Πρόγραμμα Δια Βίου Μάθησης για Θεολόγους ΠΕ01 και Ιεροδιδασκάλους του Ισλάμ

The Programme

The project entitled “Lifelong Learning Programme for Christian and Muslim Theologians of Thrace on Issues Related to the Teaching of Religion, Religious Otherness and Intercultural Religious Education” is pioneering because it prioritizes, educationally, religious diversity in Thrace as a factor of peaceful coexistence and interaction in the public sphere.

Specifically, after the adoption of Law 4115/2013, Article 53 on “teachers of religious education for the Muslim minority in Thrace and the strengthening of the curriculum for Muslim children in public schools in Thrace,” and the need for training on issues related to the teaching of Islam in the Greek public school system in the geographical region of Thrace, we felt it necessary to engage both Christian theological educational workers as well as the newly appointed teachers of Islam in a joint training programme. The aim of the programme is to teach religion as a catalyst for a harmonious and constructive coexistence, and not as a source of tensions. In order to achieve this goal, we organized—for the first time—meetings between Christian theologians and teachers of Islam on the subject of the teaching of religion, with the additional motive of promoting their acquaintance and mutual support in the public school environment.

The programme was divided into two main activities:

• The first was training sessions for Christian theologians and Muslim teachers on issues of religion, religious diversity and intercultural religious education/training, which were developed in four training modules:

1. implementing intensive accelerated training for newly appointed theologians in specialized courses on the Orthodox Christian religion for theologians as well as in teaching modules and activities that train them in the appropriate pedagogical methods for teaching the classes of religious education, as developed in the existing curricula.
2. implementing intensive accelerated training for teachers of the religion of Islam, as well as modules and activities that train them in the appropriate pedagogical methods for teaching of religious education, and investigation of the teaching and theological needs for future programmes and study guides.
3. joint training activities for newly appointed theologians and teachers of Islam on issues of coexistence, ethics, reconciliation, cultural and religious meetings in the region of Thrace and their promotion in the public school environment.
4. classes on the modern Greek language in order to further strengthen the teachers of Islam in Quranic and broader Muslim terms and their translation in the Greek language.

• The second was the development of pilot material: 1) for the teaching of Islam in public schools in Thrace; 2) for the linguistic support of the teachers of Islam in order to translate Quranic terms and concepts into the Greek language; and 3) for the creation of a database to record the religious history—in both speech and art—of the region of Thrace in order to share them in the course on religions in the public school.

So far, there have been 390 hours of training, with an interdisciplinary and interfaith approach, for 65 theologians (of the total 90 appointees) and 82 teachers of Islam. Already, more than 150 people have registered for the joint training for teachers of Christianity and Islam that will take place in September within the framework of the programme, and that number continues to rise as registration will last until the end of June via the programme’s website. This joint training will last 60 hours and will include the following teaching modules:

• The history of dialogue between Orthodoxy and Islam
• Our land and our religions: Cultural encounters, manners and customs of Thrace. Teaching approaches
• Teaching challenges in the region of Thrace in the 21st century - intercultural religious education and religious diversity
• Teaching about the religious “other.” What does my religion say?
• The social involvement of the Church and the Mufti. Habits of religious life

The approach to these issues will be interdisciplinary and each training module will be viewed from the perspectives of both the Christian and Muslim theologians involved in the project.

The academic programme is supported by teachers from the Schools of Theology, History and Archaeology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the School of History and Ethnology of Democritus University of Thrace, and the School of Theology of the University of Athens. Also assisting in the training are those holding PhDs in Muslim theology, members of the local Muslim community, as well as those holding PhDs in Christian theology who also work as public school programme supervisors.

From the programme’s progress to this point, we conclude that:

• The programme has been welcomed by the educational communities of the aforementioned areas and particularly by our theologian colleagues in secondary education and the teachers of Islam.
• The programme was a good beginning for communication and public debate on the needs and educational priorities both now and in the future on issues of religion and an intercultural approach to them.
• It created an atmosphere of trust and communication in the broader public space.
• The elective course on the teaching of Islam in the local Greek public school has little or no drop-outs, and in this sense forms a safeguard for the public school system’s religious education, with a broader intercultural character not restricted to the narrow confines of emotional and region-based confessional approaches (catechism). The same is also true of the course on religion in the broader Greek public school system.
• The course of religion in the Greek public school system has sparked a debate about religion in the public school premises and by extension in society. In this sense, religion is not understood exclusively as a space that pertains only to religious communities, but especially and foremost as a cultural good that fosters the unity of societies.

Considering all this, we believe that the immediate future goals should focus on the continuation of communication after the end of this programme, in order to develop the educational conditions and strategies that will help teachers manage their educational relationships and obligations, as well as promote religion classes as a class on cross-cultural and interfaith understanding in the area of ​​Thrace, as well as and Greece and Europe in general.

Angeliki Ziaka

Scientific Supervisor