Charl Wolhuter & Corene de Wet

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1 International Comparative Perspectives on Religion & Education Charl Wolhuter & Corene de Wet Editors

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5 INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGION & EDUCATION CHARL WOLHUTER & CORENE DE WET EDITORS

6 International Comparative Perspectives on Religion and Education Charl Wolhuter & Corene de Wet (Editors) Published by SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein under the SUN PReSS imprint All rights reserved. Copyright 2014 Editors and SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, photographic or mechanical means, including photocopying and recording on record, tape or laser disk, on microfilm, via the Internet, by , or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission by the publisher. Views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. This title has been subject to an academic peer review process. First edition 2014 ISBN ISBN electronic pdf Set in 9.5/13 Resurrectory Typesetting and cover design by SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein Academic, professional and reference works are published under this imprint in print and electronic format. This publication may be ordered directly from Packaging, reproduction, printing and binding by SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein.

7 Table of Contents Religion in education: an international perspective Corene de Wet... 1 Education and religion in Israel: Blurring the boundaries of secular and religious Yotam Hotam & Philip Wexler... 9 Central effects of religious education in Armenia from Ancient Times to Post-Soviet Armenia Shelly Terzian The contribution of religious institutions to the development of secular education in Tanzania: The case of Pentecostal churches in the Dar es Salaam region William A.L. Anangisye & Augustino D. Mligo Religion and education in the United States Ralph D. Mawdsley Education and religion in the Netherlands Bram de Muynck, Siebren Miedema & Ina ter Avest Globalisation, multicultural reality, religiouspluralism and religious aspects of intercultural education in preschool and elementary school education through the viewpoint of Greek teachers and parents Maria Sakellariou Power relations in the history of religious education in Brazil: The need to develop Anti-Discriminatory Practices Andreia Lisboa de Sousa Religion and education: a South African perspective Flip Louw Religion and education Japanese cases: Latent issues Shin ichi Suzuki Malay is Malay, non-malay is non-malay, and never the twain shall meet: A critical analysis of religion and education in Malaysia Seng Piew Loo Education and religion in Iran: An annotated bibliography Shahrzad Kamyab

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9 Religion in education: An international perspective Corene de Wet School of Open Learning University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa Religion in education has, for a long time, been a controversial subject worldwide. The interest of academics in the topic may, according to Watson (2010:307), be credited to the awareness that it can lead to divisions between groups and countries, such as between Muslim and so-called Christian countries, but that religion can also be the glue that holds a society together. In nearly every society, before the state began to take responsibility for educational provision during the past century and a half, the earliest forms of schooling were based on religion. This is largely because religious leaders were often the only literate members of society (Watson, 2010:308). In early biblical times, Moses was told to teach the Israelites the laws and decrees of God and to show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform (Exod. 18:20). In Deut. 4:9 the Israelites were told to teach their children God s laws. In their discussion on the blending of education and religion Watson and Ozanne (2010:268) also refer to the fact that Brahmin priests taught the people of ancient India the Vedas and the exploits of the Hindu gods and schools attached to Hindu temples, developed over time. A comparable situation developed in Buddhist countries where reading, writing, memorisation, and crafts, such as carpentry and pottery were taught. In ancient China, Confucianism permeated every aspect of society and led to the tradition of literacy (Watson & Ozanne, 2010:269). In early and mediaeval Islam the mosque (masjid) and the kuttab were the main sources of education for Arab children (Findlow, 2008:340). Watson and Ozanne (2010:269) furthermore, mention that although the Greek and Romans developed formal schooling, it was not until the Romans embraced Christianity, and its spread across the Roman Empire, that religion, education and politics gradually became intertwined. Watson and Ozanne (2010:269) also point out that the 1

10 INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGION AND EDUCATION church was the founder of most formal education throughout Europe, and later by means of the missionary movement, in most of Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia. Most modern education systems have thus been shaped by the interaction between religion and the state. However, as countries industrialised and modernised, there was a tendency for most of them to become increasingly secularised. In Seng Piew Loo s contribution to this volume, the author argues that the rise of compulsory mass formal schooling and the Enlightenment led to the reduction of the influence of the Church on education, especially in the first modern republics, the United States of America (USA) and France. One of the important educational reforms after the inception of mass schooling was the secularisation of the curriculum in the aforesaid counties. The power of religion in education can be placed on a continuum: at one end of the continuum is nations such as France and the USA that have excluded all faith-specific subjects in the public school curriculum. In the middle of the range are countries such as the United Kingdom and South Africa, where religious education is part of the curriculum of public schools but is non-proselytising and covers diverse faiths. Further along the opposite end of the continuum, is Malaysia. In this semi-secular state religious education is provided by the state for both Muslim and non- Muslim learners. At the opposite end of the continuum is mostly Muslim countries, such as Iran that have enforced the establishment of state religion and compulsory religious education in public schools, based on a single mainstream faith. In the subsequent discussion, a review of the chapters will be followed by some concluding thoughts, comments and insights that have hopefully been learnt from the works of academics who have written about religion in their respective countries education systems. Yotam Hotam and Philip Wexler s chapter traces the roots of education in Israel back to the Zionist worldview that originated in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and that immediately promoted the first Jewish educational enterprises in contemporary Palestine. According to the authors, public education in Israel (in Hebrew Chinuch Mamlachti ) was defined as modern, Jewish secular and nationalistic education from its beginning, with the establishment of the state of Israel in In Hotam and Wexler s chapter, the tension between national religious and national secular schools, as well as the tense relations between national Jewish education and the Ultra-Orthodox and Arabic educational alternatives, is interrogated. Shelley Terzian s contribution traces the effects of religious education in Armenia from ancient times to post-soviet Armenia. She argues that the many political and religious reforms in Armenia led to varying religious influences in public schooling throughout its history. The chapter focuses on the role the Armenian Apostolic Church played in education prior to and after the Soviet Union era. Although the Armenian Apostolic Church is officially recognised as the national church of the post-soviet Republic of 2

11 Religion in education: An international perspective de Wet Armenia, the role of the Church has been separated from the role of the state by the 1991 Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations. The law restricts the active presence of the Church in education; yet the concept of nationhood and the history of the Armenian Church are integrated into the curriculum. Terzian aptly uses citations from interviews to support her argument that the historical influence of Christianity in Armenia defines Armenians. William A. L. Anangisye and Augustino D. Mligo s study looks at the contribution of the Pentecostal churches in the Dar-es-Salaam Region of Tanzania, to the development of secular education in this African country. They report their findings against the background of a historical overview of the role of missionaries in the provision of education during the pre- and colonial era. The authors highlight the important role of churches in the provision of education during the post-colonial era. The churches are, for example, responsible for educating 71 percent of pupils. The authors applaud the government for following an open-door policy, in especially, least served areas. In the chapter on religion and education in the USA, Ralph D. Mawdsley addresses four different basic areas of conflict which have arisen in religion and education; namely, the conflict between parents and public schools; government control of religious schools by various federal and state statutes and regulations; religious expression in public schools; and government aid to public schools from a legal perspective. In this chapter, Mawdsley sets out to explain the influence of the four key federal constitutional provisions on the religion and education conflict: the Liberty Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; Free Exercise; Free Speech; and the Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment. He argues that the ebb and flow of constitutional interpretation, the relationship between religion and education over the past half century has depended on the constitutional claim being affirmed. Bram de Muynck, Siebren Miedema and Ina ter Avest s chapter explores the roots of the Dutch tradition of having schools of different (religious) denominations in the school system, while all schools are state-funded. They start by looking back at the origins of the Dutch nation-state in the sixteenth century, in which politics was dominated by protestant Christians. In this section they also present the roots of the so called pillarised system which started in the nineteenth century. Then they summarise the significant changes that took place after the Second World War in the domain of religion and education. Thereafter, they focus on the current changes that we observe in the context of the phenomenon of religion and of contemporary demographic changes. In the subsequent section, they give the following five examples of how Dutch schools are dealing with these changes, namely encountering the other in interreligious education, responding to multi-culturality in open Christian schools, responding to multi-culturalism in an orthodox Christian school, responding to multi-culturality in an Islam school, and a post-pillarised response to multi- 3

12 Religion in education continues to be, as it has been for quite some time, a controversial subject. In almost every society, long before the state began to assume responsibility for education, schooling was based on religion and education was supplied by organised religion. When state supplied education systems came into being, the religious ethos of schools at first remained intact. During the past 50 years, that model came, for a variety of reasons, under increasing pressure. In the quest for an acceptable formula for the relation between education and religion, this book provides international comparative perspectives from the following national education systems, regarding the place of religion in education: Brazil, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Greece, Armenia, Israel, Iran, Malaysia, Japan, Tanzania and South Africa. About the Editors Charl Wolhuter Charl Wolhuter studied at the University of Johannesburg, the University of Pretoria, the University of South Africa and the University of Stellenbosch. His doctorate was awarded in Comparative Education at the University of Stellenbosch. He was a junior lecturer in History of Education at the University of Pretoria and a Senior Lecturer in History of Education and Comparative Education at the University of Zululand. Currently he is Comparative and International Education professor at North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa. He is the author of various articles and books in the fields of History of Education and Comparative and International Education. He is a fellow of the Faculty of Education, University of South Africa, and he has been guest professor at Driestar Pedagogical University, Gouda, the Netherlands; Brock University, Canada; Bowling Green State University, Ohio; University of Mount Union, Ohio, USA; the University of Canterbury, UK; and the University of Crete, Greece. Corene de Wet Corene de Wet was a history and Afrikaans teacher for 16 years. In 1992, after completion of her doctoral studies, she was appointed as senior lecturer at the Department of Comparative Education and Education Management at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein. Currently she is working as research professor at the School of Open Learning (University of the Free State). She holds a D.Ed. in Comparative Education, as well as a Ph.D. in history. She has authored and co-authored more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed national and international journals, as well as papers in conference proceedings and chapters in books. She has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences, and facilitated workshops on bullying. Her research interests include violence and crime in schools, as well as workplace bullying in staff rooms. She is a NRF-rated researcher. She is on the editorial board of the South African Journal of Education and Perspectives in Education. ISBN