Panel: DIDACTICAL APPROACHES TO ENHANCE LEARNING INTO INCLUSION AND EQUALITY IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION



62.2 - LEARNING HOW TO DIALOGUE IN RE

AUTHORS:
Van Deursen-Vreeburg J. (tilburg school of catholic theology ~ Tilburg ~ Netherlands)
Text:
Research has been conducted on the negative effects of digitalisation on young people. Commonly cited issues include cyberbullying, reduced self-confidence, and a decline in conversational skills ('oracy'). These phenomena conflict with the goals of religious and philosophical education in secondary schools, which aim to develop students' capacity for self-reflection, a dialogical attitude, and the ability to engage with existential and ethical questions. In RE, teachers hold regular classroom dialogues in which students share ideas and reflect together on life questions and ethical themes. These dialogues are ideally characterised by reciprocity and engagement. Learning to engage in dialogue contributes to both citizenship education and students' personal formation. In this paper presentation, insights from philosophical and theological dialogue thinkers (Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, David Bohm, Gabriel Marcel and Simone Weil) are being presented and translated into pedagogical and didactical principles for classroom dialogues. Learning how to dialogue on spiritual and moral foundations allows inclusion and equality to grow in the classroom.