Powerful Knowledge in Religious Education—Questions of Epistemology and Subject Literacy in Democratic and Inclusive Educational Contexts

Abstract

In this article, the focus is to grasp ongoing discussions regarding powerful knowledge in relation to social sciences in a broader sense, but especially in relation to religious education. Discussions around norms and values are central in classrooms where both multireligiousness and secularity characterize students’ everyday life and where students constantly move between different multicultural contexts. It is the aim of this contribution to explore the ongoing discussions relating powerful knowledge in RE to existential questions and controversial issues. One way for teachers to work with these goals is to focus partly on subject literacy and on powerful knowledge in relation to inclusive teaching, and partly on subject content where core value issues are expressed together with existential and controversial questions. This will be discussed and explored in this contribution focusing on powerful knowledge and epistemology in social science, and especially in the school subject of religious education.

Keywords

• powerful knowledge
• religious education
• subject literacy
• teacher training
• compulsory school
• existential questions