This book explores the religious dimension in intercultural education and states that religion plays a key role in value conflicts and worldview differences in schools in pluralistic societies. Religion is considered having a double role, both as the reason for deep differences in mental mapping and worldviews and as a contributor to intercultural understanding and dialogue. The book discusses the role religion has in education both at an institutional level, in the whole school society, and in Religious Education as a specific school subject. Underlying Western worldviews in subject curricula and subject didactics need to be revealed and contested to increase the benefit of education for all students. It argues for the need of a contextual understanding to help teaching and learning address religious diversity in schools.

This reference book is intended to help teachers, teacher administrators, policy makers and others deal with the important issue of religious diversity in Europe's schools. The religious dimension of intercultural education is an issue that affects all schools, whether they are religiously diverse or not, because their pupils live and will work in increasingly diverse societies. The book is the main outcome of the project 1The Challenge of intercultural education today: religious diversity and dialogue in Europe', developed by the Council of Europe between 2002 and 2005. It is in four parts: theoretical and conceptual basis for religious diversity and intercultural education; educational conditions and methodological approaches; religious diversity in schools in different settings; examples of current practice in some member states of the Council of Europe.

Based on the assumption that understanding, tolerance and peace are achieved through knowledge of others, including their religious identity. This conference focused on two main themes: the first looked at questions relating to the application of a religious dimension to intercultural education, the second examined the role and responsibility of decision makers and practitioners.

Discusses the theory and practice

This policy recommendation defines the perspective from which religions and non-religious convictions are to be taken into account in a framework of intercultural education, while setting out a number of principles, objectives and teaching and learning methods. It was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on December 10, 2008 as the final outcome of the project carried out by the Steering Committee for Education on the New Challenge of Intercultural Education: Religious Diversity and Dialogue in Europe (2002-2005). It can be used as a reference by policy makers, curricula designers, trainers and teachers in their everyday work to develop competences for intercultural dialogue and to remove obstacles that prevent appropriate treatment of the diversity of religions and non-religious convictions in school settings.--Publisher's description.

This open access book provides an analysis of contemporary societies and schools shaped by cultural diversity, globalization and migration. This diversity is necessarily reflected in education systems and requires the promotion of intercultural approaches able to improve learning processes and the quality of education. From an international and comparative perspective, this book first presents theoretical and conceptual foundations for seriously considering cultural diversity. The book also compares intercultural approaches and debates generated in countries as diverse as the United States, Canada, Brazil, Switzerland and France. For each national context, the book addresses both the historical roots of intercultural approaches and the concrete initiatives driven by educational policies for their implementation in schools and classrooms. Finally, the book presents discussions surrounding the treatment of linguistic or religious diversity in schools, the emergence of global citizenship education and the key role of teachers in intercultural approaches. This is an open access book.

The National Association for Multicultural Education in Washington, D.C., listed a number of issues that the school curriculum should address with reference to multicultural education, including racism, sexism, classism, linguicism, ablism, ageism, heterosexism, and religious intolerance. It is noteworthy that of all these issues, religion is about the only one that throughout history people are willing to die for, although whether what is at issue is really religion or other things such as territory is another matter. It is also interesting that all the others have isms in their names but religious issues are characterized by intolerance. Perhaps we should try to understand this intolerance and look at what steps might help to alleviate it. However, while intolerance might seem a simple thing, understanding what is behind it and how it plays such a crucial role in religion requires what we refer to in the Introduction chapter as a multifaceted approach at multiple levels. It is not enough just to try to dispel stereotypes of followers of other religions, or to point out commonalities in world religions. We should, for example, try to understand and appreciate how adherents of other religions try to answer questions regarding their adaptation to the contemporary environment. It is through understanding how different religions coexist side by side at various levels that we truly come to learn about religion in multicultural education.