The article explores how employees in the Church of Sweden understand knowledge about the Christian tradition and interprets these reflections through the analytical framework of religious literacy. The study is based on semi-structured group interviews with church employees. The findings show that knowledge is understood both as familiarity with Christian tradition and as interpretive and relational practice. The article argues that, in an ecclesial context, religious literacy involves not only interpreting tradition but also articulating and communicating its meanings in contemporary contexts.
This practitioner action research (AR) study examines how K-12 social studies educators understand and use the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Religious Studies Companion Document for the C3 Framework (RSCD). Survey data from 118 educators indicate uneven familiarity with the framework, selective use of its components, and inconsistent classroom use frequency. Qualitative findings highlight challenges related to facilitating discussion, navigating constitutional and community considerations, assessing student learning, and accessing classroom-ready resources. Findings suggest that strengthening professional learning, differentiated instructional supports, and practical implementation tools may help translate national guidance on religious literacy into more consistent classroom practice.
Whether the school day begins with "prayer," "contemplation," or "meditation" - each word will evoke different reactions. This study delves into the relationship between conceptualizations of spirituality and attitudes toward its assimilation in institutionalized education. The case study is a governmental secular-traditional network of schools in Israel. The research aims to find out what stances do parents and faculty hold on the introduction of various alternative-spiritual practices and contents to elementary schools. The major finding is that all sectors are willing to incorporate spirituality in schools (parents much more than teachers). Terminological issues came up as crucial in the responses.
Religious literacy practices are often written about as a singular, uniform concept within a given religious community. In reality, religious literacy practices can be diverse and contested within their own communities. This article examines two distinct literacy practices in Jewish tradition, both promoted across various sources. It offers an empirical portrait of each as taught in an elementary school Hebrew Bible classroom. This article has two aims: First, to broaden appreciation for diversity within religious traditions. Second, to connect that diversity to literacy pedagogy more broadly.
There is a stereotype that highly religious parents, particularly those from the local majority religion, want their religious values reflected in the local school curriculum. In contrast, less religious parents want a general factual overview of multiple religions. However, no prior qualitative research explored these assumptions. This study interviewed 40 parents of elementary school-aged children via snowball sampling from different religious groups. Findings revealed that highly religious Christian parents residing in religiously homogeneous settings expressed their desire to integrate Christianity formally and informally in public school settings, which was different from almost all respondents from heterogeneous settings like large cities, including similar devout Christians. The results challenge assumptions about the monolithic nature of religious parents, highlighting how geographic and community composition shape educational preferences regarding religion.
