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RE in Russia has been recently introduced as a compulsory regular school subject during the last year of elementary school. The present study offers a critical analysis of the current practice of Russian RE by comparing it with RE in Sweden, Denmark and Britain. This analysis shows that Russian RE is ambivalent. Although it is based on a non-confessional religious studies approach, Russian RE also serves the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church, which aims to educate students into Orthodox Christianity, as well as the interests of the Russian state itself, which turns RE in a kind of citizenship education focusing on the patriotic upbringing of students.

Religious education (RE) has been recently introduced into the Russian educational system as a compulsory regular school subject. The present study offers a critical analysis of one of the most pop...

Item does not contain fulltext This paper proposes that the acquisition of meta-concepts and thinking skills in order to facilitate scholarly religious thought should be the principal aim of religious education in schools. As a result, the aim of religious education is primarily stated in cognitive terms and religious education is understood as closely related to education about religion. The educational value of this approach is explained in a cultural–historical perspective on learning. It is shown that there is a close connection between learning and development and that school learning especially contributes to development of pupils’ higher cognitive functions, if school learning aims at the acquisition of subject-specific meta-concepts and thinking skills. In order to apply these insights to religious education, the aim of religious education is reconsidered and some examples of meta-concepts and thinking skills that may serve as the content of religious education are discussed. 12 maart 2012 15 p.

This article considers the desirability and legitimacy of denominational schools from the perspective of socialisation theory. It examines the popular criticism that nowadays the common reason for the existence of denominational schools – the religious socialisation of children – is endorsed by a dwindling number of parents, which renders the existence of these schools obsolete. It is shown, however, that this popular criticism is based on a traditional understanding of religious socialisation as the transmission of faith. Counter to this traditional understanding, the article presents a more modern conception of socialisation as personality development. On the basis of this interpretation of socialisation, the pedagogical function of denominational schools is reconsidered. It is argued that the pedagogical task of denominational schools today is not so much to transmit faith but rather to facilitate the formation of personal identity as a core aspect of contemporary socialisation processes.