Page 92 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema

CHAPTER 4
respondents seem to indicate that such encounter often concerns the mutual exchange of content: “Then we often evaluate. What have you learned/done during public/religious education?” (respondent, questionnaire 19).
A few critical comments regarding segregated religious education are mentioned. Three respondents cannot provide a reason for this segregation. Some respondents indicate that this segregation prevents them from organizing an optimal encounter: “I understand that because of the separation you can explore subjects deeper, but I also think that it is important that children learn more from each other, from other religions, self-knowledge, standards and values” (respondent, questionnaire 19). However, others state that the segregation makes it possible to focus on Christianity, as illustrated by this quote: “This way it is possible to elaborate more on a subject” (respondent, questionnaire 9). No clear profile can be detected in public education. Respondents mention teaching about several religious traditions, as well as social subjects.
C. Objectives of religious education
The valuation of the prescribed objectives of religious education is mentioned in Table 4 (Appendix A).
Since a majority of the respondents indicate the ‘knowledge’ and the ‘understanding of religious traditions, present in our society’ as objectives of religious education, we can assume an appreciation for the plurality of religious sources. We can also see this appreciation when respondents put into words why they attach value to dialogue and encounter in religious education: equality of traditions is considered very important: “they [the students, ER] get to deal with different convictions later on in their lives. Talking about this and seeing things from different perspectives is, in this regard, very important” (respondent, questionnaire 22). However, in spite of the fact that dialogue and encounter are core values of cooperation schools, these are mentioned as objectives by no more than 50% of the respondents. It is noteworthy that both the knowledge of Christian culture and the transmission of Christian faith are stated. Only the respondents of school 1 do not mention the transmission of Christian faith as an objective. The correlation between the focus on plurality and these objectives is interesting to mention because of a possible resemblance or tension between this focus and the objectives mentioned in our data.
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