Religious education in a public school between religious particularism and general education. Comparative analysis

Abstract

The basic determinant of a public school as a social and educational environment should be the promotion of social inclusion and cohesion. In most countries of the European Union, religious instruction is a subject of school education. These countries adopt different models in terms of legal legitimacy, organization and curriculum. The idea of introducing religion as a compulsory subject appeared in Poland. Non-public schools, i.e. a school run by social, religious or privat units, have the right to special curricular solutions. A public school, i.e. a school free of charge and available to every student, regardless of their worldview, should conduct religious education in the spirit of dialogue and social cohesion as an element of general education. This article presents a comparative analysis of religious education in public schools from the perspective of the relationship between religious particularism and general education. I assume that in individual countries both religious particularism and general education may be defined differently in the context of school education.