A Study of Early Research on Interreligious Education: Kagan, Boys and Lee, and Van der Ven and Ziebertz

ABSTRACT

[Objective] The purpose of this study is to explore and analyze early studies on “interreligious education” and examine the characteristics of interreligious education that are evident in these studies.[Contents] To accomplish this purpose, this study examines three sets of research: Kagan (1952), Boys and Lee (1996; 2006), and Van der Ven (1994) and Ziebertz (1993; 2007). Kagan’s study compared the educational effects on Christian teenagers when a Jewish rabbi conducted the education himself in the 1950s. Kagan reported that significant attitude change occurred when participants were able to express their honest feelings and thoughts in dialogue. Boys and Lee conducted a long-term education program with 11 Jewish educators and 11 Catholic educators. They reported how relationship building and learning together had a significant impact on deepening understanding and changing thoughts. Van der Ven and Ziebertz categorized the monoreligious model, the multireligious model, and the interreligious model and theorized that the interreligious model could bring change and be necessary in modern society.[Conclusions] As a result, it is observed that all of these early studies demonstrated that interreligious education is ‘education for transformation.’ It is also about encountering lived religion that is embodied in each participant. Transformation happens when perspective exchange and critical self-reflection take place among them.