The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South presents new comparative perspectives on Religious Education (RE) across the Global South. Including 23 chapters written by scholars from the Global North and South, this is the first authoritative reference work on the subject. The handbook is thematically organised into seven sections. The first three sections deal with provision, response to changes in contemporary society, and decolonizing
RE. The next four sections explore young people and RE, perspectives on teachers, RE in higher education, and finally, challenges and opportunities for RE. The term ‘Global South’ is used here primarily to signify the deep economic divide with the Global North, but the concept is
also examined in historical, geographical, political, social and cultural terms, including the indelible influence of religion in all four broadly defined regions. Exploring RE from local, cross-national as well as regional and sub-regional perspectives, the handbook examines RE from its diverse past, present realities, and envisioned future revealing not only tensions, contestations, injustices and inequalities of power, but importantly, how inclusive forms of RE can help solve these problems.
Acknowledgments List of Images, Tables and Figures List of Acronyms Notes on Contributors Introduction Religious Education in the Global South, Yonah Hisbon Matemba (University of the West of Scotland, UK) and Bruce A. Collet, (Bowling Green State University, USA) Section One: State, Status and Provision of Religious Education 1. Non-state Providers in Education and the Provision of Religious Education in Kenya, Malini Sivasubramaniam (University of Toronto, Canada) 2. Zambia’s Religious Education: Reviewing the Journey, Brendan Carmody (Institute of Education, University College London, UK) 3. Religious Education Reform in Turkey: Issues and Outcomes, Abdurrahman Hendek (Sakarya University Faculty of Theology, Turkey) Section Two: Religious Education and Changes in Contemporary Society 4. We do not live alone: In Search of Inclusive Religious Education in Indonesian Faith Based Elementary Schools, Chiara Logli (Honolulu Community College, Hawaii, USA) 5. Religion and Secularism in Turkish Religious Education, Yusuf Ziya Ogretici (Ministry of National Education, Turkey) 6. Religious Education and Contemporary Issues in Zambia: Insights from Kabwe-Central Region, Joseph Chita and Nelly Mwale (University of Zambia, Zambia) Section Three: Towards Decolonising Religious Education 7. Decolonising Christian Education in India? Navigating the Complexities of Hindu Nationalism and BJP Education Policy, Sally Elton-Chalcraft (University of Cumbria, UK) and David J. Chalcraft (Liverpool John Moores, UK) 8. Marginalisation of African Traditional Religion in Kenyan Religious Education Curriculum, Matthew M. Karangi (St John Fisher School, UK). Section Four: Young People and Religious Education 9. Indonesian Students’ Perceptions on Doctrines, Ethics, and Identity in Religious Education, Tabita Kartika Christiani and Handi Hadiwitanto (Duta Wacana Christian University, Indonesia) 10. Engagement with the Religion Class in Colombian Catholic Schools, José María Siciliani (Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia) 11. Religious Education in Christian Schools: Towards Faith Formation of South African Youth, Shantelle Weber (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa) 12. Young People’s Dis/engagement with Religion in Contemporary Society: Implications for Religious Education in Botswana, Yonah Hisbon Matemba (University of the West of Scotland, UK) and Tebogo Ethel Seretse (Botswana Open University, Botswana) Section Five: Perspectives on Teachers of Religious and Values Education 13. Developing Essential Values through Traditional Tales: Voices of Malawian Primary School Teachers, Imran Mogra (Birmingham City University, UK) 14. Religious Education in Chile at a Crossroads: Teacher Shortage and Supply in Catholic Schools, Cristóbal Madero (Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile) Section Six: Religious and Moral Education in Higher Education 15. Religious Education for Social Transformation in Faith-Based Universities in Ghana, Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh (Perez University College, Ghana) 16. Higher Education for Moral Transformation at a Private Christian University in Malawi, Nelson M. Nkhoma (University of the Western Cape, South Africa) 17. Islamic Religious Education and Multiculturalism in Malaysia: University Students’ Perspectives, Suhailah Hussien (International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia Section Seven: Challenges and Opportunities for Religious Education 18. Challenges from Within: Israel’s Religious and Ethnic Divisions and Its Impact on Schooling, Laurence Wolff (Independent Consultant) 19. Religious Illiteracy and the Dilemmas Facing Post-confessional Religion Education in South African Schools, Nuraan Davids (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) and Janet Orchard (University of Bristol, UK) 20. Constraints and Opportunities for Zimbabwe’s New ‘Family, Religion and Moral Education’ (FAREME) School Curriculum, Gift Masengwe (University of the Free State, South Africa) 21. A Hundred Flowers Blossom: Hong Kong’s Exceptionalism in Religious Education, Thomas K.C. Tse and Vion W.K. Ng (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China). 22. Christian Religious Education in Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities, Simon Omare, Daniel Lagat and Eunice Kamaara (Moi University, Kenya) 24. Conducting Comparative Research on Religious Education in the Global South, Bruce A. Collet (Bowling Green State University, USA) References Index
Yonah Hisbon Matemba is Senior Lecturer in the Division of Education, School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, UK. He is the co-author of Religious Education in Malawi and Ghana: Perspectives on Religious Misrepresentation and Misclusion (2021). Bruce A. Collet is Professor in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy in the College of Education and Human Development at Bowling Green State University, USA. He is the author of Migration, Religion, and Schooling in Liberal Democratic States (2018).
Reviews for The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South
This book gives a comprehensive picture of Religion and Education in specific regions of the Global South. The discourses on religious/religion education critiquing and questioning policies and teaching strategies should appeal to researchers to explore the complexities of the GS multilayered societies. * Cornelia Roux, Emeritus Professor of Education, Stellenbosch University, South Africa * Editors Matemba and Collet focus needed attention to a long neglected topic in their new handbook—religious education (RE) in the Global South. Explicating the political, cultural, and demographic millieu, contributors illuminate the challenges and opportunities for RE in this economically underdeveloped area with a billion people living in poverty. * Michael D. Waggoner, Professor of Education, University of Northern Iowa, USA * The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South is a work of incalculable current-day importance. In an era when decolonising the curriculum is very much to the fore, this authoritative collection provides an expert guide to the literature and lived experience of religious education in the southern hemisphere. * Liam Francis Gearon, Senior Research Fellow, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, UK *
