Page 85 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND CELEBRATIONS IN DUTCH COOPERATION SCHOOL
celebrations. In line with Henry, we regard these activities as rituals that express
and enhance the school identity: “what the school stands for is evidenced in its
expression through ritual” (Henry 1992, 306). In our research we investigate the
social values of school identity, and relate them to encounter in religious education
and the development of student’s identity. Therefore we define ritual in schools as
educational practices in which values of community and belonging are expressed 4 and the development of the student’s identity is fostered. Because of the emphasis
on social values of cooperation schools and the social perspective of encounter in religious education theory, we elaborate on the communal aspect of ritual.
In ritual theory, the social function of a ritual is stressed by many scholars (Bell 1997). In the line of Durkheim’s view on religion as a way of fostering social cohesion, a ritual is interpreted as a means of “transcending the particular” (Bell 1997, 267). A functionalist approach on the social qualities of ritual should not be isolated from other approaches (Barnard and Wepener 2012). However, we focus on the quality of ritual that Grimes distinguished: “ritual generates and stimulates a sense of belonging and relationships of trust” (Barnard and Wepener 2012, 4). Similarly, Grimes stresses this quality, defining ritual as “an evanescent social event” (Grimes 2014, 242). We elaborate on the social dimension of these activities, viewing it as a way of forming or enacting communities. In this aim, we recognize core values of cooperation schools: equality, encounter, mutual understanding. The social dimension of educational practices is underlined by Wardekker and Miedema, who “formulate the aim of the school as enabling pupils to participate in socially and culturally structured practices that take place at a certain time and that are located within a particular societal setting” (2001b, 80). According to Henry, ritual is an educational practice with a social dimension: it helps schools “to form an educational community” (1992, 306).
At the schools in this study, the core values expressed and enhanced in rituals like the moments of contemplation and the celebrations are always related to a characteristic feature of a cooperation school: these schools are mainly attended by students from Christian and non-affiliated backgrounds. Given that fact, what are theoretical perspectives on expressing a characteristic school identity in religious education in plural settings?
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