Page 128 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema

CHAPTER 5
to implement this requirement in order to put the concept of dialogue into practice. A third conclusion concerns the content of the new celebration in relation to the concept of dialogue. The teachers are pleased that the new practice addresses a general theme with which all students can identify. This implies two concepts of collective religious education that fosters dialogue.
In the first place, the exchange of students’ personal experiences and views and the substantive attention for these experiences and views can enhance dialogue, according to the teachers. The identification with the theme and, therefore, the possibility for students to participate in the dialogue about their experiences with and their views on this theme, are seen as a strong concept of dialogical religious education. It is a characteristic of dialogue that fosters the development of the student’s personal identity (Roebben 2000; Elias 2010; Orteza Y Miranda 2010). In the designed practice, it is stimulated by a free dialogue about stories, poems or images. However, in the dialogue between students, there is no attention to any specific existential theme that are explored by the students. Similarly, the general theme of ‘What makes you quiet?’ is not discussed in dialogue. A variety of themes is explored and there is no central focus on any theme or experience.
Our second concept is in line with the first. It seems that ‘a general theme’ is interpreted as a theme without any connection to or emphasis on a religious content or religious denomination or background. On the contrary, this new design lacks a reference to any religious tradition or any possible religious view of the students or teachers. The new design makes no distinction between religious views from general or Christian religious education. In other words, we see that a practice of dialogue can be organized in line with school values, but this dialogue is limited: there is no focus on any central existential theme that is explored by a variety of perspectives, and the dialogue is not moderated professionally. It seems these factors prevent the dialogue from contributing to the development of the students’ identity.
8. Discussion
8.1. Questions for religious education
Our questions concern practices of religious education that express dialogue between students from different backgrounds. These questions arise from the
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