RELIGION IN EDUCATION: AN EMOTIVE RESEARCH DOMAIN

  • Cornelia Roux Stellenbosch University South Africa
  • Petro Du Preez Stellenbosch University South Africa

Abstract

Understanding religion and especially different aspects of world religions is today, more than ever, an important part of social science. Religion is not only a means whereby many different cultures categorise and define human values, but it also provides a way in which to understand diversity in humankind’s experiences with life as part of our quest for meaning. Religion, as a component of the curriculum in education, be it in a home school environment, in schools or at tertiary institutions, is also a vibrant and important research domain. In the quest for greater understanding of people’s perceptions, attitudes, feelings and experiences, as well as their own religions and those of others, empirical research seems to be an effective route to follow. In this article the authors theorise on different research designs and methodologies to be applied in religion in education as a research domain and argue for a cautious approach to and analyses of empirical data. This article contains many claims made by the authors based on their experiences of research on Religion in Education.
Published
2013-06-12
Section
Articles