Religious Education of Won-Buddhism and Human Rights

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to find the path-way toward desirable religious education in connection with students’ personal rights (freedom of religion) to be conducted at the educational institutions run by Won-Buddhism. Students’ personal rights are important because each student is entitled to live a happy life with his or her dignity and value honored as a person. While religious education has the very aim at materializing the founding spirit of an educational institution, it may then have a risk of violating the students’ rights to be furnished with education on fair and equal base if and when it is used as a means of religious enlightening. Upon examining the current status of religious education provided at the Won-Buddhism-run schools, it was found that education there is conducted from the educational viewpoint, rather than from enlightening viewpoint, and that there is virtually little discrimination in handling their personal rights in terms of curriculum as well as in the context of religious activities. Summed up, the future direction of religious education may be ‘education of religious studies+personality+enlightening activities’. Such direction is essential in establishing the identity of religious education to be provided at the schools founded by Won-Buddhism. To accomplish this task, it may be necessary to make efforts to develop programs, teaching materials and teaching-learning methods, as well as to carry out assessment and to train teachers for religious education in a more effective manner.