Religious Education in Greece - Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Secularism

Authors

  • Marios Koukounaras Liagkis Religious Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Angeliki Ziaka Study of Religion, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26417/ejser.v5i1.p44-53

Keywords:

religious education, secularism, curriculum, Islam, public sphere

Abstract

This study is an attempt to address the issue of religion in the public sphere and secularism. Since the Eastern Orthodox Church has been established by the Greek constitution (1975) as the prevailing religion of Greece, there are elements of legal agreements- which inevitably spawn interactions- between state and Church in different areas. One such area is Religious Education. This article focuses on Religious Education (RE) in Greece which is a compulsory school subject and on two important interventions that highlight the interplay between religion, politics and education: firstly the new Curriculum for RE (2011) and secondly the introduction of an Islamic RE (2014) in a Greek region (Thrace) where Christians and Muslims have lived together for more than four centuries. The researches are based on fieldwork research and they attempt to open the discussion on the role of RE in a secular education system and its potential for coexistence and social cohesion.

References

Androussou, A., Askouni, N., Dragona, T., Frangoudaki, A., & Plexoussaki, E. (2011). Educational and political challenges in reforming the education of the Muslim minority in Thrace, Greece. The International Journal of Learning , 17 (11), pp. 227-239.

Anthimos, B. A. (2013). ???????? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ??? ??????? ??????? ?? ?? "???????? ??? ?? ??? ????????? ??????? ??? ??????????? ????????? ??? ?????????" (4-5-2012). In S. Yangazoglou, A. Nevrokoplis, & G. Striligkas (Eds.), ?? ??????????? ??? ???????? ??????? (RE in contemporary school) (pp. 158-164). Athens: Armos.

Askouni, N. (2011). ?????????? ? ???????????? ???????; ????????????? ????????, ???????? ????????? ??? ?????????? ??????? (Minority school or Greek-speaking school for the Muslim minority children in Thrace? Educational choices, political dilemmas, social changes). In A. Androussou, & N. Askouni (Eds.), ??????????? ????????? ??? ????????? ??????????: ?????????? ??? ??? ?????????? (Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: challenges for education) (pp. 208-222). Athens: Metaixmio.

Bouretz, P. (2000). La démocratie française au risque du monde. In M. Sadoun (Eds.), Ideologies (pp. 27-137). Paris: Gallimard.

Casanova, J. (1994). Modern Religions in the Public World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Davie, G. (2007). Sociology of Religion. London: Sage.

Eickelman, D. E. (2002). Foreword: The Religious Public Sphere in Early Muslim Societies. In M. Hoexter, S. N. Eisenstadt, & N. Levtzion (Eds.), The Public Sphere in Muslim Societies (pp. 1-8). Albany: New York University Press.

Gkintidis, D. (2013). Rephrasing nationalism: elite representations of Greek–Turkish relations in a Greek border region. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies , 13 (3), pp. 455-468.

Hervieu-Leger, D., & Willaime, J.-P. (2005). ?????????? ??????? ??? ???????? (Social Theories and Religion). (N. Papageorgiou, Trans.) Athens: Kritiki.

Jackson, R. (2014). Signposts –Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious world views in intercultural education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Kairidis, D. (2008). ????????, ???????? ??? ????????????: ????????? ??? ???????????? (Politics, Religion and Fundamentalism: Explanations and misunderstandings). In K. Ifadis, D. Triadafillou, & E. Hatzivasiliou (Eds.), ???????? ???????: ???????? ??????????? ??? ???????????? (Intrnational Relations: Contemporary issues and approaches) (pp. 390-417). Athens: Papazisi.

Kalaitzidis, P. (2012). Orthodoxy and Political Theology. (F. Edwards, Trans.) Geneva: WCC Publications.

Koukounaras Liagkis, M. (2013a). Religion in the Curriculum in the post-modern era: Why young people should know about religion? International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education , 3 (1), ??. 1373-1378.

Koukounaras Liagkis, M. (2015). Religious Education in Greece: A new curriculum, an old issue. British Journal of Religious Education , 37 (2), pp. 153-169.

Koukounaras Liagkis, M. (2013b). Religious Education in Greek Public Schools in Western Thrace: ?dentifying Controversial Issues. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences , 4 (11), ??. 274-281.

Liazos, N. (2007). ?? ???????? ??????? ?????????? ??? ??????????? ??????????? ???? ???????? ??????????????? ??????? ?????? ?????????? ??? ???????????? ??? ?????? ????? (The Turkish Textbooks of the Minority Education in the development of multicultural relations between Christians and Muslims in Western Thrace). Thessaloniki: Unpublished Thesis/Aristotle Univeristy of Thessaloniki.

Mavrommatis, G. (2006, 6 4). “????????????? ?? ??????????” (“Training the Minority.”). Eleftherotypia .

Mitropoulou, V., Rantzou, M., & Anagnostopoulou, M. (2015). Intercultural Education in the Curricula of the Greek School (Elementary-High School). In 16th International Conference of balkan Society for Pedagogy and Education, "The Image of the "other"/the neighbour in the Educational Systems of the Balkan Countries (1998-2013), Thessaloniki 26-29/9/2013 (pp. 384-397). University of Macedonia.

Molokotos-Liederman, L. Greece: Selective Secularization and the Deprivation og Religion? In B. A. Kosmin, & A. Keysar (Eds.), Secularism, Women and the State: The Mediterranean World in the 21st Century (pp. 41-55). Hartford, Connecticut: Institute for the Study os Secularism in Society and Culture.

Prodromou, E. (1998). Democratization and Religious Transformation in Greece: An Underappreciated theoretical and Empirical Primer. ??? P. Kitromilides, & T. Veremis (?ds.), The Orthodox Church in a changing world (??. 99-153). Athens: Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) & Centre for Asia Minor Studies.

Salvatore, A. (2006). Power and authority within European Secularity: From the Enlightenment Critique of Religion to the Contemporary Presence of Islam. Muslim World , 96 (4), pp. 543-561.

Sebba, M., & Wooton, A. J. (1998). We, they and identity: Sequential analysis versus identity-related explanation in code-switching. In P. Auer (Ed.), Code-switching in Conversation: Language, Interaction and Identities (pp. 262-289). London: Rotledge.

Stauning Willert, T. (2014). New Voices in Greek Othodox Thought. Untying the Bond between Nation and Religion. Surrey: Ashgate.

Trubeta, S. (2003). 'Minorisation' and 'Ethnicisation' in Greek Society: Com-parative Perspectives on Muslim Immigrants and the Thracisn Muslim Minority. In S. Trubeta, & C. Voss (Eds.), Minorities in Greece-Historical Issues and new Perspectives, History and Culture of South (Vol. Special Edition 5, pp. 95-112). Munich: Jahrbücher für Geschichte und Kultur Südosteuropas.

Trubeta, S. (2001). ??????????????? ?????????? ??? ???? ????????????? ??? ??????. ?? ?????????? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ????????? (Manufacturing identities for the Muslims of Thrace. The Example of Pomaks and Gypsies). Athens: Kritiki/KEMO.

Tsibiridou, F. (2006). Writing about Turks and powerful others: Journalistic heteroglossia in Westrn Thrace. South European Society and Politics , 11 (1), pp. 129-144.

Tsioumis, K. (2011). «? ?????????? ??? ??????????? ?????????? ???? ???????? ???? ??? ? ?????????? ??? ????????????? ?????????: ? ????????? ??? ???????????? ??? ?????? 1923-1974» (“The management of minority identity in the Greek milieu and the formation of educational policy:. In Proceedings of the 4th Conference of the European Society of Modern Greek Studies (Granada, 9-10 Sept. 2010) (pp. 587-602).

Tsitselikis, K., & Mavrommatis, G. (2003). Turkish: The Turkish Language in Education in Greece. Mercator-Education: European Network for Regional Minority Language and Education.

Van de Putte, A. (2010). Tocqueville and the Liberal res Publica. Ethical Perspectives , 17 (3), pp. 475-495.

Yangazoglou, S. (2007). ?? ?????? ??? ???????????? ??? ??????? ??????????. [RE in Public Education]. In S. Yangazoglou (Eds.), ?? ??????????? ??? ???????? ??????? [RE in the modern school] (pp. 43-108). Thessaloniki: S.M. Neapoleos and Stavroupoleos.

Ziaka, A. (2013). Greece: Debate and Challenges. In M. S. Berger (Ed.), Applying Shari'a in the West: Facts, Feras and the Future of Islamic Rules on Family Relations in the West (pp. 125-138). Leiden: Leiden University Press.

Ziaka, A. (2009). Muslims and Muslim education in Greece. In E. Aslan (Eds.), Islamic Education in Europe (pp. 141-178). Vienna: Bohlau Verlag.

Ziaka, A. (2015a). ? ????????? ???? ????????? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ????? (Othodoxy and its longstanding symbiosis with the world of Islam). Retrieved 7 5, 2015, from http://www.avgi.gr/article/5578100/aggeliki-ziaka-ep-kathigitria-theologikis-apth-i-orthodoxia-exei-makraioni-sumbiosi-me-ton-kosmo-tou-islam

Ziaka, A. (2015b). Lifelong Learning Programme for Christian and Muslim Theologians of Thrace on Issues Related to the Teaching of Religion, Religious Otherness and Intercultural Religious Education. Retrieved 7 5, 2015, from http://religiouseduthraki.web.auth.gr/: http://religiouseduthraki.web.auth.gr/en/programme

Zoumboulakis, S. (2013). ????? ???? ??? ???????? (Golden Down and Church). Athens: Polis.

?aramouzis, P. (2011). ? ??????????? ????? ?? ????????. ?? ??? ????????? ???????. ?????????? ??? ?????????? (Religious Education in transition, New Curriculum, excesses and contradictions). Scientific Review of MA "Orthodox Theology Studies", ?, pp. 201-217.

Downloads

Published

2015-08-28

How to Cite

Religious Education in Greece - Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Secularism. (2015). European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, 2(2), 91-107. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejser.v5i1.p44-53