century Curriculum with Suggestions for Practical Work in Schools (Great Wakering: Mayhew-McCrimmon, 1973).
64 Ethics and Religious Culture program: Secondary education, cycles one and two. (2008). Quebec Ministry of Education. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/dpse/formation_jeunes/ecr_secondary.pdf, p. 12
65 Ibid.
66 L. March, “Quebec to Abolish Ethics and Religious Culture Course, to Make Way for ‘21st-Century themes’” (CBC News, 2020, January 10), https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ethics-religious-abolish-1.5421846; G. Valiante, “End of Quebec Course on Religion and Ethics Seen as Win for Nationalists,” (CTV News, 2020, March 8) https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/end-of-quebec-course-on-religion-and-ethics-seen-as-win-for-nationalists-1.4843834?cache=piqndqvkh
67 Jafralie, “The Challenges of Teaching the Religion.”
68 D. L. Eck, A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 71.