Religious Education in Greece Under the Scope of Interculturalism

Abstract

The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the subject of Religious Education (RE) taught in Greek primary and secondary schools through the lens of the diversity existing in the Greek society. The presentation refers to the Christian Orthodox oriented content – and the roots of this orientation - of the school textbooks and the curriculum on the subject of Religious Education related and compared with the Greek legislation and the European guidelines on Religious Education in detail. The issue was explored through the phenomenological approach which illuminates the subject of RE taught in Greek schools via the method of document analysis. The document analysis showed that the Greek legislation and the curricula of RE seem to be by and large consistent with the European guidelines on the freedom of religious conscience, as this is preserved in some way. However, neither the development of inter-religious dialogue nor the encouragement of pupils to discover different religions is foreseen within school with the exemption of some lessons relevant to other religions and faiths less in primary school and high school and more in Lyceum, the attendance of which is optional. In the end, the findings are discussed and some thoughts are expressed regarding the dimension that the subject of Religious Education should take in future in view of the present composition of the population in Greece.