Zwischen Neugier und Vorurteil: Schriftliche Schüler:innenäußerungen zu Religion in christlich-islamischen Teamteaching-Workshops

Students’ Perceptions of Religion in Christian-Islamic Team-Teaching Workshops

Abstract

This article examines students’ conceptions of religion in the context of Christian-Muslim team-teaching workshops. It starts from the assumption that religious learning processes are significantly shaped by students’ pre-existing interpretive patterns, attitudes and implicit theories. The data consist of written student statements produced during a silent discussion and gallery walk and are analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings show that religious plurality in schools does not appear merely as a diversity of religious affiliations, but as an ambivalent field of interpretation. Students articulate existential questions about God, suffering and justice, interpret religion as a social field of conflict and morality, reproduce Islam-related stereotypes and, at the same time, formulate norms of respect, openness and recognition. The article argues that students’ conceptions make religious plurality visible both as an opportunity for insight and as a challenge of difference. The findings therefore point to the need for a difference-sensitive religious education that makes prior knowledge, irritations, stereotypical ascriptions and resources of recognition visible and available for further reflection.