Interreligious lessons in Graz: A look at three successful years
Interreligious lessons in Graz: A look at three successful years
In the past three years, the University of Graz has tested an innovative concept called TeamTeaching that aims to promote interreligious dialogue through joint teaching planning and implementation of teachers from different religious affiliations. This method focuses on conveying perspectives and students a broader understanding of various religious beliefs.
The idea behind TeamTeaching is simple: two or more teachers work closely together to design and teach the lessons. This approach has proven to be particularly effective in order to bring students closer to the diversity of religious views and to strengthen mutual respect. Teachers report positive experiences and a consistently successful exchange between the students.
objective and results
The main goal of this program was to promote tolerance and understanding of different religions among the students. In recent years, the university has seen many positive feedback on the effects of interreligious teaching. Teachers reported that the pupils are more open and interested in topics that they might not have addressed before.
An important aspect of the project is the support of students to actively deal with questions of faith and one's own identity. The exchange of different perspectives created an environment that promotes both the critical argument and understanding.
The university also has research to evaluate the long -term effects of this teaching model. The results show that students who participated in these courses have developed a significantly higher level of intercultural competence, which should have a positive effect not only in the school environment, but also in their later life.
The feedback from students was also overwhelming. Many of them expressed that through the conveyed interreligious lessons they gained a better understanding of their classmates' faith, which led to fewer prejudices and more friendships across religious borders.
Another progress of this initiative is the more intensive cooperation between the religious communities in Graz. This cooperation not only promoted the trust between the teachers, but also developed concepts on how interreligious lessons can be implemented in other schools and educational institutions.
The positive results of this cooperation have already been presented in various public forums and are increasingly also finding the interest of other educational institutions. It remains to be seen how this concept will develop in the future, especially with regard to possible new initiatives to promote intercultural dialogue in schools. You can find the full report on this topic here .