Original scientific paper
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CURRICULA FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: EXAMPLES OF FOUR CATHOLIC COUNTRIES
Ankica Marinović Bobinac
; Institute for Social Research, Zagreb
Abstract
This text is the result of extensive work on the project Evaluation
of curricula for compulsory education in Croatia, which included the analysis of the
curricula of 11 European countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, Scotland,
Ireland, Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. For the purpose
of this article, Ireland, Austria and Slovenia have been chosen besides Croatia. The
criterion for these choices was confessional: all four countries have predominantly
Catholic population.The aim of this paper is to establish differences in the teaching
of religious contents in the analysed Catholic countries, and to determine, in view
of the postulated subject goals, the differences in competences predominantly
developed by individual syllabi. The curricula for religious education in all four
countries have been analysed.
Confessional religious education is a constituent part of the school curriculum
in Ireland, Austria and Croatia whereas the non-confessional approach is present
in Slovenia.
Results have shown that in Austria and Croatia religious themes are taught in a
traditional, confessional way. Both curricula explicitely connect educational goals
with catechetic, pastoral and evangelizational goals. In Irelenad, the approach to
the phenomenon of religion in religious education is primarily cultural and less
doctrinary normative, thus coming closer to non-confessional religious education.
Attending religious education classes is not related to attending religious services
in church. Non-confessional religious education in Slovenia places emphasis on
the educational aspect of religious themes with particular reference to the transfer
of tradition, to human rights and intercultural teaching.
Keywords
religious education; confessional/non-confessional religious education; Ireland; Austria; Slovenia; Croatia; indicators of religiosity
Hrčak ID:
24603
URI
Publication date:
10.12.2007.
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