Forming Views towards People of Different Faith: School’s Religious Culture and the Perceptions of Students who Experience Conflict in Mindanao

Abstract

Young people living in conflict-ridden areas in the southern part of the Philippines, Mindanao, experience hostility from communities motivated by religious ideologies and political beliefs. With this premise, this study will uncover emerging themes on the way students form their views towards people who have a different faith based on three distinct religious cultures of six schools situated in conflict-ridden areas in Mindanao. Guided by the precepts of phenomenology, this study utilized focused-group discussion with art-based activities and in-depth interviews to show the three dominant religious cultures in schools have distinct influences on their students’ perspectives of others.

Acknowledgements

This paper is developed from the author’s PhD thesis. The author acknowledges the significant contributions of peer reviewers in improving the overall presentation and substance of this study.

Notes

1 ARMM was formaly abolished for the creation of a new expanded region called the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the first quarter of 2019.

2 School factors refer to the elements that students encounter in institutions that offer basic education; identified school factors include social interactions, curriculum, pedagogy, materials, programs, and activities. Non-school factors refer to elements in the community or outside the school campus that these students encounter, for example: family's ideology, conflict, poverty, local and international aid, social interaction, social pressure, and recruitment to insurgency.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonamari Kristin Floresta

Jonamari Kristin Floresta is currently the Vice President of ABC Educational Development Center Inc., Philippines. She has recently completed her PhD this year in the University of Sydney under the supervision of Dr. Alexandra McCormick and Dr. Elizabeth Cassity. Email: [email protected] or [email protected]