On the edge : (Auto)biography and pedagogical theories on religious education

For the first time, leading scholars in Religious Education and Citizenship Education reflect upon ‘the making of’ of their theoretical framework, in honour of Siebren Miedema. In this Liber Amicorum, in retrospect these scholars recognize, implicitly or more explicitly, ‘critical incidents’ and they honour ‘critical persons’ for the decisive voice each of them had in the articulation of the theoretical frame of reference the scholars developed in the field of pedagogy of religion(s) and citizenship education. Or, to use the words Siebren Miedema prefers, the field of religious citizenship education. The ‘eminence grise’ in the field of Pedagogy is brought together in this volume, like John Hull, Bob Jackson and Wolfram Weisse; scholars from the United States of America like Jack Seymour and Mary Elizabeth Moore; scholars from Latin America like Günther Dietz; scholars from the Netherlands like Cok Bakker, Chris Hermans, Henk Kuindersma, Alma Lanser, Wilna Meijer, Bram de Muynck and Doret de Ruyter; scholars from Western Europe like Hans-Günther Heimbrock and Friedrich Schweitzer; scholars from Eastern Europe like Fedor Kozyrev; scholars from up North like Geir Skeie; scholars from down South like Cornelia Roux and Marian De Souza. They all responded to the question of the editor, Ina ter Avest, to reflect upon the relationship between their biography and their developed theoretical framework. For everybody interested in the field of religious citizenship education, this volume offers a thorough introduction to their theories. We hope this comprehensive book will provoke readers to balance on the edge of different perspectives and to stimulate the development of their own line of thought on religious citizenship education. Front Matter....Pages i-x On the Edge: A Biographical Approach to Pedagogical Theory Development....Pages 1-10 The Real Talks....Pages 11-21 The Challenge of Double Reflexivity....Pages 23-35 My Personal Contexts....Pages 37-46 Religion as a Special World of Meaning Set Apart....Pages 47-55 Religious Education and the Arts of Interpretation Revisited....Pages 57-68 Religion as a Gift....Pages 69-79 Innovation of Religious Education....Pages 81-91 Doing and Undergoing....Pages 93-102 Reason and Religion....Pages 103-113 Conversation that Matters....Pages 115-125 Jonah was my Religious Teacher....Pages 127-136 Conflict or Cohesion?....Pages 137-149 The Best and the Worst that has Been Said and Done....Pages 151-161 Religious Education, Identity and Faith in (Post-)Modernity: More than a Biographical Approach?....Pages 163-174 Religious Education Among Friends and Strangers....Pages 175-185 In Search of a Religious Education Approach....Pages 187-198 Responding to Pluralism and Globalization in Religious Education....Pages 199-210 Interreligious Dialogue....Pages 211-222