Abstract
“Is there a differentia specifica justified for the educational topic of human rights?” and “What can be considered as the profile of human rights education at school from a Protestant perspective?”
This paper generally assumes that one can actually justify a specific Protestant justification and potential in view of the human rights education issue. In more concrete terms: theological and ethical modes justification from a Protestant perspective can make a significant contribution to contemporary human rights education—and this is true not only for the national context of Germany or the other German-speaking countries with their denominational background of religious education, but also in the international context and its secular forms of learning about religion in school.
For this, a general provision is made at the start: human rights education in the school context is based on the central idea of “human dignity and worthiness of protection” as a general educational goal, which at the same time is associated with an openness to diverse forms of justification and thus to different educational subjects such as religious education (RE). Closer determinations and distinctions are fundamentally important for processing the questions mentioned above, which are geared not towards differentiation, but towards a productive conviviality of different forms of justification and education.
In this paper, this initial determination is developed in more detail in four sections:
1. What are the fundamental challenges that arise with a specific denominational profile of RE from the perspective of human rights education? 2. How is this requirement for interpretation currently reflected in teaching and educational plans as well as teaching materials in Protestant RE? 3. Which specific theological and ethical thought patterns are relevant for a theoretical reflection from a Protestant perspective? 4. What didactic consequences can be drawn from this for future human rights education—including with an interreligious orientation—in the context of RE? A final 5th part summarizes these reflections.
Originally published as Menschenrechtsbildung im evangelischen Religionsunterricht, in: M. L. Pirner, J. Lähnemann, H. Bielefeldt (Hrsg.) Menschenrechte und inter-religiöse Bildung, EB-Verlag Dr. Brandt e.K., Berlin 2015.
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Notes
- 1.
It is conceivable that human rights education could take place without the dimension of religious value education. The UN “World Programme for Human Rights” running from 2005 to 2015 appears in no way ignorant on questions of religion. However religion is primarily discussed as a possible subject matter, but rarely from the perspective of an institutionalised religious human rights education. In short: the initiative will serve for the better and peaceful co-existence of religions, but they are not talking here about an educational contribution by religious institutions themselves or even about a specific religious justification potential of human rights. Maybe behind it is a specific secular belief that one is well advised, especially in these times, to keep the religious factor out of these debates as this could just act to exacerbate the conflict.
- 2.
The Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools published by the OSCE in 2007 must be mentioned here (see http://www.osce.org/publications/odihr/2007/11/28314_993_en.pdf; as of June 10, 2010).
- 3.
Standardised testing requirements in the Abitur (school leaving certificate) examination on Protestant theology (Resolution of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of 01.12.1989 as amended on 16.11.2006), 32 (Online).
- 4.
See, for example the question of: Human dignity or: When does the right to life begin? http://www.1000fragen.de/hintergruende/dossiers/dossier.php?sid=d5f30fdc13afb2401d930b28c03bbace&did=14&simple=n&pn=1.
- 5.
“The concept of openness to justification proves to be a middle ground, seeking to avoid the extremes of radical universalism and radical relativism” (Vögele, 2000, p. 490).
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Schlag, T. (2016). Human Rights Education and Religious Education: A Protestant Perspective. In: Pirner, M., Lähnemann, J., Bielefeldt, H. (eds) Human Rights and Religion in Educational Contexts. Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Rights, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39351-3_15
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