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THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
IN INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION -
THE NEW PUBLICATION OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Y. V. Polyakova
The article deals with the Recommendations of the Council of Europe on religions and non-religious beliefs in intercultural education, and the new publication “Signposts” focused on their implementation in specific national, regional and local contexts.
Key words: the Council of Europe, intercultural education, religious dimension.
In 2002, for the first time, the Council of Europe undertook measures to include the religious dimension in their work in the field of intercultural education. It was recognized that religion has become a subject of active discussion in the public sphere, especially in the mass media; and that it is impractical to exclude this area from the public education system. Based on this, the Council of Europe began its first project in the field of the religious dimension of intercultural education in 2002 under the supervision of the Steering Committee for Education.
Up to that point, intercultural education did not include the religious aspect, and religion was considered a private matter of each person's life. Gradually, it became obvious that religion is entering the sphere of interests of society as a whole more and more. This viewpoint was confirmed by the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States, and in their analysis and the public discussion around them in the world. Based on this, the European educational policy has developed the position that it is the school that must develop the younger generation’s understanding of religions and beliefs in the course of education. The publication of a reference book for people working in the field of education for the European countries (Religious diversity and intercultural education: a reference book for schools, ed. Keast J.) in 2007 was the first result of work of the Council of Europe in this area. This was followed by further discussion of this issue, which contributed to the creation by the Council of Europe in 2008 of the “White Book on Intercultural Dialogue - Living Together as Equal People in Dignity”. The same year, the Council of Europe gathered together European religious leaders, representatives of humanitarian organizations, and institutional partners within the Council of Europe and other international non-governmental organizations. It was the first meeting of that kind within the framework of the Council of Europe that included religious leaders and organizations representing civil society, the purpose of which was to discuss the issues of education, taking into account the changing attitudes to religion in the society. Since then, these events have been held annually, being advisory in their nature; and being focused on expanding and deepening cooperation.
In 2008, the Committee of Ministers adopted the Recommendations CM / Rec (2008) 12 of the Committee of Ministers of the countries - members of the Council of Europe on religions and non-religious beliefs in intercultural education, which has become an important milestone in the history of the educational activities of the Council of Europe.
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How could it happen that the Recommendations, being a result of enormous effort on cooperation between governments, have not received any visible and tangible embodiment and influence in the national contexts? One of the most common and simplest answers to this question is that the Council of Europe cannot rely on the army to protect its values and inspire respect of its norms and standards, especially when they are perceived as non-binding recommendations. Ensuring the implementation of the specific initiatives and declarations of the Council of Europe, including these Recommendations, is a tedious process that depends on a complex combination of various conditions and circumstances. These circumstances include understanding the need to undertake such measures, such as the variety of social and political conditions, the desire and the ability of national governments and political forces, taking into account the external, collective experience and the desire to learn from it.
A document was published in 2014 which is intended to help the developers of educational policy, schools, professional educational establishments and other participants of the educational process to implement these Recommendations in specific national, regional and local contexts. The full title of the document is “Signposts - Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious world-views in intercultural education”. The name of the document, “Signposts”, has a special meaning, because its purpose is to facilitate discussion and the use of the Recommendations in the countries that are members of the Council of Europe, determining the most important aspects in specific national conditions. The cover page of the work has road signs with symbols of the world's major religions. The authors of the idea of creating this document in 2010 became a part of a Joint Implementation Group set up by the Council of Europe and the European Wergeland Centre (the group includes Gabriele Mazza, who, as the initiator of this project as the Director of Education of the Council of Europe, was the chairman of the Joint Implementation Group and guided its work; Professor Robert Jackson, the vice chairman and author of the text; Abdeldzhalil Akkari, Director of the Research Group on International Education at the University of Geneva; Wanda Alberts - Professor, Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen (Norway), co-founder of the Working Group on the study of religion in the secular education of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR); Francesca Gobbo - Professor of intercultural education and pedagogical anthropology at the University of Turin (Italy), the editor of the international magazine “Intercultural Education”; Claudia Lenz - Head of the Research and Development Department in the European Wergeland Centre, Professor at the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences; Villano Kviriazi - Head of Education Policy Department at the Council of Europe; Peter Schreiner - Senior Researcher, Institute of Comenius, Protestant Centre for Educational Research and Development (Munster, Germany), President of the Inter-European Commission on Church and School (ICCS) and moderator of the Coordinating Group for Religion in Education in Europe (CoGREE); Marianne Shahnovich - Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies, St. Petersburg State University).
The structure of the “Signposts” is as follows: (1) Recommendations: Rationale, Issues and Challenges. (2) Introduction to the “Signposts” (3) The
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terminology associated with the study of religions and beliefs. (4) The competence and didactics needed for understanding religions. (5) The class as a safe space. Representation of religions in the mass media. (6) Non-religious beliefs and worldview. (7) Human rights problems. (8) Communication of schools with the public and organizations. (9) Further discussion and actions.
The intergovernmental activities, which led to the adoption of Recommendations CM / Rec (2008) 12, development of the recommendations themselves and subsequent publication of the “Signposts” demonstrate the growing awareness of the need to include the study of religious beliefs into the education system, for several reasons, The first one is the overall objectives of the Parliamentary Assembly, Commissioner for Human Rights, mechanisms for intergovernmental co-operation of the Council of Europe and the Secretariat related to the constant and harmonic involvement of issues of the religious dimension into the intercultural dialogue; the second one is rapid build-up and effective implementation of intergovernmental cooperation that led to the timely adoption by the Committee of Ministers of Recommendations CM / Rec (2008) 12; the third one originates from the intention of the Committee of Ministers to launch a 10-year process of direct involvement of European countries into this multifaceted subject area of activity, through the organization of relevant activities in the states -members of the Council of Europe; the fourth one is the active role, together with the European Wergeland Center, of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe, not only in the initiation of this process as a whole, but also in its support up to the present day, through the creation of the document “Signposts”, aimed at increasing opportunities and earlier applied forces for the creation of the Recommendations, and increasing the chances for their selective and thoughtful application in the states - members of the Council of Europe.
In fact, the European Wergeland Centre itself is a concrete example of the initiative of the Council and the Norwegian government, able to help to meet the challenges of the 21st century in the context of civil democracy, human rights and intercultural education in Europe. The European Wergeland centre on education for democratic citizenship, human rights and intercultural awareness was established by the Council of Europe and the Government of Norway in order to “build bridges” between policy and practical activities, and it is their joint initiative to increase the capacity of implementation of the Recommendations CM / Rec (2008) 12 that is a direct source of the “Signposts”. The significant progress of this organization is a source of rightful satisfaction for those who participated in its creation, both in Oslo and in Strasbourg, and in the Secretariat of the Council of Europe itself.
The “Signposts” make a great contribution to the priorities of the Council as a basis for building a broader concept (similar to the all-European guidelines for language education), where the democratic and civil competences may be determined (including the intercultural ones), aimed to contribute to the enrichment of democratic culture.
The “Signposts” were written to help the developers of educational policy, schools, teacher training institutions and other participants of constructive work with the Recommendations. The “Signposts”, therefore, should not be seen as a final product, but rather as a tool, an element, a step in the continuous process.
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This document is intended to play a major role in the development of valuable initiatives in individual countries, as well as joint research in various parts of Europe and, perhaps, outside Europe as well.
The first results of discussion of the “Signposts” and ways to implement them were considered at a joint colloquium of ICCS (Inter-European Commission on Church and School), CoGree (Coordinating Group for Religion in Education in Europe) and EFTRE (European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education) in Klingenthal (France) on October 6-10, 2014. Within the framework of this meeting the directions of development of the educational policy of the Council of Europe in the field of intercultural and religious education were discussed. The colloquium was also attended by representatives of the European Wergeland Center (Dr. Claudia Lenz, Head of the Research Department). The colloquium participants met Jean-Christophe Bas, Director for Democratic Citizenship Issues at the Council of Europe. Much has already been done by the expert group responsible for the first phase which followed the development of the Recommendations, including the first general pedagogical guidelines for use at school. Clarification of permanent linguistic and semantic ambiguities (double meanings) and study of the relationships between intercultural education, on the one hand, and the phenomenon based on religious and non-religious beliefs and values system, respectively, on the other hand was done. Nevertheless, much remains to be done, particularly in relation to adult education and extra-curriculum education. There is a need for continuous education throughout one’s life and a link with the prospect of social and cultural development of the society, as well as implementation of initial and continuous training of teachers and other staff involved in these processes.
Although work in this area has just begun, the next phase will entail the expansion of discussions, increasing the number of their participants, including the mass media, religious and secular organizations and experts, in addition to teachers and teacher training institutions. The “Signposts” appeared thanks to one of the recognized powers of the Council of Europe: its ability to deal with problems through various long-term projects, to avoid ephemeral, short-lived initiatives, and use a wide range of both well-proven and innovative methods of work. Through the implementation of these two successful projects - development of the long-awaited Recommendations, and after them - the “Signposts”, the Council has once again positioned itself as a pioneer and developer of standards in such a difficult area for the political, social and educational future of Europe as religious education.
Bibliography
1. R. Jackson. Signposts - Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious world views in intercultural education: https://book.coe.int/eur/en/human-rights-education-intercultural-education/6101-signposts-policy-and-practice-for-teaching-about-religions-and-non-religious-world-views-in-intercultural-education.html
2. Inter-European Commission on Church and School http://www.iccsweb.org
3. Coordinating Group for Religion in Education in Europe http://www.cogree.com/
4. The European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education. http://www.eftre.net/
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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