Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)

The article publishes an analysis of opinions of teachers in the subject Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in the secondary school in Russia. The relevance of the study is due to the necessity of empirical verifi cation of already proposed and existing worldview-related and metho...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tatiana Pronina, Darya Prytkova
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2022-12-01
Series:Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия
Subjects:
Online Access:https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7773
_version_ 1827996918149545984
author Tatiana Pronina
Darya Prytkova
author_facet Tatiana Pronina
Darya Prytkova
author_sort Tatiana Pronina
collection DOAJ
description The article publishes an analysis of opinions of teachers in the subject Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in the secondary school in Russia. The relevance of the study is due to the necessity of empirical verifi cation of already proposed and existing worldview-related and methodological approaches in the sphere of religious education. The study included in-depth interviews with teachers, assessment of children’s knowledge, attendance of classes and workshops of teachers, interviews with teachers of further education courses, with university teachers specialising in religious studies and theology, as well as with researchers in theology. The project is region-specifi c; the article uses results of surveys and interviews carried out in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. Several pieces of evidence ae compared with results of surveys in other Russian regions. The main fi ndings are as follows. The study refl ects the contemporary Russian teacher with typical social and demographic characteristics; the modules of the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics are taught by primary school teachers; most of them are positive about the introduction of this school subject; according to studies in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Regions, most teachers prefer non-confessional general modules; study materials are usually evaluated positively, but it is mentioned that they may have drawbacks in terms of the contemporary means of presenting information and in terms of the perception and demands of present-day students; most teachers have attended additional courses in the subject and evaluated them as useful, but said that they still do not have enough knowledge in religious cultures; interaction with religious institutions when teching modules in specifi c religious cultures is rare, the most successful interaction of this kind is seen in confessional schools; parents can discuss and choose the module in Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in parents’ meetings; the teachers say that in these meetings parents were off ered an opportunity to discuss and select the module of Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics, any coersion being absent, but the role of the teachers is decisive. The main conclusion is that the implementation of the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics has gone through the formative stage and has gone over to the stage of discussing the content of the modules and accumulating the experience in teaching practices.
first_indexed 2024-04-10T05:20:13Z
format Article
id doaj.art-644969b3db5446b19ea5edddf5aa218d
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1991-640X
2409-4692
language Russian
last_indexed 2024-04-10T05:20:13Z
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
record_format Article
series Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия
spelling doaj.art-644969b3db5446b19ea5edddf5aa218d2023-03-08T10:09:22ZrusSt. Tikhon's Orthodox UniversityВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия1991-640X2409-46922022-12-01100100117135http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturI2022100.117-1352Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)Tatiana Pronina0Darya Prytkova1Pushkin Leningrad State University; St. Petersburg, RussiaPushkin Leningrad State University; St. Petersburg, RussiaThe article publishes an analysis of opinions of teachers in the subject Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in the secondary school in Russia. The relevance of the study is due to the necessity of empirical verifi cation of already proposed and existing worldview-related and methodological approaches in the sphere of religious education. The study included in-depth interviews with teachers, assessment of children’s knowledge, attendance of classes and workshops of teachers, interviews with teachers of further education courses, with university teachers specialising in religious studies and theology, as well as with researchers in theology. The project is region-specifi c; the article uses results of surveys and interviews carried out in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. Several pieces of evidence ae compared with results of surveys in other Russian regions. The main fi ndings are as follows. The study refl ects the contemporary Russian teacher with typical social and demographic characteristics; the modules of the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics are taught by primary school teachers; most of them are positive about the introduction of this school subject; according to studies in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Regions, most teachers prefer non-confessional general modules; study materials are usually evaluated positively, but it is mentioned that they may have drawbacks in terms of the contemporary means of presenting information and in terms of the perception and demands of present-day students; most teachers have attended additional courses in the subject and evaluated them as useful, but said that they still do not have enough knowledge in religious cultures; interaction with religious institutions when teching modules in specifi c religious cultures is rare, the most successful interaction of this kind is seen in confessional schools; parents can discuss and choose the module in Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics in parents’ meetings; the teachers say that in these meetings parents were off ered an opportunity to discuss and select the module of Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics, any coersion being absent, but the role of the teachers is decisive. The main conclusion is that the implementation of the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics has gone through the formative stage and has gone over to the stage of discussing the content of the modules and accumulating the experience in teaching practices.https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7773foundations of religious cultures and secular ethics russian school opinion of teachers in st. petersburg and leningrad region internet survey interviewосновы религиозных культур светская этика российская школа мнение учителей санкт-петербург ленинградская область анкетирование интервью
spellingShingle Tatiana Pronina
Darya Prytkova
Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)
Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия
foundations of religious cultures and secular ethics
russian school
opinion of teachers in st. petersburg and leningrad region
internet survey
interview
основы религиозных культур
светская этика
российская школа
мнение учителей
санкт-петербург
ленинградская область
анкетирование
интервью
title Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)
title_full Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)
title_fullStr Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)
title_full_unstemmed Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)
title_short Religious education in russian schools: teacher’s opinions (based on interviews and questionnaires)
title_sort religious education in russian schools teacher s opinions based on interviews and questionnaires
topic foundations of religious cultures and secular ethics
russian school
opinion of teachers in st. petersburg and leningrad region
internet survey
interview
основы религиозных культур
светская этика
российская школа
мнение учителей
санкт-петербург
ленинградская область
анкетирование
интервью
url https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7773
work_keys_str_mv AT tatianapronina religiouseducationinrussianschoolsteachersopinionsbasedoninterviewsandquestionnaires
AT daryaprytkova religiouseducationinrussianschoolsteachersopinionsbasedoninterviewsandquestionnaires