Als je moslim bent op een christelijke school...

Een reflectie op levensbeschouwelijk onderwijs over de islam op protestants-christelijke en katholieke scholen voor voortgezet onderwijs

Samenvatting

In this contribution, the author contemplates his own experiences with ‘teaching about Islam in the classroom’, both as a religious education teacher in protestant-Christian secondary schools and as a consultant of this kind of secondary schools. His experiences lead to insights into the questions rising when more and more students appear to be religious. Does he know enough about Islam? Is he aware of the way knowledge of Islam is presented? What is the purpose of protestant-Christian religious education (RE) in a superdiverse society, and how do the religious background of the school and of the teacher influence this? What knowledge and wisdom can help Muslim students to develop their personal identity and to find their own way in society? From the practical point of view, the curriculum for protestant-Christian RE is developed and adapted to changing circumstances by teachers on a step by step way in schools. However, some more fundamental questions also ask for a new approach of teaching about Islam specifically, and for teaching RE and worldview in general. Three topics are central in the author’s view: (1) the way knowledge is positioned in the curriculum, (2) the idea that students should be seen as subject of learning activities, and (3) the creation of space and safety for a peaceful dialogue about existential questions in a polarised world. In order to further develop a national curriculum in which this kind of topics will be addressed, the cooperation of researchers, teacher-trainers and teachers is required.