Responding to religious pluralization and the creation of interreligious dialogue in education : A case study of dialogical “Religious Education for All” in Hamburg, Germany

ドイツ　ノ　キョウイク　ニ　オケル　シュウキョウ　タゲンカ　ヘ　ノ　タイオウ　ト　シュウキョウカン　タイワ　ノ　コウチク　ハンブルク　ミンナ　ノ　タメ　ノ　シュウキョウカ　ノ　ジレイ　ヲ　チュウシン　ニ

ヤマネ・ホリエ, エミ

Yamane-Horie, Emi

オオサカ ダイガク ダイガクイン ニンゲン カガク ケンキュウカ キョウイクガクケイ

Department of Education, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

This paper aims to clarify the historical and social backgrounds of interreligious dialogical “Religious Education (RE) for All,” in which all pupils take part regardless of their religious faith. Such a RE is provided only in Hamburg, whereas most German federal states offer RE that is segregated along confessional lines. By analyzing the data from a 2016 interview survey of related parties the following findings are revealed. First, the Protestant Church considered it unfair that only Protestant confessional RE had been provided while there were many pupils with other religious backgrounds. The Church tried to establish a trusting relationship from other religious groups in order to rectify the unequitable situation and built a cooperative system for interreligious RE. Second, the need for interreligious and dialogical education is perceived throughout in Hamburg, not only by teachers, pupils, or parents but also by politicians. On the other hand, some religious groups like the Catholic Church and two Islamic groups want to have their own confessional RE instead of cooperative interreligious RE. In addition, the majority of RE teachers have background in the Protestant faith and there are few teachers from Islamic or other religious backgrounds. In order to promote religious diversity among teachers, further education for RE teachers were held and teacher training courses on Islam and Alevism were established at Hamburg University in winter term of 2015. Buddhist and Hindu groups are currently also trying to adopt a convention on RE with the assistance of city administration so that religious backgrounds of RE teachers will become more diverse in the near future. This case study proves that respect, tolerance, and equity are the keys to following the path of dialogue that is the world’s social agenda.