Baha'i
Buddhist worldview traditions
Christian worldview traditions
Contextualising the diversity of worldviews
Hindu worldview traditions
Humanist worldview traditions
Jain
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jewish worldview traditions
Muslim worldview traditions
Pagan
Rastafari
Sikhi worldview traditions
Soka Gakkai
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Research

Worldviews education: preventing violent extremism

Anna Halafoff, Kim Lam & Gary Bouma

Research Summary

‘Soft power’ (e.g. educational) approaches to counter and prevent violent extremism increase, internationally. Education for the prevention of violent extremism could benefit from drawing on insights from research on education about diverse religious and non-religious worldviews in Australia. This research indicates that these types of educational initiatives can assist with addressing religious vilification, discrimination and inter-religious tensions, and also with building religious literacy and social inclusion of young people. A critical approach to education about religions can assist young people to identify religions’ ambivalent role in contributing to both cultures of violence and cultures of peace. The researchers make a series of recommendations regarding religion, education and the prevention of violent extremism.

Researchers

Anna Halafoff, Kim Lam & Gary Bouma

Research Institution

Deakin University, Monash University

What is this about?

  • How can education help to prevent violent extremism?
  • What role can RE play in this?
  • Building religious literacy helps to prevent discrimination and tension.
  • Religion may contribute both to problems and solutions, and a critical approach to education about religion can help young people to understand this.

What was done?

The researchers reviewed a range of international evidence, including their own findings from a project investigating worldviews education in Victoria, Australia.

Main findings and outputs

  • Religious and inter-religious literacy are invaluable skills in an increasingly mobile and interconnected world and should be developed among all students;
  • Education about diverse religions, spiritualities and nonreligious worldviews should be included as part of prevention of violent extremism strategies in all government and faith-based schools to increase religious literacy, to reduce misinformation and negative stereotypes about religion, and to promote inter-religious understanding;
  • This education should be critical, and highlight religion’s ambivalent role in both creating and perpetuating cultures of direct and structural violence and in peacebuilding;
  • Exclusive narratives and ideologies, be they religious or political, which promote one worldview over and above others, are potentially dangerous and can play a role in radicalisation. Students should be made aware of this and critical thinking should be encouraged to question such narratives;
  • Teachers need to be trained in not only religious and inter-religious literacy but also in conflict resolution skills to navigate sensitive and difficult discussions pertaining to religion, violence and peacebuilding;
  • In contexts such as faith-based schools, education about diverse religions and worldviews can complement existing RI programmes.
  • More research needs to be conducted on the benefits and limitations of educational programmes about diverse worldviews.

Relevance to RE

Firstly, the research gives valuable policy emphasis to RE, showing that governments need to take seriously the subject’s contribution to a peaceful and productive society. Secondly, it gives challenges to RE teachers (and teacher educators), including learning to expose and manage the controversial elements of the subject and presenting religions through different lenses and perspectives.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The research findings arise from a broad, varied, detailed data-set. Some of the research focuses on Australia, but the issues are common with other jurisdictions e.g. the UK.

Find out more

Anna Halafoff, Kim Lam & Gary Bouma (2019) Worldviews education: cosmopolitan peacebuilding and preventing violent extremism, Journal of Beliefs & Values, 40:3, 381-395.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2019.1600113

 

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