The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South 9781350105829, 9781350105850, 9781350105843

Table of contents :
Cover
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Religious Education in the Global South Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Bruce A. Collet
Part I State, Status and Provision of Religious Education
1 Non-state Actors in Education and the Provision of Religious Education in Kenya Malini Sivasubramaniam
2 Zambia’s Religious Education: Reviewing the Journey Brendan Carmody
3 Religious Education Reform in Turkey: Issues and Outcomes Abdurrahman Hendek
Part I I Religious Education and Changes in Contemporary Society
4 ‘We Do Not Live Alone:’ In Search of Inclusive Religious Education in Different Faith-based Elementary Schools in Indonesia Chiara Logli
5 Religion and Secularism in Turkish Religious Education Yusuf Ziya Ogretici
6 Religious Education and Contemporary Issues in Zambia: Insights from Kabwe Central Region Joseph Chita and Nelly Mwale
Part I I I Towards Decolonizing Religious Education
7 Decolonizing Christian Education in India? Navigating the complexities of Hindu Nationalism and BJP Education Policy Sally Elton-Chalcraft and David J. Chalcraft
8 Marginalization of African Traditional Religion in Kenyan Religious Education Matthew M. Karangi
Part IV Young People and Religious Education
9 Indonesian Students’ Perceptions on Doctrines, Ethics and Identity in Religious Education Tabita Kartika Christiani and Handi Hadiwitanto
10 Engagement with the Religion Class in Colombian Catholic Schools José María Siciliani
11 Religious Education in Christian Schools: Towards Faith Formation of South African Youth Shantelle Weber
12 Young People’s Dis/engagement with Religion in Contemporary Society: Implications for Religious Education in Botswana Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Tebogo Ethel Seretse
Part V Perspectives on Teachers of Religious and Values Education
13 Developing Essential Values through Traditional Tales: Voices of Malawian Primary School Teachers Imran Mogra
14 Religious Education in Chile at a Crossroads: Teacher Shortage and Supply in Catholic Schools Cristóbal Madero
Part VI Religious and Moral Education in Higher Education
15 Religious Education for Social Transformation in Faith-based Universities in Ghana Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh
16 Higher Education for Moral Transformation at a Private Christian University in Malawi Nelson M. Nkhoma
17 Islamic Religious Education and Multiculturalism in Malaysia: University Students’ Perspectives Suhailah Hussien
Part VII Challenges and Opportunities for Religious Education
18 Challenges from within: Israel’s Religious and Ethnic Divisions and their Impact on Schooling Laurence Wolff
19 Religious Illiteracy and the Dilemmas Facing Post-confessional Religion Education in South African Schools Nuraan Davids and Janet Orchard
20 Constraints and Opportunities for Zimbabwe’s New ‘Family, Religious and Moral Education’ (FAREME) School Curriculum Gift Masengwe
21 A Hundred Flowers Blossom: Hong Kong’s Exceptionalism in Religious Education Thomas K.C. Tse and Vion W.K. Ng
22 Christian Religious Education in Kenya: Challenges and Prospects Daniel Lagat, Simon Omare and Eunice Kamaara
23 Challenges and Opportunities for Conducting Comparative Research on Religious Education in the Global South Bruce A. Collet
Notes
Index

Citation preview

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South

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The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South EDITED BY Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Bruce A. Collet

BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain, 2022 Copyright © Yonah Hisbon Matemba, Bruce A. Collet and Bloomsbury, 2022 Yonah Hisbon Matemba, Bruce A. Collet and Bloomsbury have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. xxii constitute an extension of this copyright page. Cover image © franz12/iStock All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Matemba, Yonah, editor. | Collet, Bruce A., editor. Title: The Bloomsbury handbook of religious education in the global South / edited by Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Bruce A. Collet. Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021035361 (print) | LCCN 2021035362 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350105829 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350105843 (pdf) | ISBN 9781350105836 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Religious education–Developing countries. Classification: LCC BV1471.3 .B59 2022 (print) | LCC BV1471.3 (ebook) | DDC 268–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021035361 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021035362 ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-0582-9 ePDF: 978-1-3501-0584-3 eBook: 978-1-3501-0583-6 Series: Bloomsbury Handbooks Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

To our loving parents and families

vi

Contents

List of Illustrations x List of Contributors xiii List of Abbreviations xviii Acknowledgementsxxii Introduction: Religious Education in the Global South  Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Bruce A. Collet1 PART I  STATE, STATUS AND PROVISION OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1 Non-state Actors in Education and the Provision of Religious Education in Kenya  Malini Sivasubramaniam9 2 Zambia’s Religious Education: Reviewing the Journey  Brendan Carmody31 3 Religious Education Reform in Turkey: Issues and Outcomes  Abdurrahman Hendek47 PART II  RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND CHANGES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 4 ‘We Do Not Live Alone:’ In Search of Inclusive Religious Education in Different Faith-based Elementary Schools in Indonesia  Chiara Logli67 5 Religion and Secularism in Turkish Religious Education  Yusuf Ziya Ogretici85 6 Religious Education and Contemporary Issues in Zambia: Insights from Kabwe Central Region  Joseph Chita and Nelly Mwale107 PART III  TOWARDS DECOLONIZING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 7 Decolonizing Christian Education in India? Navigating the complexities of Hindu Nationalism and BJP Education Policy  Sally Elton-Chalcraft and David J. Chalcraft135 8 Marginalization of African Traditional Religion in Kenyan Religious Education  Matthew M. Karangi165

Contents

PART IV  YOUNG PEOPLE AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 9 Indonesian Students’ Perceptions on Doctrines, Ethics and Identity in Religious Education  Tabita Kartika Christiani and Handi Hadiwitanto177 10 Engagement with the Religion Class in Colombian Catholic Schools  José María Siciliani195 11 Religious Education in Christian Schools: Towards Faith Formation of South African Youth  Shantelle Weber227 12 Young People’s Dis/engagement with Religion in Contemporary Society: Implications for Religious Education in Botswana  Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Tebogo Ethel Seretse249 PART V  PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHERS OF RELIGIOUS AND VALUES EDUCATION 13 Developing Essential Values through Traditional Tales: Voices of Malawian Primary School Teachers  Imran Mogra273 14 Religious Education in Chile at a Crossroads: Teacher Shortage and Supply in Catholic Schools  Cristóbal Madero299 PART VI  RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION 15 Religious Education for Social Transformation in Faith-based Universities in Ghana  Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh313 16 Higher Education for Moral Transformation at a Private Christian University in Malawi  Nelson M. Nkhoma333 17 Islamic Religious Education and Multiculturalism in Malaysia: University Students’ Perspectives  Suhailah Hussien353 PART VII  CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 18 Challenges from within: Israel’s Religious and Ethnic Divisions and their Impact on Schooling  Laurence Wolff373

viii

Contents

19 Religious Illiteracy and the Dilemmas Facing Post-confessional Religion Education in South African Schools  Nuraan Davids and Janet Orchard389 20 Constraints and Opportunities for Zimbabwe’s New ‘Family, Religious and Moral Education’ (FAREME) School Curriculum  Gift Masengwe409 21 A Hundred Flowers Blossom: Hong Kong’s Exceptionalism in Religious Education  Thomas K.C. Tse and Vion W.K. Ng425 22 Christian Religious Education in Kenya: Challenges and Prospects  Daniel Lagat, Simon Omare and Eunice Kamaara447 23 Challenges and Opportunities for Conducting Comparative Research on Religious Education in the Global South  Bruce A. Collet457 Notes471 Index475

ix

Illustrations

Figures 10.1

Presentation of the research

199

10.2

General data of the investigation

199

10.3

Competences RE should develop

200

10.4

RE and plurality of convictions

201

10.5

Religious convictions in which young people recognize themselves

202

10.6

Purpose of RE according to young people

202

10.7

Important RE topics according to young people

203

10.8

Creation of the cosmos in seven days

204

10.9

Biblical texts and scientific theories

204

10.10 Study of the biblical creation stories in RE

204

10.11 Analysis of biblical creation stories in RE

204

10.12 Learning acquired in RE about biblical creation stories in RE

204

10.13 RE help to the problem of the meaning of life

205

10.14 Origins of the universe

207

10.15 Interest in scientific theories about the origin of the universe

207

10.16 Study of scientific theories about the origin of the universe in RE

207

10.17 Knowledge of young people about scientific cosmological theories

207

10.18 Philosophical and religious convictions of young people and scientific theories

207

10.19 RE promoting understanding of the social

208

10.20 The most important ethical issues in RE

208

10.21 Competences RE must develop

209

Illustrations

10.22 Religion class as optional

210

10.23 Views on the Catholic religion class

211

12.1

Suggested lifeworld framework for RE in Botswana. The authors: Matemba and Seretse (2022)

262

Tables 1.1 Kenya basic statistics

11

1.2 RE in the Kenyan curriculum at the upper primary level

13

1.3 Aga Khan Education Services and Bridge International Academies in Kenya

15

4.1 Pupils’ exposure to ‘other’ religions in faith-based schools

74

5.1 Value Terms of the RE Programmes

99

7.1 Data collection settings and participants

146

9.1 Pseudonyms and type of schools, respective frequency and valid percentage of surveys

181

9.2 Type of schools, respective frequency and valid percentage of surveys

181

9.3 The practice of RE in schools

182

9.4 The practice of RE based on the types of the school

183

9.5 Agreement on the function of religion for oneself

184

9.6 Agreement about positive in-group–negative out-group

184

9.7 Characteristics of multicultural RE

185

9.8 Knitter and Banks’ theories

190

10.1 RE provides concrete help on the meaning of life

206

12.1 Religious demography in Botswana

250

12.2 Content of Botswana secondary RE prescribed syllabuses

252

12.3 Population sample of the study (qualitative and quantitative data)

255

12.4 Gender views on fading religion

258

xi

Illustrations

12.5 Gender ranks on fading religion

258

12.6 Influence of age on the hopes

260

12.7 Interest in religion by age

260

13.1 Standard taught, length of professional service and experience of teaching RME

282

14.1 Types of Catholic schools per School dependency

301

14.2 Total, religion and Spanish teachers evaluation categories (%)307 14.3 Religion teachers evaluation categories in the 5th to 8th and 9th to 12th grades (%)307 14.4 Evolution (2012 to 2017) of 5th to 8th religion teachers’ evaluation categories (%)308 14.5 Evolution (2012 to 2017) of 9th to 12th religion teachers’ evaluation categories (%)308 16:1 Moral Education Course Listing Plan for bachelor’s degree

346

18.1 Israeli Population 2019, Divided by Ethnicity, Language and Religion

375

18.2 Primary Enrolments by Stream in Primary School (2019)

378

18.3 Elementary and High School Poster Art Depicting Shared Society Values

384

19.1 RE in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)

393

20.1 Topics covered in the FAREME Syllabus (Forms 1–4)

412

21.1 Number of Faith Kindergartens and Schools in 2018/19

429

21.2 Statistics of Day School and Non-day School Candidates Taking Public Examinations in RE (1996–2020)

433

21.3 Average Number of the Consecrated and Catholic Teachers in Catholic Schools

438

22.1 Aims of Particularist RE in Kenya

448

xii

Contributors

Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh is Senior Lecturer and the Acting Rector of Perez University College, Ghana. Aryeh’s research interests include biblical studies, gender studies, church administration, Pentecostalism and missions. His recent publications include ‘Indigenous People and the Christian Faith: A New Way Forward’ in Indigenous People and the Christian Faith: A New Way Forward (eds), William H.U. Anderson, Charles Muskego (2020). He is co-editor of Essays on the Land, Ecotheology, and Traditions in Africa (2020) and Biblical, Traditional, and Theological Framework for Understanding Christian Prophetism in Ghana Today (2019) and author of ‘Academic versus Spiritual: Theological Education and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit in Contemporary Prophetic Ministries in Ghana’, in Journal of Contemporary Ministry, vol. 64 (2018). Brendan P. Carmody is Associate Research Professor in the UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK, and Visiting Professor at St Mary’s University, UK. He has worked for over thirty years in Zambia successively as teacher, teacher educator, and Professor of Religious Education at the University of Zambia, Zambia. He has published a number of books and scholarly articles in various journals among which are Africa, African Affairs and Journal of Religion in Africa. Among his books is The Emergence of Teacher Education in Zambia (2020). His current research interest includes the nature and value of Catholic education in Africa. David J. Chalcraft is Head of Sociology at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. He previously held the Chair of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK (2011–14) and was Professor of Classical Sociology at the University of Derby, UK (2002–11). He has held a Visiting Professorship at the United Theological College, Bangalore, India, and was the lead investigator on the British Academy Project, The Ethnography of Biblical Encounter in India and the UK (2013–16). Joseph Chita is Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Zambia, Zambia. His research interests include religion and society and religion and education. He is currently a member of the African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR) and Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA). Bruce A. Collet is Professor and Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Cross-cultural and International Education Program in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Policy in the College of Education and Human Development at Bowling Green State University, USA. Collet writes on issues concerning migration, religion and schooling. He is editor of Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education. His most recent book is Migration, Religion, and Schooling in Liberal Democratic States (2018).

Contributors

Nuraan Davids is Professor of Philosophy of Education in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Her research interests include democratic citizenship education, Islamic philosophy of education and philosophy of higher education. She is a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, USA (2020–21). She is the co-editor of the Journal of Education in Muslim Societies, associate editor of the South African Journal of Higher Education and an editorial board member of Ethics and Education. Her recent book publications include Teaching, Friendship and Humanity (co-authored with Y. Waghid, 2020) and Teachers Matter: Educational Philosophy and Authentic Learning (co-authored with Y. Waghid, 2020). Sally Elton-Chalcraft is Director of the Learning Education and Development Research Centre at the University of Cumbria, UK. Elton-Chalcraft publishes in the areas of  religious education, anti-racism, special educational needs, school leadership and education in India. She has given keynotes in India, Ireland and the UK. She is currently working on a collaborative book about Extremism, a second edition of Creative Religious Education and a fourth edition of Professional Studies for Student Teachers. She is investigating the idea of ‘The Communiversity’ (university working with the community for mutual benefit) and is passionate about making education accessible and thought provoking, leading to a fairer world. Abdurrahman Hendek completed his PhD at the University of Oxford, UK. His PhD focused on supranational and national factors and their influence on religious education policy as interpreted and perceived by various policy actors in Turkey and England. His academic interests include religious education policy, home schooling, hifz and comparative education. He is Assistant Professor of Religious Education in the Faculty of Theology at Sakarya University, Turkey. Suhailah Hussien is Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Social Foundations and Educational Leadership, Kulliyyah of Education at the International Islamic University, Malaysia. She is a teacher educator and has a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, a Diploma, Master’s and PhD in Education. Her main research interests include critical pedagogy, teaching thinking, social foundations and multicultural education. She has led several research projects on Hikmah pedagogy, social solidarity and multiculturalism. She is a certified trainer for the Centre for Teaching Thinking and actively promotes Hikmah pedagogy at all levels of education. Mogra Imran is Senior Lecturer of Professional Studies and Religious Education in the Department of Early Years and Primary Education at Birmingham City University, UK. He has worked with pupils of all age groups and has published articles on various subjects and issues, including Jumpstart Religious Education (2018), to enhance the teaching on religious education in primary schools, and Islam: A Guide for Teachers (2020), to support subject knowledge of Islam. Eunice Kamaara is Professor of Religion at Moi University, Kenya, and is an International Affiliate of Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis, USA. She holds an MPhil in Religion, an MSc in International Health Research Ethics and a PhD in African Christian Ethics. Her three-in-one public role involves teaching/training, research and community service. She conducts trans/multi-disciplinary and community participatory research on gender, character xiv

Contributors

values and holistic health, and has over 100 publications. Kamaara is passionate about translating research findings into practical development through policy influence and community uptake. Daniel K. Lagat completed his PhD at Moi University, Kenya, where he studied religion. His research focused on religion and environment. He also holds two Master’s Degrees in Organizational Development from United States International University, USA, and in Religious Studies from Moi University, Kenya. His Masters theses focused on ‘Religion and Entrepreneurship’ and ‘Religion, Politics and Violence’ respectively. Currently, he is studying for a Master of Global Bioethics MS Online at The Anahuac University, Mexico. Lagat is a parttime Lecturer in Moi University, Kenya and University of Eldoret, Kenya. His research interests include religious education, religion and society, particularly development, environment, and, more recently, bioethics. He has published two books and fifteen journal articles. Chiara Logli is Institutional Assessment Specialist at the Honolulu Community College, USA. Previously, she served as Assistant Director for the East-West Center’s Asia Pacific Higher Education Research Partnership in Hawaii, USA, as a Rotary International Fellow in Thailand, and as a consultant for USAID in Indonesia and CAST/International Baccalaureate Schools worldwide. She also worked in the International House at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and in the Multicultural Centre at the University of Santa Barbara, USA. She holds a PhD in Educational Foundations from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA and an MA in Political Science from the University of Bologna, Italy. Cristóbal Madero is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Policy and School Improvement, School of Education, at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile. He is a sociologist by training, and holds an MA and a PhD in Education Policy from the University of California at Berkeley, USA, and a Masters in Theology from Boston College, USA. His research interests are, among others, teacher retention at the primary and secondary school level, the evolution of Catholic education systems, and school inclusion policies. Gift Masengwe is an ordained minister of the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe. He has a PhD in Theology from the University of South Africa, South Africa, a Master’s in Bioethics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and University of Padua, Italy (European Union Erasmus Mundus Fellow), a Master’s in Theology, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa (Golden Key International Leader), a Master’s in Theological Studies and a Bachelor’s of Divinity from Africa University, Zimbabwe. He lectures in the Faculty of Arts, Culture and Humanities, Department of Philosophy at Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe. He is an independent researcher attached with the Free State University, South Africa and has published articles, book chapters and books on theology, religion, HIV/AIDs, land reform, national reconciliation, religious transformation, church conflicts, social ethics, gender and women in leadership, religious education, decolonization, school and curriculum change, contemporary epidemics, public health, ecclesiology, hermeneutics and canon law. Yonah Hisbon Matemba is Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences Education in the Division of Education at the School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, xv

Contributors

UK, where he is the lead tutor for religious education and the doctoral coordinator in the Division of Education. He has researched and published widely in religious education. Matemba is deputy editor of the British Journal of Religious Education and his most recent book is Religious Education in Malawi and Ghana: Perspectives on Religious Misrepresentation and Misclusion (co-authored with Richardson Addai-Mununkum, 2021). Some of his publications can be found via ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5739-6112. Nelly Mwale is Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Zambia, Zambia. She is also Research Fellow in the Research Institute for Theology and Religion at the University of South Africa, South Africa. Her research interests include religion and education, religion in the public sphere, church history and African Indigenous Religions. Nelson Masanche Nkhoma is Researcher at the Institute for Post-School Studies at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. His teaching, service and research focus on African higher education, the role of universities in national development and communityengaged scholarship in the global knowledge economy. Yusuf Ziya Ogretici is a PhD Researcher in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, UK. His research title is ‘An Exploration of Emotional Response to Turkish Music in the Context of Effective Religious Education’. He has completed MTh in Religion, Literature and Culture at the University of Glasgow, UK (2016), MA in Religious Education at Marmara University, Turkey (2012), and BA in Theology at Marmara University, Turkey (2009). His research interest includes religious education, values, morality and emotion. After teaching experience in Turkey, he currently holds the ‘Education Expert’ position in the Ministry of National Education, Turkey. His publication and expertise can be found via ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3080-9981. Simon Gisege Omare is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Religion and Theology at Moi University, Kenya. He has a PhD in Religious Studies from Moi University, Kenya, Master of Arts in Religion and Bachelor of Education Arts on Geography and Christian Religious Education from Maseno University, Kenya. His area of interest is sociology of religion. He has written books, chapters and articles in journals addressing various topics of Sociology of religion such as religion and politics, witchcraft beliefs, religion and environment, religion, ethnicity and peace building, economy of religion and religion and development. Janet Orchard is Director of Post Graduate Research degrees and Co-Director of the School of Education’s EdD programme in Hong Kong. A philosopher of education, she takes a comparative interest in the relationship between philosophy of education and teacher education. Her specialist teaching subject is religious education and she is a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Religious Education (BJRE). She is currently engaged in researching the aims of religious education and the place of inter-religious and cultural dialogue within the subject and schooling more broadly, thus the implications for pre- and in-service teacher education. Tebogo Ethel Seretse holds a PhD in Education with specialization in Religious Education from the University of Birmingham, UK. She has worked extensively within Botswana Education xvi

Contributors

system. She worked as a Religious Education Lecturer in Tertiary Education at Colleges of Education and the University of Botswana, Botswana. She has vast experience in the development of Religious Education secondary curriculum and has co-authored textbooks for Religious Education in Botswana. Seretse has also co-authored Moral Education textbooks for use in Junior Secondary Schools in Botswana. Currently, she is the Director of Graduate Studies at Botswana Open University, Botswana. Jose Maria Siciliani has a PhD in Philosophy from the Catholic Institute of Paris, France and in Medieval Studies from Sorbonne University, Paris, France. He currently works in the Faculty of Education at the University of La Salle, Bogotá, Italy. His research is focused on religious education and catechesism, and seeks to consolidate a narrative pedagogy that articulates the biblical story with four other stories: the autobiography, the social story, the ecclesial history and the story of the cosmos. Malini Sivasubramaniam completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, Canada, with a specialization in comparative, international and development education. Her dissertation examines household decision making in low-fee private schools in Kenya. She recently co-edited a book entitled Religion and Education: Comparative and International Perspectives (with Ruth Hayhoe, 2018). Her research interests include the privatization of education, school choice and equity for marginalized, communities and faith-based non-state actors in education. Shantelle Weber has a PhD in Practical Theology from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, where she is currently Senior Lecturer in the Department of Practical Theology and Missiology. She serves as Head of Programs through which she has facilitated projects like the decolonization of theological curricular. Her research interests include youth ministry, work and development; faith formation of children and youth; cultural and interreligious studies; social justice and youth in South Africa; religion education in schools; religious education in practical theology; youth, family, ecclesial and societal relationships; teaching and learning practices and policy. Laurence Wolff holds a PhD in Education Planning and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, USA. He has worked for most of his professional life on education in developing countries. During the period 1974–98, he was an education expert at the World Bank, focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East. He has consulted for the Inter-American Development Bank, UNESCO Institute for statistics and other non-profit agencies. Together with his wife, Miriam Daniel, he has helped to support a progressive synagogue (Beit Daniel) located in Israel. He has written and published widely on education policy issues in developing countries as well as on education, religion and pluralism in Israel.

xvii

Abbreviations

ACSA

Association for Christian Schools South Africa

ACSI

Association of Christian Schools International

AKA

Aga Khan Academies

AKDN

Aga Khan Development Network

AKES

Aga Khan Educational Services

AKS

Aga Khan Schools

APBET

Provision of Basic Education and Training

AS

Al-Shabaab

ATR

African Traditional Religions

BBA

Bachelor of Business Administration

BBI

Building Bridges Initiative

BECE

Basic Education Certificate Examination

BERA

British Educational Research Association

BIA

Bridge International Academies

BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party

CAPS

Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement

CATs

Continuous Assessment Tests

CBC

Competency Based Curriculum

CBE

Content Based Education

CBS

Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics

CCAP

Church of Central Africa Presbyterian

CE

Citizenship Education

CEMT

Convergence Education and Medicine Technology

CLP

Common Lesson Planning

CNE

Christian National Education

CoHE

Council of Higher Education

CRE

Christian Religious Education

CV

Christian Values

CWD

Children with Disability

Abbreviations

DFID

Department of International Development

DSS

Direct Subsidy Scheme

ECtHR

European Court of Human Rights

ENU

Escuela Nacional Única

EP

Emmaus Pedagogy

EU

European Union

FAREME

Family, Religion and Moral Education

FEDSAS

Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools

FET

Further Education and Training

FGPA

Grade Point Average

FPK

Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan

GN

Global North

GS

Global South

HKBA

Hong Kong Buddhist Association

HKDSE

Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education

HKMC

Hong Kong Methodist Church

HKSAR

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

HKTA

Hong Kong Taoist Association

HRE

Hindu Religious Education

IAR

Indigenous African Religions

IB

International Baccalaureate

IDF

Israeli Defense Force

IDI

Israel Democracy Institute

IMC

Incorporated Management Committee

IPA

Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

IRE

Islamic Religious Education

JPPI

Jewish Peoples’ Policy Institute

KCPE

Kenya Certificate of Primary Education

KICD

Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development

KNUT

Kenya National Union of Teachers

LEGE

General Law of Education

LFPS

Low-fee Private Schools

LO

Life Orientation

LSSE

Languages and Social Sciences Education xix

Abbreviations

MaNE

Moral and National Education

MCE

Multicultural Education

MDGs

Millennium Development Goals

ME

Moral Education

MNE

Ministry of National Education

MNGRA

Ministry of National Guidance and Religious Affairs

MoNE

Ministry of National Education

MRA

Ministry of Religious Affairs

NAB

National Accreditation Board

NCEOP

National Committee on Educational Objectives and Policies

NCS

National Curriculum Statement

NDP

National Development Plans

NFRS

National Family and Religious Studies

NGOs

Non-governmental Organizations

NPRE

National Policy on Religion and Education

NPRE

National Policy on Religion and Education

NRMs

New Religious Movements

OBE

Outcomes Based Education

OGOD

Organisation for Religious Education and Democracy

PACUC

Pan African Christian University College

PoRA

Presidency of Religious Affairs

PPP

Public Private Partnership

PSW

Personal and Social Well-being

QEF

Quality Education Fund

RDP

Reconstruction and Development Programme

RE

Religious Education

RELCG

Religious Education Lecturers’ Consultancy Group

RHE

Religious and Heritage Education

RME

Religious and Moral Education

RSS

Rashtriya Swayamsevek Sangh

RTE

Right to Education (Act)

SBGs

School Governing Bodies

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

SEND

Special Educational Needs for Those with a Disability

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Abbreviations

SME

Spiritual and Moral Education

SOB

School of Business

SOCSS

School of Communication and Social Sciences

SOT

School of Theology

SSH

Social Sciences and Humanities

STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

TAS

Teacher Assessment System

TCSP

Taub Center for Social Policy

TRC

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNESCO

United Nations Scientific Organization

UNICEF

United Nations International Children’s Educational Fund

UNIP

United National Independence Party

UNZA

University of Zambia

UZ

University of Zimbabwe

VE

Values Education

ZARE

Zambia Religious Education Teachers’ Association

ZECF

Zambia Education Curriculum Framework

ZISEC

Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council

ZOU

Zimbabwe Open University

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Acknowledgements

This handbook has been a few years in the making, from the time the submission of abstracts was received in 2019, until its publication in 2022. During this period, we have received the support and encouragement of many people. We acknowledge with particular appreciation the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Religion and Education for the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) for encouraging us to proceed with the idea of editing a book on Religious Education (RE) in the Global South. What excited us to engage with this project is that the Global South is a region where research in Religious Education is emerging and therefore providing opportunities to encourage and capture new perspectives in understanding the nuanced picture of RE in this part of the world. We therefore in particular thank the authors whose chapters are included in this book for enriching the discourse in this contested area of education not only in the Global South, but also in anywhere where RE is a school subject. The handbook was completed during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected many people, including of course the authors in this book. We therefore take this moment to thank all the contributors for writing and submitting their chapters at a very difficult time indeed. They have had to contend with personal challenges as well as tight work schedules in a changing professional environment, which has included increased workloads as teaching moved largely online. We are grateful to the publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing, for the extended support and understanding that made completing this work manageable during a pandemic. We are also indebted to our employers, the University of the West of Scotland, UK, and Bowling Green State University, USA, for providing an amenable environment and support that enabled us to edit this book. Finally, we must thank sincerely our families for their patience when we had to work long hours editing author manuscripts and putting this handbook together: Yonah Hisbon Matemba to his wife, Ronnia and children, Michelle Muthoni, Nathan Tamando and David Hisbon; and Bruce A. Collet to his wife Hyeyoung Bang for their unwavering support and love.

Introduction: Religious Education in the Global South Yonah Hisbon Matemba and Bruce A. Collet

How societies in the Global South (GS) engage with Religious Education (RE) – as an educational subject – is an issue that so far has received, if at all, cursory attention in the burgeoning RE discourse. Unlike the nature of RE in the Global North (GN), which is often characterized by individualization, secularization, dechristianization and immigration, there is something to be said about how the subject in the GS is conceptualized, debated, negotiated and offered in public and non-state sectors of education. What sets this handbook apart is that it examines RE, as it exists, in largely cultural and religious ‘conservative’ environments that are often averse to a secular-liberal basis upon which national governments may predicate educational policy and practice. It is this tension, and how RE is conceptualized and implemented in practice, especially in Christian (i.e. sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America) and Islamic (i.e. the Middle East and Asia) dominated regions that provides a compelling reason to examine RE in GS. In this handbook, the term ‘RE’ may be used to refer to both the confessional and non-confessional pedagogical conceptualizations of the subject. In post-apartheid South Africa, for example, the nomenclature ‘Religion Education’ is used to distinguish the subject from the previous confessional nationalist RE (see Chidester, 2003). The term ‘Global South’ is understood generally to refer to less economically developed countries. Arguably, this is the case within such disciplines as international relations, economics, geography, anthropology, economics, and comparative and international education. Such an overarching determiner will explain why such countries as Australia and New Zealand, while situated south of the equator, are in fact considered part of GN. There certainly exists ample evidence to justify economic development as the main determiner of the GS. As Aneek Chatterjee (2012) notes, in the GS the vast majority of the world’s population live in abject poverty. This includes more than a billion people in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, Latin America, and Central America, who exist without access to basic needs such as food, shelter, water, sanitation, education and health care. Yet, as Chatterjee also observes, the GS is itself not a homogeneous category. It contains authoritarian, hereditary, democratic and semidemocratic political systems, and there certainly exist relative power asymmetries between GS states themselves. As some scholars have noted, the emergence of strong economies and regional powers within the GS such as China, Brazil, India, Japan and even Indonesia and South Korea has raised ‘new issues of marginalization and dominance among states already marginalized by the North’ (Benabdallah, Murillo-Zamora and Adetula, 2017, 127, emphasis added). While the GS is not itself a homogenous category, neither is there homogeneity within the scholarly

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community regarding its member states. We recognize that the inclusion of certain countries within the volume might raise some eyebrows. Nevertheless, we have decided to keep the range of countries featured in this volume as is, for drawing attention to the manners in which unique historical, geographical, political, social and cultural contexts interact and intersect with RE formulation as well as instruction. Although there are many niche publications in the field of RE (and new studies continuously being carried out), to date scant attention has been given to the subject in the GS, and as such there is a lack of a standard scholarly reference book on RE in this region. Available statistics on religious demography (2015) in the GS provided by the PEW Research Centre indicate high levels of religious homogeneity in many GS regions, and in some, evidence of high levels of religious heterogeneity as well. In Latin America 96 per cent of the population are Christian (69 per cent Catholic and 19 per cent Protestant) and 8 per cent are unaffiliated, while in the Asia Pacific region, 25.3 per cent of the population are Hindu, 24.3 per cent Muslim and 21.2 per cent unaffiliated. Further, in this broad geographic area, 11.9 per cent of the population are Buddhist, 9 per cent belong to a folk religion and only 7.1 per cent are Christian. Within Latin America and the Caribbean, Christianity will continue to be the largest religion, although it has experienced a slight decline to 89 per cent in 2015 from 90 per cent in 2010. At the same time, those religiously unaffiliated will grow to 9 per cent from 8 per cent during the same period. In North Africa and the Middle East, Islam will remain the main religion at 93 per cent against a tiny Christian population (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) of about 5.5 per cent, and religious others at about 1.5 per cent (Pew Research Centre, 2015). By contrast, in other regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, 62.9 per cent of the population are Christian, while 30.2 per cent are Muslim. Further still, 3.3 per cent belong to a folk religion, while 3.3 per cent are unaffiliated. The prediction is that by 2050, four out of every ten Christians in the entire world will live in sub-Saharan Africa. This being said, within sub-Saharan Africa there do exist pockets of the population which are Hindu (0.2 per cent), Buddhist ( (accessed 8 January 2019). The Lausanne Treaty (1923), http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne (accessed 19 February 2016). Lautsi v Italy (2009), ECtHR, 30814/06. Türkmen, B. (2009), ‘A Study of ‘Religious Culture and Morality’ Textbooks in the Turkish High School Curricula’, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 29(3), pp. 381–97. Uluç, O. (2013), ‘Responding Religious Claims in a Secular Democracy: The Turkish Case’, in European Culture Wars? within the Section ‘Regulating Private and Public: Between Religion and Secularism’, ECPR General Conference, Bordeaux, 5–7 September 2013.

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Ulutaş, U. (2010), ‘Religion and Secularism in Turkey: The Dilemma of the Directorate of Religious Affairs’, Middle Eastern Studies, 46(3), pp. 389–99. Ünal, İ. (2010), Alevilerin din kültürü ve ahlak bilgisi derslerinden beklentileri (Ankara örneği), MA Thesis, Turkey, Yüzüncü Yıl University. Vašák, K. (1977), ‘Human Rights: A Thirty-year Struggle: The Sustained Efforts to Give Force of Law to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, UNESCO Courier, 11, pp. 29–32. Yaşar, N. (2000), İnsan hakları Avrupa sisteminde ve Türk hukukunda eğitim hakkı ve özgürlüğü, İstanbul: Filiz Kitabevi. Yükrük, S. and Akarsu, S. (2016), ‘Ortaokul (5-8) müzik ders kitaplarında yer alan şarkıların değerler bakımından incelenmesi [The Songs in the Music Textbook Middle School (5-8) Examined in Terms of the Values]’, Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 25(3), pp. 1171–86. Zhurnalova-Juppunov, M. (2011), ‘Religious Displays at Public Schools – Courts, Crucifixes and Masters of Identities’, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 18(4), pp. 479–510.

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Chapter 6

Religious Education and Contemporary Issues in Zambia: Insights from Kabwe Central Region Joseph Chita and Nelly Mwale

Introduction In this chapter, the following research question is addressed: How has Religious Education (RE) responded to contemporary issues in Zambia? The research question is premised on the curriculum reforms in RE which were necessitated by the need to align the subject to the Zambia Education Curriculum Framework (ZECF) of 2013 (ZECF), and realities in Zambian contemporary society. Despite these reforms, Zambian scholarship on RE has continued to be dominated by discourses on RE prior to the 2013 reforms (see, for example, Mwale and Chita, 2017; Mwale, Chita and Cheyeka, 2014; Carmody, 2006; Simuchimba, 2005; Chizelu, 2006). This chapter therefore attempts to fill this gap in the discourse of Zambian RE. The chapter focuses on the revised RE curriculum at the primary and secondary levels of education, and the implications for teaching and learning processes for teacher education. The chapter advances the need for RE to respond to contemporary trends, by revisiting the aims and content of the subject in ways that enable the subject to contribute towards producing holistic learners equipped with vital skills and sound values for the transformation of society. In so doing, the chapter acknowledges that the attainment of national aspirations through education is not a task a single subject like RE can fulfil, and as such, RE can only contribute to the overall national aspirations from its own distinct nature and in a complimentary and supplementary way with other subjects and courses in the curriculum. As such, the chapter is significant not only for providing an in-depth reflection on the revisions in RE, but also by advancing the possible ways in which RE can adequately respond to contemporary realities in Zambia.

Nature of Zambian Contemporary Society Contemporary Zambian society is characterized by numerous trends, which directly and indirectly shape RE. Therefore, the nature of the Zambian contemporary society is described in relation to demography, religion, politics, socio-economic trends and the national aspirations and their bearing on RE. To start with, the Zambia Statistics Agency (2020) estimated the total

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present population at 17,885,422 (9,033,248 females and 8,852,174 males). In recent years, the country’s population has been described as one dominated by young people. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (2016), it was estimated that 36.7 per cent of Zambia’s population was aged between fifteen and thirty-five years, the largest population of young people in the country’s history. Zambia is a multi-religious country in which Christianity is the dominant religion. Other religions including Islam, Hinduism, Zambian Indigenous Religions, Bahai Faith, Buddhism and Sikhism account for smaller percentages in terms of following. The country’s religious landscape is also characterized by the Christian nation rhetoric of the past. Phiri (2003) writes: President Fredrick Chiluba, an evangelical, declared the country a Christian nation on 29th December 1991 at a private ceremony in the State House. Many churches denounced his declaration … On one hand, the Roman Catholic Church and the Christian Council of Churches in Zambia … maintained that there should have been consultation before the declaration was made because of the democratic nature of the state. On the other hand, Pentecostals circles, especially the Northmead Assembly of God, were very happy about it because they saw the rule of God coming to Zambia through Chiluba … The Pentecostals who were involved in the planning ceremony for the declaration felt happy because they were brought into the inner circle of the power game. (Phiri, 2003, 407) Although the declaration had Pentecostal undertones and appealed more to the Pentecostal movement, it meant governing the country based on biblical principles, as highlighted in the quote: ‘I further declare that Zambia is a Christian Nation that will seek to be governed by the righteous principles of the Word of God [and that] righteousness and justice must prevail in all levels of authority, and then we shall see the righteousness of God exalting Zambia’ (Gifford, 1998, 197). In the light of this development, the country has witnessed the expansion of Pentecostalism with various streams or categories which can be read in the growing body of Pentecostal studies in Zambia (Lumbwe, 2008; Munshya, 2015; Kaunda and Kaunda, 2018; Mwale and Chita, 2018). This expansion of Pentecostalism has been evidenced in among other ways the proliferation of prophets and miracles that have been associated with different forms of abuse. Religion has in turn generally become more visible in the public sphere. Chiluba’s declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation had constitutional implications that led to the constitution of the Republic of Zambia being amended to declare the Republic a Christian nation (Phiri, 2003). Although the country was declared a ‘Christian nation’, the national constitution prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of conscience, belief and religion. It must be acknowledged that the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation has been a topical area for scholarly engagement characterized by dissenting voices such as Mukuka (2014) and Kaunda (2017, 2018). More recently, a new ministry known as the Ministry of National Guidance and Religious Affairs (MNGRA) was established in 2016, with the mandate to actualize the ‘Christian nation’ declaration. The MNGRA’s mandate was to implement the declaration of ‘Zambia as a Christian nation’ into practical, workable and realistic interventions (MNGRA, 2019). The MNGRA would further provide an overall policy and legal framework in all matters pertaining to Zambia’s 108

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Christian heritage. Similar to debates that surrounded the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation, the creation of MNGRA spurred debates that polarized the church in Zambia.1 Thus, both the declaration of the country as Christian nation and the establishment of the new ministry to actualize the declarations enforced discourses of religion as a political tool (Cheyeka, 2014; Kaunda, 2017). Zambia is a presidential republic and politically guided by democratic principles. As observed by Catholic Bishops in Zambia (Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), 2016), since reverting to multiparty democracy in 1991, Zambia has made progress in democratization, although more still remains to be done. There is still a great need to entrench a democratic culture among the people given the level of intra- and inter-political intolerance exhibited in the country. Socio-economically, although the country recorded economic growth in the past decade, and was declared a middle-income country in 2011, the majority of Zambian citizens remain poor, coupled with high unemployment levels, especially among the youths, which stood at 16 per cent in 2020 (Zambia Statistics Agency, 2020). The country also grapples with the rising demand for education. Thus, although the sector recorded infrastructure development, developed legislation to regulate the sector and increased enrolment across the sector (GRZ, 2017), access, participation, quality, relevance and equity in education continue to be challenges affecting the sector. As observed by Nkanza (2019), the major challenges of the sector continued to be improving educational and learner support infrastructure; design, testing, and implementation of new curricula and academic programmes; recruitment, retention, and motivation and development of well-trained faculty, increasing access for disadvantaged populations and conducting both basic and applied research. Zambia has a high burden of disease, mainly characterized by high prevalence and impact of communicable diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis and malaria, including the rapidly rising burden of non-communicable diseases, such as mental health, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, cardio-vascular diseases and high maternal, neonatal and child morbidities and mortalities (GRZ, 2017). It is no wonder that Zambia Educational Curriculum Framework (2013) identifies national concerns to include democracy, good governance, gender equality, sustainable environment, life skills and HIV/AIDS. The enquiry into how Zambian RE responded to contemporary issues is situated in the context of ‘Vision 2030’ (2006–30), which is Zambia’s first-ever long-term plan expressing the country’s aspirations of being a prosperous middle-income country by the year 2030. Vision 2030 was operationalized through the implementation of five national development plans, beginning with the Fifth National Development Plan (2006–10), along with the Sixth National development Plan (2011–15) which was revised to cover the period between 2013 and 2016. The current national plan is the Seventh National Development Plan (2017–21). The policy document (Vision 2030) embodies values of socio-economic justice underpinned by the principles of gender responsiveness, sustainable development, democracy, respect for human rights, traditional and family values, positive attitude towards work, peaceful co-existence and private–public partnerships (GRZ, 2006). It also identifies education as a critical component in enhancing the country’s socio-economic development, and acknowledges that the country has yet to reach educational standards that are commensurate with sustainable development (GRZ, 2006). The national policies and curriculum framework envisioned an education that will produce learners who can contribute to the attainment of Vision 2030. 109

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In this context, RE was expected to contribute towards producing holistic learners who are creative, innovative, and productive, connected to family, community, national and global development, actively involved, capable of learning and living with others, and life-long learners and agents of change in the transformation of society (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). The learners were envisioned to acquire values such as excellence, innovation, enquiry and curiosity, diversity, equity and empathy, citizenry, community and participation, ecological sustainability, honesty and integrity, respect and honour, faith in God, love, professionalism, discipline, tolerance, patriotism and hard work (Musonda, 2019).

Revised (2013) Zambian Curriculum Framework In 2013, the country embarked on the review of the curriculum in order to promote the kind of education that would be relevant to individual, national and global needs and value systems (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). This was through the national curriculum framework known as the Zambia Education Curriculum Framework of 2013, whose philosophical rationale for education provision was to ‘nurture the holistic development of all individuals and promote the social and economic welfare of the country’ (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a, 1). The 2013 curriculum framework focuses on the incorporation of current areas of social, economic and technological developments in the curriculum and the opening up of two career pathways (academic and vocational). It also includes the linking of school vocational curriculum to technical and vocational training programmes, and the integration of some subjects with interrelated and similar competences and content into learning areas. Additionally, it spells out key competences to be achieved by learners at every level of education. The framework was premised on the 1996 national education policy known as Educating our Future, and thus education continued to be perceived as a social and economic tool for development by responding to the developmental needs of the country and those of individuals (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). The main changes in the revised curriculum are reflected in seven major key components: general outcomes, key competencies, chapter, topic, sub-topic, specific outcome and content (knowledge, skills and values) (Musonda, 2019). The framework had implications for all subjects in the education system. At both the primary and secondary school levels, learners were given an opportunity to discover their abilities, interests and talents. This implied that all learners were to be exposed to the two career pathways, namely, academic and vocational (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). The curriculum framework also calls for the formation of subject associations to help teachers improve performance and make subjects more focused and relevant (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). Of interest and focus in this chapter is RE as a school subject that was expected to contribute to the national aspirations as outlined in the national policies and curriculum framework of 2013. In Zambia, RE syllabuses were revised in order to align the subject with the revised curriculum framework. At primary level of education, the curriculum framework prescribed five and seven learning areas, and recommended the integration of RE into Social Studies. With RE integrated, two running themes emerged: Religion and Christian Living. The theme of Religion was tailored towards introducing learners to different religions and related names of God, the places of

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worship, scriptures, religious faith and the family. However, the bulk of the themes on Christian Living was addressed through sub-themes such as friendship and love, happiness, division and forgiveness, cultural celebrations (festivals and ceremonies), suffering and death, discipline and punishment. Accordingly, the skills (identification and classification) and values (awareness and appreciation) were incorporated based on these sub-themes (see Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b). At junior secondary level, RE was made compulsory and a standalone subject (with a time allocation of two hours forty minutes, four periods per week of forty minutes each). RE was referred to as Spiritual and Moral Education (SME), aimed at fostering ‘the development of personally held civic, moral and spiritual values … [and] the appreciation of the religions should be drawn from the four main religious traditions in Zambia [Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous Zambian beliefs and Islam]’ (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b, viii). In terms of content, only one new topic on morality was added at grade 8, while at grade 9 it remained as it was in the pre-2013 curriculum reforms syllabus. Accordingly, grade 8 content covered eight topics, namely, morality and values; growing up; learning about religion; the Bible; choosing and talents; competition, cooperation and trust; division, sin and forgiveness and learning and truth, whereas grade 9 content had seven topics, namely, freedom and community; authority and leadership; ambition and hope; friendship, love and marriage; suffering; and death and prayer (see Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b). The key competencies for learners at the junior secondary school level were to demonstrate understanding, tolerance and appreciation to exhibit growth, and a sense of responsibility, and to make right choices and foster healthy human development (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b). The suggested teaching methods were active learning, educational visits, debate, roleplay, demonstration, question and answer, and teacher exposition. At senior secondary, RE (both syllabuses 2044 and 2046, whose history can be read elsewhere) (see Masterton, 1987) was optional and constituted a standalone subject with a time allocation of three hours twenty minutes (five periods of forty minutes per week). Syllabus 2044 continued to be based on life themes. It had five major themes and ten sub-themes (from the initial fifteen themes). The five themes and accompanying sub-themes included living in a changing society (work in a changing society and leisure in a changing society); order and freedom in society (justice in society and service in society); life (happiness in life and unending life); man and woman (courtship and marriage and family life) and man’s response to God through faith and prayer (man’s evasion from God and man’s search for God) (see Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b). The above sub-themes were analysed from four learning stages which included Present Situation-Current Zambian outlook on issues affecting society; African Tradition-Zambian traditional viewpoint on matters; Church history – Experiences of Churches in Africa and the stance on issues at hand; the Bible Old and New Testament dimension of the topic under discussion. Similarly, the topics in syllabus 2046 remained as they were in the pre-2013 RE syllabus and continued to follow the biblical themes approach. They were divided into two parts (which constitute twenty-four units). The syllabus has four learning stages, which stem from the life of Jesus and Christian witness. The new additions were only in line with the examination question format through the inclusion of part C: recall of the Bible passage(s); Christian teachings or moral values deduced from the passage; application to Christian behaviour in Zambia; focuses 111

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on positive values in modern Zambian Society; comparing and contrasting Christian spiritual and moral values from non-Christian religious traditions in Zambia (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b; Musonda, 2019). The skills that were incorporated in the senior secondary school RE syllabus consisted of effective communication, interpersonal analysis, identification, comparing and contrasting, critical thinking, application, narration, analysing, and describing among others. The values included productivity, hard work, appreciation, cooperation, innovativeness, awareness, respect, hospitality, care, serving, sacrifice and fairness among others (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b). As can be observed, the major changes to the syllabus were in the area of skills and values.

Religious Education and Contemporary Society as Explored in Extant Research Writing on the views of RE, Jackson opined that ‘as the appropriateness of traditional forms of “religious instructions” were challenged, the term “religious education” became used widely for various approaches to learning about religion or religions (or combining learning about and learning from religion), as distinct from religious instruction’ (Jackson, 2014, 27). The preceding distinction was further clarified in terms of religious education, and this resulted in developing religious understanding which led to general public understanding of religion. In contemporary society, RE initiates individuals of varying ‘religious and secular backgrounds study together in order to gain better understanding of religions and beliefs, including one another’s worldviews’ (Jackson, 2016, 14). Zambian RE whose full history can be read elsewhere (Simuchimba, 2005; Carmody, 2006; Mwale, Chita and Cheyeka, 2014; Mwale and Chita, 2017) is sometimes currently referred to as Spiritual and Moral Education (SME), and previously as Christian Religious Education. Albeit strides have been recorded in making the subject educational and multi-faith, RE is still dominated by Christianity. The historical-political development of the subject has a lot to do with this dominance and this has extensively been deliberated in Zambian RE scholarship elsewhere. A snippet of information in the history of Zambian RE showcases Christian upper hand in the development of the subject since its inception. Christian missionaries and other enthusiasts pioneered the introduction and development of the subject, funded and outsourced teaching and learning materials, and spearheaded teacher education. This investment in the subject can partly explain the dominance of the Christian discourse. Furthermore, the missionaries’ legacy in RE has not met any major revisions to shake its foundation. Thus, efforts to revisit and shape RE in the post missionary era have encountered resistance and lack of consensus from the Christian circles. For instance, efforts to develop a single senior secondary school RE syllabus from two separate syllabuses (2044 and 2046) have failed due to the entrenched Catholic and Protestant divide. The failure to reach an agreement on what kind of RE Zambia needs at the secondary school level can also explain the challenges associated with building consensus on a national policy on religion. In contemporary times, RE has been linked to several aspects in different contexts. For example, according to the South African National Policy on Religion and Education (NPRE) 112

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(2003), RE should enable learners to engage with a variety of religious traditions in a way that encourages them to grow in their inner spiritual and moral dimensions, and affirm their own identity, while leading them to an informed understanding of the religious identities of others. RE has also been linked to education for citizenship. For instance, Chidester viewed RE ‘as a core component of citizenship education for the twenty-first century … directed at educating citizens on the diversity of religious beliefs and practices on both national and global levels’ (Chidester, 2002, 12; Tayob, 2017, 174). Tayob also remarked that RE is ‘educational and not a religious or confessional practice [that is] increasingly accepted as the only legitimate and reasonable pedagogy for plural societies … it is believed that RE focused on the study of multiple religions in one classroom meets the needs of changing societies’ (Tayob, 2018, 1). Besides resonating with the Zambian aspirations for education, the reflections above from Chidester and Tayob seem to be closely related to the interpretive and historical-political paradigms of RE in contemporary times. Working from Jackson (2016), the interpretive approach to religious education can be illustrated using three ideas: representation, interpretation and reflexivity: Students learn about religions (through learning information and discussing issues concerned with how religions are portrayed in various contexts [representation]) and studying how religious language is used and how religious actions are performed by practitioners [Interpretation]. They are also given opportunities, in the context of the ‘civil’ classroom and in an appropriate manner, to express what they think is positive about the material they have studied, to articulate criticisms of the beliefs and values they have encountered, and to make contributions to the review of study methods [reflexivity]. (Jackson, 2016, 10) According to Jackson (1997), the interpretive model of RE places more emphasis on the diversity of religion, and particularly the plurality of religious communities where faith is lived. It aims at helping children and young people find their own positions within the key debates about religious plurality. Additionally, the interpretive approach aims ‘to provide methods for developing understanding of different religious traditions …, to increase knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs … [and] to enable learners to formulate their own views and to relate these to their previous learning and understanding’ (Jackson, 2009, 1). The interpretive model of RE was deemed significant for making meaning of RE’s responses to contemporary issues (from the shareholder’s perspectives) in a traditional, multi-religious, culturally and patriarchal complex post-colonial society like Zambia because the model encourages moving beyond the practice of a particular cultural or religious identity to fostering a balance that presents other religious perspectives in the teaching and learning process. The interpretive model was considered valuable for facilitating religious imagination of religious discourses in a context where issues of religion are embedded in both visible and invisible expressions of culture as well as helping the social actors in RE to grasp, reflect and interpret complex forms of the religious phenomenon as intertwined in a complex context. As highlighted by Roof (2011,70), dealing with a religious phenomenon demands that we ‘understand that religious traditions are reinvented, constantly changing and that people exercise considerable choices in formulating their own religious worlds’. 113

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Regarding the historical-political paradigm, Gearon (2014) emphasizes understanding presentday uses of religion in education as a means of achieving broad political goals. In this paradigm, RE is seen as serving democratic principles and practices, thereby serving the needs of cohesion among culturally and religiously diverse populations. Notwithstanding the limitations of the historical-political paradigm, Gearon observed that it is arguably among the more powerful and prevalent of all current paradigms in large measure. This is because of the potential it is seen to have not only for justifying RE as a curriculum subject, but also for enjoining this with renewed political and societal aims as much as educational purpose. The historical-political paradigm is concerned with the creation of citizens and even activists. Apart from relating well with Tayob’s (2018) observation on multiple religions being taught in the classroom and perceived to meet the needs of changing societies, the interpretive and historicalpolitical paradigms in contemporary times are also in line with the national goals of producing holistic learners who can be agents of transformation. The Zambia Education Curriculum Framework is therefore concerned with the learners, society and the subject itself. With the concepts of interest framed, we will focus on how the main research question was investigated.

Details about the Study The overall aim of the study was to explore the perspectives of RE educators drawn from Kabwe on how RE responded to contemporary issues in Zambia in the context of the revised syllabus resulting from the 2013 national curriculum framework. It was guided by four research questions. First, what were the contemporary issues in need of response from RE? Secondly, what were the RE educators’ perspectives on the revised RE syllabus in relation to how it addresses contemporary issues? Next, what were the shortcomings of the revised RE syllabus in dealing with contemporary issues? Finally, what can be suggested as the way forward with the revised Zambian RE syllabus? The study was motivated by the limited scholarly engagement with the revised RE syllabus in Zambian scholarship. It therefore employed a qualitative case study design owing to the explorative nature of the enquiry. According to Scott and Morrison, a case study is ‘an empirical study which is conducted within a localised boundary of space and time; into interesting aspects of an educational activity … ; mainly in its natural context … in order to inform the judgement and decisions of practitioners’ (Scott and Morrison, 2006, 17). The study was purposely located in the educational setting of Kabwe, the provincial capital of Zambia’s Central province. Kabwe is located about 140 kilometres north of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. It has an approximate population of 220,000 and is home to one of the largest shanty compounds (Makululu) in Southern Africa (Burga and Saunders, 2019). The town is reported to have had one of Africa’s largest Lead and Copper deposits, which operated from 1902 to 1994. But with the closure of the mining operations, Kabwe experienced a serious economic depression, with job losses and limited economic opportunities. Thus, street vending is a common occurrence in the central business district. Mining operations caused extensive heavy metal contaminations that poisoned the environment, impacting on the daily lives of Kabwe children and adults (Burga and Saunders, 2019).

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The town has many educational institutions but of significance to RE is Kwame Nkrumah University, which was established in March 1967 as a College of Education to prepare teachers for secondary school level. Officially opened in April 1971 by the first Zambian President David Kaunda, it took on a new name, ‘Nkrumah Teachers’ College, in recognition and honour of the late first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (Longe and Chiputa, 2003). It was the first college to offer the RE programme for secondary school teachers (Carmody, 2004), until it migrated to offering Religious Studies upon being upgraded to a university in 2008. Kabwe was particularly of interest to this study because it is home to the only RE Club in the country. The Kabwe RE club define themselves as a group of RE enthusiasts who have come together to discuss issues of RE in the context of a defunct Zambia Religious Education Teachers’ Association (ZARET). ZARET was an initiative which brought together teachers of RE in the province with the sole purpose of addressing common issues and sharing best practice about the subject (Flynn, 2016). Consistent with case study design, the participants in the study were also purposely chosen and drawn from selected educational institutions in Kabwe. These participants were composed of lecturers and teachers. Lecturers were purposely chosen from two institutions of higher learning, which prepared teachers of RE. Furthermore, inclusion was based on their affiliation to the Religious Education Lecturers’ Consultancy Group (RELCG). Similarly, teachers were purposely chosen because of their affiliation to the Kabwe RE Club, which had shown interest through their public engagement with the subject. The study included ten (n=10) key participants: four (n=4) lecturers (two males and two females) and six (n=6) teachers of RE (one male and five females). The representation of more females than males in the study was a reflection that the teaching of RE was dominated by females. For example, more than half of the Kabwe RE Club members were females. Chizelu (2006) also concluded that there were more females than males involved in teaching RE in multi-religious secondary schools in the Copperbelt Province. The small number of participants was deemed significant not for purposes of generalization, but for providing insights that would contribute to an understanding of how RE had responded to contemporary issues in the context of the new national curriculum framework. Insights were also sought for from the RE specialist at Curriculum Development Centre in Lusaka for purposes of supplementing and confirming what was obtained from the teachers and lecturers with regard to the revised RE syllabus. This sample of teachers and lecturers was settled for because of their vested interest, knowledge and ongoing interaction with RE at different levels of the Zambian educational system, including being based in Kabwe. Data were collected through document analysis and interviews. In the case of document analysis, educational policies, RE syllabuses, and RE teachers’ and learners’ books were consulted to yield valuable data. Interviews were conducted by the authors with teachers and lecturers from Kabwe town. Data were collected in phases. The initial data were collected between November and December 2018, while the follow-up data were collected between March and June 2020. The data were thematically analysed. The thematic analysis was guided by the process outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). It involved the generation and application of codes to the data, and the identification, analysis and report of patterns (themes). This thematic approach was used for the purposes of understanding how RE had responded to contemporary issues in the country. Ethical considerations were also taken into account. This involved upholding confidentiality, making clear the intentions of the study and getting consent from the participants. The participants’ 115

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identities were withheld for the purpose of anonymity. Pseudonyms in the form of letters of the alphabet have been used, F to I for lecturers and J to O for teachers. As recommended by Merriam (2009), trustworthiness was among other ways addressed by triangulating the data collection methods. Although document study and interviews were the preferred methods for data gathering, we were mindful of the limitations associated with case study methods. In this regard, data may have gaps, and for the data that are available, there are high chances of inadequacies and incompleteness. As such, the sources of data were triangulated in order to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses associated with each source of data. Besides the methodological challenges, the study had limitations with regard to the small number of participants. Therefore, the insights that emerge from this study could not be generalized; rather, they provide a window through which RE in contemporary times could be understood. In the next section, we will present insights on RE and contemporary issues in Kabwe Central Region with reference to the recent curriculum reforms using themes based on the following specific research questions, namely: (a) contemporary issues in need of response from RE; (b) RE educators’ perspectives on the revised RE syllabus and how they see it as addressing (or not) contemporary issues and (c) shortcomings of the revised RE syllabus and the suggestions for improvement.

Contemporary Issues in Need of Response from Religious Education The participants’ perspectives on what were deemed as contemporary issues in need of a response from RE were diverse, and were categorized into four main themes which would often overlap, namely: environmental health, socio-economic, socio-cultural and political issues. With regard to environmental health, it was revealed that young people in Kabwe were grappling with issues of heavy metal contamination and poisoning. One teacher noted: Young people in Kabwe are struggling with health matters. This place has Lead pollution and children are vulnerable to contamination. Our RE has to pay attention to these issues of pollution in the context of climate change. (Teacher L) A lecturer also stressed, As you may be aware, Kabwe is home to the largest shanty compound in Southern Africa … many children are vulnerable to Lead poisoning … health facilities do not have adequate Lead testing kits nor medicine … ailments from Lead contamination on children is something we hardly hear yet we know it has a far reaching impact on the wellbeing of young people. (Lecturer F) Linked to the subject of pollution, another teacher highlighted waste management as a thorny issue in the context of Kabwe:

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In a class composed of pupils from various backgrounds, we are confronted with challenges of poor waste management in our schools and in Kabwe in general. Pupils’ experiences of indiscriminate waste disposals in their neighbourhood, manifest in both classrooms and school environment. Therefore, as a teacher of RE, I cannot sit back and not find a way of addressing this problem. RE lessons have to find a way of linking the subject to the problem of litter in our environment. (Teacher M) Socio-economic challenges were also identified as contemporary issues in need of a response from RE, as young people in Kabwe were confronted with unemployment, poverty, street vending, child abuse, child labour, moral decay and child pregnancies as expressed in the following: Kabwe has one of the highest poverty levels in Zambia due to lack of economic opportunities. What this means is that young people are searching for a livelihood. Many young people turn to the street to sell one or two things to make ends meet. I think RE needs to empower them to be able to know who they are and how to derive meaning out of life (Lecturer H). Our learners are heading homes. Child headed households are a problem in Mukobeko area. Children lack parental guidance, and they have no one to introduce them to values that have sustained our African communities for generations. As a result, there is a lot of peer pressure leading to child pregnancies, drug abuse and many other vices. What we cannot take away from these young people is that they are highly motivated, they want to discover new ways of doing things. … RE needs to help learners to survive in this challenging environment. RE needs to teach our young people to co-exist with each other whether poor or rich, Christian or not (Teacher O). Additionally, socio-cultural and political challenges which emerged as issues in need of a response from RE were centred on human rights. These were related to disability, right to education, violence against children and women, and political violence: Kabwe has in the recent past experienced pockets of violence during intra-party and national elections, such incidences have taken place in our communities in full view of our learners. This to me, has in most times given our young generation a very bad example, which RE and other subjects in Social Studies can help correct (Lecturer G). Young people are troubled with abuse, this has to be addressed by RE. I am talking about abuse within the confines of religion. Young people are abused by these so called ‘men of God’ sexually, emotionally name it. We need to teach our young people to question these forms of religion … it’s not just young people, but even adults have fallen prey to these prophets. Women and young people are more vulnerable as they try to make ends meet (Lecturer I). Because of Lead poisoning, many young people in our communities have learning difficulties resulting from the effects of this poisoning. Many young people still lack information on Lead contaminations, ways of minimising exposure and the side effects of Lead. So would it be difficult for RE to raise awareness and 117

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make these young people to be champions of change in their own community? No, it’s not! RE has to make a difference (Teacher N). Generally, the contemporary issues that were identified as in need of a response from RE were cross-cutting in nature.

The Revised Religious Education Curriculum and Contemporary Issues The perspectives of teachers and lecturers on the revised RE curriculum and its response to contemporary issues in Kabwe Central Region are seen through the aims, rationale and content of the subject at the primary and secondary levels, including the implications for teaching and learning processes.

Primary School Religious Education Curriculum At the primary level, both teachers and lecturers of RE were of the view that RE was attempting to address contemporary issues through the inclusion of skills and values. One teacher observed: In the revised curriculum, the emphasis on values and skills is a vehicle for making our learners to be whole rounded. Learners are not just introduced to knowledge but to a variety of skills and values in each lesson. (Teacher J) Another teacher noted that the greatest gift which the revised RE syllabus has given us is the inclusion of skills and values and continued to state that we are reminded to place emphasis on skills and values as we teach, to enable our learners to be appreciative and aware of different aspects of religion and Christian living (Teacher M). Similarly, lecturers of RE generally affirmed that the inclusion of values and skills in the revised curriculum was cardinal and if well taught, it would help produce a learner who was well adjusted in his or her environment. For instance, one lecturer observed that ‘although there are numerous values and skills in the revised curriculum, the inclusion of skills and values is commendable, if our teachers can fully implement the inclusion of values and skills in their lessons, RE could make a difference in forming learners of the present day Zambia’ (Lecturer I). Besides the inclusion of skills and values, RE at primary level was considered to be addressing contemporary issues by introducing learners to basics in religions. One teacher stated: We may not go much into details on other religions because the focus is on Christian living, but in doing so we introduce our learners and help them to appreciate other religions. As we use teaching techniques such as songs and drama, I think young minds are enabled to explore their potential in these aspects. RE, as part of Social Studies helps the learners to identify their potential and talent. (Teacher N)

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Therefore, the insights of both teachers and lecturers affirmed that RE at the primary level attempted to respond to contemporary issues through the emphasis on values and skills, its content (notwithstanding its bias to Christian living on the contested notion of Zambia as a ‘Christian’ nation) and teaching methodologies.

Secondary School Religious Education Curriculum At the secondary level, both teachers and teacher educators (lecturers) expressed the view that the revised RE was attempting to address contemporary issues in some way. For example, at the junior secondary level, and in terms of the content, it was acknowledged that RE had attempted to respond to changes in the Zambian society through the minor additions. One lecturer stated: Nothing much has changed in the revised syllabus apart from Grade 8 where there is an addition of one topic: morality, cultivation of positive values in judgment making … the rest of the topics are old and I think we are doing an injustice to youths of this era. The topic of morality is timely and well appreciated even when teachers struggle to teach it. (Lecturer H) There was also a general appreciation with the junior secondary RE. A case in point was another Lecturer’s observation: For me, the Junior RE syllabus is timely for present day Zambia. It falls into situational themes, which is what is needed so that learners can be critical. The only problem is the methods of delivery because teachers do not engage with the content. They seem to have continued with the conservative approach of teaching. (Lecturer G) Other teachers expressed similar sentiments: Even when no major changes were done to the Junior secondary RE, it tries to respond to contemporary issues. It is not Bible centred and it is not bulky. Our learners enjoy the Junior RE because it touches on themes that are life centred. It deals with their real-life situations and most teachers also enjoy teaching at Junior secondary and tend to shun senior RE because it has so many Bible passages (Teacher L). At the Junior level, RE has been made compulsory. At this age, most of the learners are adolescents and their adulthood being formed. Most concepts being taught are what learners face and will face in real life, enabling them to be responsible citizens who are morally upright (Teacher O). At senior secondary level, the changes in the questioning technique which included aspects from modern-day society were also seen as a way in which RE was addressing contemporary issues. For example, a teacher made the following remarks: I have been teaching 2046 for more than 20 years and so it was exciting to see a new addition on questions in part C where our learners are required to focus on the 119

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positive values of modern Zambian society. From communities that have different challenges which affect young people, I think this question helps our learners to pause for a moment and say what is it that is positive around me? For me, that is a self-searching question in the midst of life struggles (Teacher K). The teachers also pointed to the teaching methodologies, which were helping RE to contribute to addressing contemporary issues that complicated the life of the young people. For example, as in these two extracts, our RE is very bulky and Bible centered. Our learners have to master too many Bible passages. So as a way of making them develop interest in the subject, we compose songs, poems and do role plays, dance drama, debate and many other activities. What is interesting is that learners also compose these songs and poems … these young people have great talent, only if we allow them to find them. RE in this way helps them to identify and find their talents. When we give them homework in which we group them based on the location, they meet after school at home to compose songs and poems and rehearse, so that way, they are helped to spend time productively and grow their potential. They seem to learn better like that than asking them to memorise verses (Teacher M). The approach emphasised today is learner centred, this helps the learner to develop an attitude of knowing that they are in charge of their own learning, ability to work with others and are enabled to research and develop leadership skills (Teacher O). Another participant (Lecturer I) observed that the learning stages and content for the present situation was a direct way in which RE was trying to relate to contemporary issues: ‘When we ask learners to identify organisations or individuals who denounce evil in modern day society for example or when we teach the present situation in 2044, RE tries to address problems of injustice, work, service, family and so forth except for much of the syllabus, the focus quickly shifts to Christianity in comparison with other religions.’ Other participants were of the view that RE was addressing contemporary issues by making young people appreciate other religions: ‘It is helping young people to develop an attitude of appreciating other religions, cultures and people’ (Teacher N). Generally, the teachers and lecturers were of the view that RE at secondary level was addressing contemporary issues through the inclusion of a topic on morality, skills and values, teaching methodologies and selected learning stages and content.

Shortcomings of the Revised Religious Education Curriculum Both teachers and lecturers expressed a general dissatisfaction with the revised RE syllabus and were of the view that it had not adequately responded to contemporary issues based on its aim, rationale and content, which for the most part remained as it was in the pre-2013. Religious Education Syllabus.

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Primary School Religious Education Curriculum At the primary level, the shortcomings of RE were related to character formation. Relating to the weaknesses of RE, Lecturer I observed that ‘the content of RE does not foster character development of a learner. The Bible topics are too demanding for the children’. The concerns on the introduction of children to the Bible were similar to the psychological frameworks for understanding children’s attitudes to the Bible. RE at primary level was further deemed not to have adequately responded to contemporary issues owing to the integration of the subject into Social Studies. For example, some lecturers and teachers in the study asserted that Christian Living overshadowed the subject. The following words accompanied one observation: ‘The syllabus is heavily focused on two topics “religion” and “Christian living,” and yet children come from communities where they live and see other people practising different religions’ Lecturer (I). In the case of Teacher (O), RE continues to contribute a few topics to Social studies … when we mention other religions, we continue to compare them to Christianity … a teacher cannot take it for granted that learners from other religions are comfortable with that approach, no … how do we make them realise that they are all equal regardless of what they believe in and that all religions are equal if one religion is given more prominence?

Secondary School Religious Education Curriculum At the Secondary school level, it was revealed that one of the major shortcomings, which compromised RE’s response to contemporary times, was the retention of the old aims and rationales for teaching the subject in modern times. Teacher (J) made the following comment: ‘Our RE still has the old aim and rationale … These have not been amended to fit in present day society. We are still stuck with the aspirations of the 1970s.’ Clearly, the modern Zambian society is no longer as it was in the 1970s as expressed by the teachers and members of the RE Club of Kabwe that ‘the revised RE is outdated because it is still the way it was after the 1977 educational reforms’ (Teacher N). Additionally, the revised RE flaws were also associated with the content of the subject. This view was largely based on the fact that the revised syllabuses were not different from the old syllabuses. The view of two teachers are worth noting here: The content of RE has remained the same, it is still bulky and Bible oriented and our learners seem not to enjoy being loaded with Bible passages. For example, they have to master so many Bible passages at once. Although we have tried to make the learning of Bible passages easier by composing songs and poems, I think our students are overloaded. It [content] does not focus on the interest of the modern-day learner (Teacher M). The revised syllabus had some topics removed, certain bible passages completely done away with, but the books still have these passages, and some examination question papers have questions on the same. The revisions were done

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in a rush. So, RE prepares learners for examinations and not for life after school. After school, learners would not most likely remember the lessons learnt in the classroom (Teacher J). Other participants noted that the content of RE in the revised curriculum did not include vital skills and sound values as the emphasis was on the descriptive approach to introducing learners to different religions with special emphasis on Christianity. Reflecting on the foregoing, one teacher noted: Our learners come from one of the biggest compounds with different kinds of vices. There is a lot of streetism, abuse and growing political violence with young people at the centre of it. Our learners need to be empowered to deal with these issues directly, as such, our choice of skills and values has to be intentional. Currently, there is a lot of confusion with regard to which values and skills ought to be emphasised because they are so many. So that way, we are failing the modernday learner who is expected to be holistic and contribute to his or her personal development and that of his or her society. (Teacher O) RE was further found not to have adequately responded to changes in the Zambian society, especially as regards religious discernment in a context in which religion was abused. For example, in the past decade, Zambia has recorded an increase in numbers of cases reported of prophets ‘or men of God’ abusing mostly children and women in the name of religion. One teacher further noted: Learners come from homes and societies that have so many so-called false prophets were [learners] exposed to stories of the miracles these prophets are performing. Because of poverty, young people and women are vulnerable at the hands of these so-called prophets. People have had their hard-earned money stolen, their houses taken away by prophets who claim to have answers to poverty. RE has to make learners critical of religion – that religion has positive and negative attributes so that even when they are poor, they should not be abused in the name of religion. (Teacher K) A view shared by most participants was that lack of teaching and learning resources compromised the response of RE to contemporary issues. For example, one participant noted, The new teaching materials have a number of typo errors and the teacher is left wondering if what they are teaching is indeed correct. Thus, teachers have to revert to the old books to be safe. However, we cannot skip any passage even if it is not in the revised syllabus. (Teacher J) In concluding this section, it can also be stated that RE was found not to have adequately responded to current issues of science and innovation in modern Zambia. At a time when the national and continental aspirations were anchored on STEM, RE had no link to science as one lecturer noted:

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The 2013 curriculum framework was an opportunity to have a different kind of RE in this country, the kind of subject that would link religion and science, one centred on personal development … the kind that would help a young person deal with the environmental crisis, unemployment and poverty, treasure their heritage and so on …. Unfortunately, nothing much has changed to make the subject suited for present day learners who are much more interested in technology and science related discoveries. (Lecturer H) In the next subsection we discuss perspectives of participants on suggested ways some of the limitations identified in this section can be addressed.

Suggestions for Change In view of the shortcomings of the revised RE syllabus, the major suggestions from both teachers and lecturers were centred on revising the aim, rationale, content, teaching methodologies and securing the availability of teaching and learning resources in line with the 2013 curriculum framework. For example, there was consensus from all participants that RE needed to be revised. Teacher (M) stated that ‘our RE is bulky so there is need to revise it, to make it less Bible centred and enable it to deal with problems affecting young people like unemployment, poverty, and all manner of abuse’, while another one pointed to the need to develop a new aim and rationale for teaching RE, ‘we just need a new aim for RE altogether, we need to focus our aim for the subject on the personal development of the learner and not just focusing on making our learners to be appreciative of religion’ (Teacher K). Further, one responded suggested, The only way to make RE relevant in contemporary times and more in tune with the curriculum framework in our schools is to revise, turn it into a subject, which learners can enjoy as is the case at the junior level. The senior RE is too bulky and focused on old national goals, teachers end up rushing through the syllabus to prepare for examinations. Removing certain topics has not really helped much because the learners still have to memorise too many bible passages. I think we are beyond the age of memorising things for the sake of examinations. (Lecturer I) Regarding teaching and learning resources, respondents called for the need to have revised textbooks of high quality, as indicated in the following excerpts: There is no standard RE textbook in the schools. There is talk that a teacher can use any book as a resource. So even the books that were in schools after the revised syllabus have been abandoned. Teachers have complained that the books are shallow and have so many errors. Teachers have ended up with the old RE books. So how do we expect teachers to implement the revised syllabus with the old resources? The old resources, including Bibles are also not always available in the schools (Lecturer F).

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We cannot have five different books in RE, all recommended as learners’ books. Why not use one as official and the others as supplementary. Let the official book correspond with the framework and not examination purposes (Teacher J). There are no textbooks in the schools. The ones that were procured after the revised syllabus had so many errors and many of us have abandoned those books and gone back to the old RE textbooks. I am personally using a pamphlet that was done in Northern province and the old textbooks on RE. So the solution is that RE needs to be revised and it should be accompanied by adequate teaching and learning resources based on the syllabus that will be done (Teacher L). Although a view not shared among all participants, two teachers suggested that RE should be compulsory. ‘It’s a suitable vehicle for championing national values, it should be compulsory the way it is at junior secondary level, but this can only be dealt with if the subject becomes less bulky like the one at junior secondary’ (Teacher K). For lecturers, they emphasized the need for incorporating teaching and learning pedagogies that would enable the teachers to not only focus on knowledge, but also prioritize skills and values. We also need to constantly revisit our teaching and learning pedagogies in teacher education so that we are not too expectant of the teacher whom we have not exposed to new ways of teachings as stressed in the revised curriculum. There is a need for ongoing capacity building. Our content in teacher education should be focused on Religious Education, as opposed to Religious Studies. (Lecturer F) One other suggestion from lecturers was that the changes introduced in the 2013 Zambian RE also required reforming teacher education because teachers reported challenges with the revised RE syllabuses. One lecturer, for instance, observed that teachers seemed to have continued using the conservative approach of teaching. Even when the teaching techniques were suggested in the revised syllabus, some teachers do not effectively use these techniques. We must observe here that these sentiments could not be detached from the growing trend in which most higher education institutions were departing from offering RE to Religious Studies. Thus, what the student teachers were exposed to in their teacher education was different from the content they were expected to teach in the school setup.

Discussion The insights from the Kabwe RE educators on the contemporary issues confronting young people in need of responses from RE showed that these issues were not directly anchored on religion but cut across different spheres of life. For instance, environmental health, socio-economic realities, socio-cultural and political concerns entailed that RE was expected to relate to these realities more head-on even when the subject was not directly linked to them. These realities are in line with the issues identified in the national plans and National Development Plans (NDP). For example, the 7 NDP affirms that the country faces, inter alia, raising youth unemployment poverty and so on (GRZ, 2017). The issues identified by teachers and lecturers in the study that informs this chapter 124

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constitute the same matters, which the Zambia Education Curriculum Framework grapples with, in order to engender transformation of the country. The identified contemporary issues also suggest that RE in the curriculum could no longer be centred on drawing comparisons of Christianity and other religions, but rather enabling learners to evaluate the beliefs and values of these religions and to foster social cohesion. The findings thus affirm the linkages that have been made in other contexts. In the case of South Africa, RE has been linked to the national aspiration to foster citizenship. As can be noted (reservedly) in the historical-political paradigm, RE could be used as a means of achieving political goals, in this case, the national transformative agenda. The perspectives of the participants on how RE was addressing contemporary issues revealed that contemporary issues could be addressed through the content of the subject (integration of subjects) as was the case at the primary level. In this regard, RE was expected to contribute more to Social Studies as a study area, in order to produce religiously literate and critical young people who would contribute to the attainment of national goals in easy ways that agree with the interpretative model of RE in contemporary societies. Additionally, the teachers and lecturers’ perspective that RE was striving to address contemporary issues through the inclusion of skills and values portrayed a shift from the focus on behavioural approaches to learning outcomes. This resonated well with the South African context. It was emphasized that RE shall include teaching and learning about the religions of the world, with particular attention to the religions of South Africa, as well as worldviews, and it shall place adequate emphasis on values and moral education (South African National Policy on Religion and Education, 2003). Similarly, the participants’ recognition and appreciation of the addition of morality to the junior secondary level resonated not only with the national concerns on morality, but also with Barnes (2014) calls for RE to foster morality. For instance, the current President of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, in his national address in the National Assembly on 17 March 2018, expressed concern over declining national values and morals. In this regard, the president emphasized the importance of national values by noting that our national values (patriotism, unity and democracy, human dignity, social justice, and equality, good governance, integrity and sustainable development) are a set of beliefs meant to provide us, as a nation, with a foundation upon which our identity and practices are anchored; they are our moral compass. Suffice to mention that these public concerns on national values and morals were yet to bear fruit on the Zambian landscape in theory and practice. As a way of acknowledging that teaching and learning pedagogies were central to addressing contemporary issues, teachers revealed drawing on the following methods of teaching: Role-play, drama, songs and poems just to mention a few. The association of how the revised syllabus was addressing contemporary issues through the teaching pedagogies not only affirms the aspirations of the 2013 curriculum framework on learner-centred pedagogies, but also points to the need for appropriate content that would address the needs of the modern learner holistically. These insights are also in agreement with contemporary frameworks of RE such as the interpretive model in which RE creates opportunities for learners to contribute to the review of study methods (Jackson, 2016). However, for this to effectively take place, the content of the subject and the professional development of teachers could not be downplayed. From the foregoing, RE like other subjects was posed to contribute towards addressing contemporary issues through its core and extra-curricular activities at both the primary and secondary school levels. At primary level, RE was integrated with other subject areas 125

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like geography, history and civic education, and together they were expected to respond to contemporary issues. At Secondary school level, all subjects of the school curriculum were infused with cross-cutting issues (of contemporary nature), which each subject in its own right was expected to make a distinct contribution to addressing societal concerns. The participant’s insights on how the revised RE syllabus had responded to contemporary issues revealed that RE had not adequately responded to contemporary trends and continued to reflect the stakeholders’ concerns over time. In recognizing the few additions to the subject, the aims and the outcomes of RE were not aligned to enable learners to become agents of social and economic development in the country. Such learners were not prepared to face the challenges of the rapidly changing world, which were recognized by the Zambia Educational Curriculum Framework partly because the aim of the subject remained unvaried ‘to enable learners to appreciate the spiritual, moral, religious and cultural values and behaviour based on the main religious traditions in Zambia, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous Zambian beliefs and Islam’ (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013b, viii). The aim does not reflect the aspiration of providing an education that would not only incorporate the latest social, economic, technological and political developments, but also equip learners with vital knowledge, skills and values that are necessary to contribute to the attainment of Vision 2030 (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). The concerns expressed by the participants that the aim of RE centred on appreciation of spiritual, moral, religious and cultural values also fall short of the aspirations for the historicalpolitical paradigm of RE in contemporary times which aims to foster democratic principles and practice for cohesion among culturally and religiously diverse populations (Gearon, 2014). The dissatisfaction with the syllabus’ retention of the old aims could be understood in relation to contemporary discourses of RE, which seek to provide opportunities for learners to evaluate the beliefs and values they have encountered (see Jackson, 2016). We, therefore, agree with the proposed aim of RE that was put forward by the RE Club of Kabwe, which is ‘to enable learners to appreciate the immerse value and potential of their own lives and challenge them to become their best for their own fulfilment and the good of Zambia’ (Mudalitsa, 2018, 8). Besides the aims and rationales that reflected the national aspirations of the past, so did the content. It continued to be grounded in Christianity (with the exception of the junior secondary RE) and focused on a descriptive approach. By merely describing other religions in comparison with Christianity, this was indirectly prescribing Christian living for the larger part of the syllabus. Thus, RE did not seem to do justice to the numerous learners who not only practise other religions, but also live with these religions in the communities. The preceding sentiments are also aligned with the interpretive paradigm of RE in contemporary times, in which RE is expected to emphasize the diversity of religion and the plurality of religious communities. As such, RE can be said to have failed to synthesize religion and education in a way that promotes holistic personal and societal development in view of RE’s concern for the creation of citizens and activists for societal transformation in contemporary times. Besides the continued focus on Christianity, the content was also deemed to have neglected the inclusion of the realities that confronted young people in contemporary times. Similar sentiments of dissatisfaction have been expressed by other scholars when they observed that ‘the major social, economic and political changes in Zambia during this period provided a good opportunity for Zambian RE to develop and become fully educational in nature, but only superficial revisions of the syllabuses were made as part of the 2013 Curriculum Reforms’ (Simuchimba, Cheyeka 126

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and Hambulo, 2018, 241). The pointer of using major social, economic and political changes as a basis for making Zambian RE more educational indirectly affirms the changing role of RE in contemporary times and resonates with both the interpretive and historical-political paradigms in which RE was expected to not only pay attention to religious plurality (Jackson, 1997) but also foster democratic principles and practice in religious diverse contexts (Gearon, 2014). The manner in which RE responded to the curriculum framework and the consequent inadequate response to contemporary issues was partly grounded in the syllabus review processes. As observed by some participants in the study, RE was spearheaded by persons who were not specialized, and the process of developing the syllabuses was not very inclusive and as such, not all stakeholders were involved. While such remarks emerged as reasons to partly explain why RE had not responded to contemporary times, the Curriculum Development Centre acknowledged that the process was consultative as it involved numerous stakeholders (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013a). This raises the question of how wide the consultation was, and the nature of contributions which were made on the subject. This is on account that the syllabuses were reported to have remained the same as the old ones in terms of the content and were generally not appreciated by other stakeholders. The revised RE syllabus’ heavy borrowing from the past and inability to adapt to changing times could partly be attributed to Christian nation rhetoric in the country and the resistance to let go of the Christian framework that has for a long time marinated Zambian RE. The Christian framework has exposed the hegemonic role of Christianity, not just in Zambian RE but in other contexts too (van Arragon, 2015). For example, during the 2019 Zambia National Education Conference and Exhibition that was organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of General Education and Envoys to Zambia under the theme ‘The Education we Want’, some participants advocated for a kind of RE that would only teach Christianity because the country was a Christian nation. Evidently, the Christian nation rhetoric has continued to shape RE directly and indirectly. While this points to a lack of appreciation of the religious diversity and the aims of educational RE, it reveals the public expectations of RE and the representation of religion in the public space (Tayob, 2018). This bias towards Christianity was thus a reflection of the context in which Zambian RE emerged where Christianity has remained the dominant religion. As we noted, RE’s inadequate response to contemporary issues can further be attributed to a lack of a policy on religion in the country. The lack of policy could thus also be closely related to how religion’s place in the education system is slowly being threatened. For example, the integration of the subject at the primary level and primary teacher education level entailed that RE continued to contribute a few topics to the study area (Social Studies). As was the case when RE was first integrated in Social Studies after the reforms of the 1990s, RE continued to be marginalized at the primary school level, with little coverage of religious content or topics (Simuchimba, 2005). Besides limited coverage of religious content in integrated subjects, contemporary issues that were expected to be taught were at risk of being omitted due to the bulkiness of the content of the four subjects (geography, history, civic education and religious education) (Silongwa, 2019). Even when the nation was aspiring for the promotion of national values, through the mandate given to MNGRA, RE remained optional and continued to receive limited funding as opposed to STEM subjects. We argue that RE could play a significant role in helping the country attain her aspiration if it could receive the much-needed support. The recent decades have witnessed a 127

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decline in the student numbers enrolled for RE and Religious Studies in tertiary institutions owing to the changing funding dynamics in higher education. This has implications for RE’s untapped potential, which could contribute to national and societal transformation in contemporary times. This is because a well-structured RE could contribute positively to the attainment of national and global goals by producing graduates who were adapted to the fast-changing world. In a context where institutions of higher education were migrating to offer Religious Studies, which often took a descriptive approach, there was a need to critically consider offering RE so as to prepare teachers adequately. The need to relate teaching and learning in RE is great to ensure that lessons are related to students’ everyday life. Therefore, the inclusion of selected crosscutting issues is an opportunity for RE to address needs and experiences of the contemporary learner. As we noted, the study teachers in particular were concerned with bulky material content to be covered and hence leaving little time to spend on dealing with contemporary issues. Thus, teachers worried being preoccupied with content coverage in readiness for examinations, which further compromised the subject’s expected contributions to addressing contemporary issues. This also pointed to teacher preparedness to deliver the lessons that would help learners to benefit from RE in a holistic manner. As such, teacher education needed to be prioritized because the teaching methods adopted by the teachers and engagement with the content partly explained RE’s inadequate response to contemporary times.

Conclusion Focusing on Kabwe Central Region, the chapter has addressed the question of how the revised Zambian RE had responded to changes in contemporary society in view of the curriculum reforms, which necessitated the revision of the subject. In relation to contemporary issues that were in need of a response from RE, the chapter identifies a number of issues largely centred on environmental, socio-economic, cultural and political realities which continue to complicate the lives of children and young people in that region. These contemporary issues demand a particular kind of RE that would be not only in tune with the national aspirations but also enable the learners to navigate through these contemporary issues. In relation to why RE has responded to contemporary changes in the areas it has and also recognizing the shortcomings identified earlier, the chapter suggests that this is largely situated in the syllabus review processes, and the need for schools and educators to expand on the opportunities the syllabus offers or can facilitate. In view of the foregoing, we argue that RE could continue to reposition itself in addressing contemporary realities drawn from the child’s socio-cultural and environmental realities by directly aligning its aims, rationale and content to current national aspirations. For RE to continue addressing the concerns of the contemporary child in Zambia, stakeholder support, resourcing and teacher re-professionalization are needed (including government), especially at a time when the country is concerned with national values and morals. Good RE in contemporary times could distinctly promote democratic principles and practice, thereby contributing to serving the needs of cohesion among culturally and religiously diverse populations. We believe that if well-designed and implemented, RE in Zambia has the potential to serve political, societal and

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educational purposes through the creation of a holistic citizenry who can help transform society and contribute to the attainment of national goals.

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Masterton, R.M. (1987), The Development of RE in Zambia, Unpublished Diploma in RE Dissertation, University of Birmingham. Merriam, S.B. (2009), Qualitative Research: A Guide to design and Implementation, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. MNGRA (2019), National Guidance and Religious Policy, Lusaka: Government Printers. Mudalitsa, J. (2018), Kabwe RE Club: Research Findings and Suggestions to Curriculum Development Centre, Ndola: Mission Press. Mukuka, D.M. (2014), A Theological Critique of the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation and the Response of the Roman Catholic Church from 1991-2001, Masters Dissertation, University of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Munshya, E. (2015), ‘After We Have Said ‘Amen’: Towards a Pentecostal Theology of Politics in Zambia’, Elias Munshya Blog (www.eliasmunshya.org), 15 October 2015. Musonda, J. (2019), ‘Teaching Religious Education in Line with the Revised Curriculum’, Paper Presentation at the University of Zambia, Curriculum Development Specialist from Curriculum Development Centre. Mwale, N. and Chita, J. (2017), ‘Trailing a Missionary Teacher’s Position and Contributions in Zambian Religious Education’, Religion and Education 44(1), pp. 22–38. Mwale, N. and Chita, J. (2018), ‘Pentecostalising the Voice in Zambian Charismatic Church History: Men of God’s Expression of Spiritual Identities, 1990 to Present’, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, 44(3), pp. 1–13. Mwale, N., Chita, J. and Cheyeka, A. (2014), ‘Accounting for the Shift towards ‘Multifaith’ Religious Education in Zambia, 1964–2017’, Zambia Social Science Journal, 5(2), pp. 37–60. Nkanza, P. K. (2019), ‘Towards a Sustainable Africa with Higher Education Financing: An Inspiration from Millennium SDGs and AU Agenda 2063’, Paper Presentation at the 2nd Association of African Higher Education Financing Agencies Conference, Neelkanth Sarovar Premiere, 30 September to 2 October. Phiri, I. A. (2003), ‘President Frederick JT Chiluba of Zambia: The Christian Nation and Democracy’, Journal of Religion in Africa, 33(4), pp. 401–28. Roof, W.C. (2011), ‘Research Design’, in M. Stausberg and S. I. Engler (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion, 90–102, London: Routledge. Scott, D. and Morrison, M. (2006), Key Ideas in Educational Research, London: Continuum Books. Silongwa, S. (2019), ‘Social Studies and the Teaching of History at Senior Secondary in Kabwe District, Zambia’, Journal of Advanced Research in Social Studies and Humanities, 4(3), pp. 111–19. Simuchimba, M. (2005), Religion and Education in Zambia 1890–2000 and Beyond, Unpublished PhD Thesis, UNISA. Simuchimba, M., Cheyeka, A. and Hambulo, F. (2018), ‘Religious Education in Zambia at Fifty Years of Independence and Beyond: Achievements and Challenges’, in Masaiti, G. (ed.), Education in Zambia at Fifty Years of Independence and Beyond: History, Current Status and Contemporary Issues, 227–42, Lusaka: UNZA Press. South African National Policy on Religion and Education (2003), Online source: http://folk.uio.no/leirvik/ OsloCoalition/OsloCoalition-SADoE.htm#_ftn6. Tayob, A. (2018), ‘The Representation of Religion in Religion Education: Notes from the South African Periphery’, Education Sciences, 8(3), p. 146. Tayob, A.I. (2017), ‘The National Policy on Religion and Education and Religious Dress Observances in South African Schools’, in M.C. Green, RIJ Hackett, L. Hansen, F. Venter (eds), Religious Pluralism, Heritage and Social Development, 171–86. United Nations Populations Fund (2016), ‘Zambia’s Young People and the Road to 2030’, Zambia.unfpa. org (accessed 13 June 2020). Van Arragon, L. (2015), Religion and Education in Ontario Public Education: Contested Borders and Uneasy Truces, in L.G. Beaman and L. Van Arragon (eds), Issues in Religion and Education. Whose Religion?, 34–58, Brill: Leiden.

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Wade, C.R. (2011), ‘Research Design’, in M. Stausberg and S. I. Engler (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion, London: Taylor & Francis Group. Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (2016), Strategic Plan 2017–2026, ZCCB: Lusaka, ZCCB archives. Zambia Statistics Agency (2020), Key Indicators – 2020: Zamstats.org.zm (accessed 15 June 2020).

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PA RT I I I Towards Decolonizing Religious Education

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Chapter 7

Decolonizing Christian Education in India? Navigating the complexities of Hindu Nationalism and BJP Education Policy Sally Elton-Chalcraft and David J. Chalcraft

Introduction The chapter addresses three questions: 1. Is there a move in post-colonial India to decolonize the curriculum by stripping away Christian values-led education to replace it with a Hindutva ethos within a secular education system? 2. What is the nature of the Christian values-led education in a sample of Indian states? And how do a sample of Christian foundation schools navigate the tensions found in their context? 3. What are the benefits for Indian children (particularly in special educational needs schools) of maintaining the role of Christian foundation schools? On what grounds and in what ways can a Christian foundation school contribute to the contemporary Indian education system? To answer the three questions the chapter is structured as follows: The first section introduces some necessary background to aid understanding of the wider cultural, political and cultural setting in which the interviews/research took place. In the second section the ‘move to decolonize the curriculum and/or de-Christianize schools’ is considered from four angles. First, the relation between addressing social inequalities and decolonizing the Christian schools is reviewed. The second angle concerns the academic debates about the need to decolonize the curriculum. The third angle draws on the educational policies of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevek Sangh) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) as carriers of Hindutva, and considers their potential implications for minority schools, including Christian foundation schools. Finally, the fourth angle is to provide a brief illustration of some cases that have been reported in the mass media in India and Asia where groups have challenged Christian schools. These are the contours of the context in which Christian schools and teachers navigate the tensions in their environment, and form the immediate backdrop to the interviews. Once this context is established, the third (methodology) section outlines the research design, sample and data collection tools with reflection on our position as white Western, non-Christian researchers. The fourth section discusses the findings (Question B). We critically analyse

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empirical data that were gathered to explore how Christian foundation schools, including special education schools, are indeed navigating their way through the context and reveal how our sample of participants and their schools could be plotted on a continuum, ranging from Distinctively Christian to Pluralist. The final section provides the conclusion.

Section 1: The Context of Christian Foundation Schools in India Today Decolonization India’s education system faces many challenges in serving the needs of a diverse population; it is a geographically, culturally, religiously, ethnically and economically diverse country with a land mass the size of Europe and home to 1.35 billion Indians (50 per cent of whom are under the age of twenty-five). As the British Council notes, ‘India, with over 1.5 million schools, over 8.7 million primary and secondary teachers and more than 260 million enrolments is home to the largest and most complex system in the world’ (2019, 6). Legacies of both a paternalistic colonial and philanthropic Christian mission are in evidence, with contemporary Indian Christian missionaries endeavouring to maintain a Christian values system amidst a growing nationalistic feeling which pushes for decolonization (Webster, 2016; Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019; Elton-Chalcraft, 2021). A strong right-wing form of Hindu nationalism, namely Hindutva (see below), is the most pervasive and persuasive ideology in the country, closely linked to the elected BJP government. It is important to consider how the BJPled educational policy and legislation (The Right to Education Act, 2010 (RTE, 2010)), National Curriculum Framework 2005 and National Education Policy (2020) might create difficulties moving forward for Christian teachers in Christian foundation schools whilst it simultaneously seeks to improve the Indian education system. The data for this study were collected just after the coming to power of Narendra Modi (1950–), leader of the BJP, in 2014, and there has been a consequent Saffronization of the curriculum in schools, whereby ‘being Indian means being Hindu’ (Nag, 2014; Price, 2015; Flaten, 2017; Guha, 2017). In terms of the social structure, Hindutva represents for Dalit (lower-caste) intellectuals a continuation of a Hindutva Brahmin (higher-caste) ethos and perpetuation of the marginalization of lower-caste Indians in post-colonial India (Ilaiah, 2012). Indeed, in the May 2019 election, Narendra Modi increased his majority and thus his Hindutva-driven policies are set to continue for a further five years at least (cf. Crabtree, 2019). It is important however to keep in mind the aspects of recent policy that attempt to integrate non-Brahmin castes into the education system, through for example the RTE (2010), and school admission policies of certain types of school in the system. From a Hindutva point of view, the unity of the nation relies on assimilation, and co-opting of all peoples in India and their commitment to the (Hindu) nation (Longkumer, 2017). In India, many academics, educationalists and politicians have been arguing for some time that an overhaul of the Indian education system is necessary given the need to unify the country and to meet the needs of a diverse population riven by difference and inequality, and given the 136

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competing ideals of Hindutva and its opponents. In this context, debates about whether and how to decolonize the curriculum take on their significance (Lakshimi, 2009; Mangla, 2018). Whether decolonizing the curriculum will also profoundly address caste inequality in India is a moot point, but the RTE (2010) is meant as an inclusive piece of legislation for all India. Stratification and Christian foundation schools are not unrelated in the Indian context, so whilst there may be forces that see decolonization as involving the dissolution of Christian foundation schools and the presence of Christian (purportedly Western) values in the curriculum, many elite Indians are still supportive of Christian foundations schools, having studied in them themselves. Hence, decolonizing the curriculum and achieving equality of access to education do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. Such (colonial) schooling persists, but it is increasingly coming under pressure from the Hindutva movement (Guha, 2017). However, ambivalence might persist given the perceived benefits (which we evaluate in Section 4 below) of Christian values education in the Indian system overall as identified by our participants, many of whom are Christian. Equally, the non-pluralist dimensions of Hindutva mean that for some intellectuals, such as Amartya Sen (2005), decolonizing the curriculum (de-Westernizing) would be not only to Sanskritize the curriculum/nation (Srinivas, 1966), but also to defeat the pluralist ethos of Indian culture. It is in this contested terrain that an assessment of the value of decolonizing the curriculum and the ‘stripping away’ of Christian-based values education has to be made. Indeed, similar arguments could be made for the negative impact of ‘stripping away’ of Islamic- or Sikhbased values in education, although our argument focuses on Christian-based values education – the context in which our data were collected. Moreover, given the association of Christian schooling with past British rule, debates about the decolonization of Christian schools are of a qualitatively different nature.

India’s Secular Education System and Faith/Minority Schools Christian foundation schools find their mandate, as do all private faith schools, in the secular Constitution of India. The meaning of ‘secular’ in the constitution is one where all religions/ faiths are to be treated with the same distance. For Hindutva, this form of secularism is a ‘pseudosecularism’ (Patrick, 2011, 46–7; cf. Singh, 2005) since it supports minority faiths but does not protect or promote Hinduism, the faith and culture of the majority in the nation. It is as minority schools that the notion of ‘faith schools’ should be considered. The constitution guarantees the right of minorities to found and administer their own schools. According to Article 30 of the Constitution, ‘all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice’. The provisions about instruction in religion in schools revolve around the degree of state funding that is provided for the School. The constitution says, in Article 28, that ‘no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds’ (our italics). Christian foundation schools, Muslim madrassas (Alam, 2008; Jeffrey, Jefferey and Jefferey, 2008; Sanyal and Farah, 2019; Borker, 2020), Sikh schools (Ozaane, 2010; Agarwal, 2020) and Hindu gurukuls, for example, can be found. The far-right Hindutva movement is also able to run one of the largest private school networks, namely the Vidya Bharati (lit: Education for India) under the system (Froerer, 2007).

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Hindutva and BJP Educational Policies Hindutva, literally ‘Hinduness’, is the name given to a right-wing form of Indian nationalism which is now dominant in the political and cultural realms of Indian society. It is a form of nationalism that goes beyond the nationalism of the Congress Party, of Gandhi and Nehru, whose commitment to the Indian nation was one envisaged as a religiously plural society (Kanungo, 2016, 255). Indeed, it was followers of Hindutva who instigated the assassination of Gandhi in 1948 on account of his supposed betrayal of India to the demands of the Muslims for a separate state, namely Pakistan. The context of Hindutva is the one that Christian foundation schools and practising Christians in India find themselves, as do all minorities including the Muslims (Mukherjee, 2013). The ruling political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the political wing of Hindutva, and together with the Rashtriya Swayamsevek Sangh (RSS), founded in 1925, and the Vishwa Hindu Parisad (VHP, Universal Hindu Council) form the Sangh Parivar – the family of organizations – that constitute Hindutva. The leading intellectual force at the beginning of the movement was Savarkar who wrote Who Is a Hindu? in 1923. For Savarkar, a Hindu is any person who regards India as their fatherland (pitrbhumi) and as their holy land (punyabhumi) (Kunungo 2016, 250). Since for Muslims and Christians (and Jews), their Holy Lands lie outside of India, ‘the only solution for them would be to abandon their allegiances and adopt the religion, culture and language of the Hindu nation’ (Kunungo 2016, 250). Sikhs, Buddhist and Jains are all rendered ‘Hindu’, whether they want to be or not, since for Savarkar their religion originated in India. The aim of Hindutva is to create a Hindu nation or State (Rashtra) – ‘a nation that excludes all those who are non-Hindus, not least Muslims and Christians’ (Kanungo, 2016, 245).

Anti-Conversion Laws/Freedom of Religion Acts The Freedom of Religion Acts are ‘anti-conversion’ laws that are ‘state level statutes that have been enacted to regulate religious conversions’ (Ahmad, 2018) and exist in eight states but whose effect is pervasive. As Ahmad writes, ‘the laws create a hostile, and on occasion violent environment for religious minorities because they do not require any evidence to support accusations of wrong doing’. These Freedom of Religion Acts motivate action against Muslims and Christians who have sought, it is accused, mass conversions of Hindus and others to their own faiths. The conversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism is not considered of similar ilk: on the contrary, from the perspective of Hindutva, since all Indians were originally Hindu any ‘conversion’ to Hinduism is in effect a re-establishment of an original identity, and hence is seen as a return home, called Ghar Wapsi (Rajeshwar and Amore, 2019).

The Non-Western Nature of Indian Christianity The extent to which the continuance of a Christian-based values education is at the same time to perpetuate colonial values in the Indian education system depends on the degree to which the Christianity one has in mind is seen as a foreign import that is seen as disadvantageous to Indian culture as a Western and neo-colonial presence. Clearly, from a Hindutva perspective, if 138

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the fatherland and the holy land of the faith in question is not India, then Christianity is not an Indian religion. However, from the perspective of Christians in India, their Indian identity is not in doubt: ‘we are Indians too’ is often stated by Christian campaigners (Pachuau, 2019). Their Christianity is fully indigenized, and the movement to indigenize Christianity corresponded with growing Indian nationalism (Harper, 2000; Chelliah, 2016) and culminated after Independence with the formation, first, within Protestantism, of the Church of South India (1947), and later in the Church of North India (1970) respectively. Where Christian attitudes to Hinduism are coloured by fundamentalist and evangelical positions on the practice of what is seen as the worship of images (‘idolatry’), for example, the similarity to older missionary positions in the colonial era is striking and the contemporary ideas of mission are far from decolonized. However, such commitments to ‘one path to God’ are not the mainstream view amongst the Christian churches in India with their commitment to working in multi-faith environments. It is clear though that in some quarters Christianity, despite the long history of the faith in India, which stretches back it is thought to the time of the apostle St Thomas, is viewed as a dangerous foreign import rather than ‘an Eastern religion’ (Malhorta and Neelakandan, 2011).

Section 2: Is There a Move to Decolonize Christian Schools? We argue below, from four angles, that there are indeed moves to decolonize and de-Christianize the curriculum and the education system, but these ‘moves’ are not necessarily coordinated and moreover are pursued by different groups and individuals in a variety of contexts.

Angle 1: Right to Education 2010 Policy Arguments and the Two-tier System in India as a Legacy of Colonialism The qualitative research reported in Section 4 is set within the context of post-colonialism, since India gained Independence in 1947. The problem facing post-colonial states such as India is to build an effective unity while avoiding the oppression of minorities, whose language, religion, culture and practices might clash with the dominant national mythology (Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin, 2000, 175). Christianity, the third largest represented religion after Hinduism and Islam, is a minority religion, and whilst it has large numbers, over 28 million, it represents only 2.3 per cent of the population. The dominant national mythology in India’s case is Hindutva. The achievement of unity in India is problematic not only on ideological grounds, but also on account of the persistence of caste, class and extreme social inequality (Ambedkar, 1936; Gupta, 2004; Makwana and Pais, 2011; Jodhka, 2012; Shah, 2019). Some sectors of post-colonial states display a legacy of ‘mimicry’ (Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin, 2000). The Indian elite’s mobilization could be described as an adaptation of powerful British parliamentary institutions with their classist and patriarchal ethos, and this might be expected to be reflected in education policy and school practice, as we argue elsewhere (EltonChalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The lower castes, on the other hand, are described by both Varma 139

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(2004) and Young (2003) in hegemonic terms, whether in colonial or post-colonial India, because of their supposed accepting attitude towards their own subjugation. Similarly, attitudes towards children with special educational needs can sometimes reflect attitudes which reproduce the prevailing attitudes to power (Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2016). However, Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack (2019) note the rising popularity of post-colonial anti-Hindutva critiques (Ilaiah, 2012), which have illuminated the continued invisibility of the Dalits (lower castes) in the Hindutva Brahmin (upper-caste) Indian education system. In a call to fight this oppression, Ilaiah (2012) appeals to upper-class Brahmins, whose culture dominates the education system, to celebrate the ways of life of the Dalit and to include them more comprehensively in all aspects of education. Ramachandran (2016, 91) challenges the two-tier ‘warped’ education system in India because, on the one hand, the poor, lower-caste and marginalized children are required, since recent legislation, to attend government schools while the wealthy middle classes and elite no longer send their children to government schools, preferring the fee-paying English medium schools (often historically with a Christian foundation). Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack (2019) explain that such privileged education is criticized by many such as Ilaiah (who was born into the lower Sudra caste), because the high-caste Hindu system, seen as haughty and callous, fails to acknowledge or value the voices of the marginalized (2012). The legislation was designed to open up education to the marginalized but predominantly resulted in a tick box activity to fulfil international UN legislation protecting the Rights of the Child (UN, 1990) for all countries to provide free education for all children. However, in India, Das et al. argue, there is little accountability processes to judge if the provision is meeting the needs of all children, especially those from marginalized communities (Das et al., 2012; Srivastava and Noronha, 2016). There is a tension between, on the one hand, viewing fee-paying Christian foundation schools, which provide appropriate provision particularly for the elite and also for SEND (Special Educational Needs and those with a Disability) children as part of the cultural diversity of India and, on the other hand, viewing such institutions as being part of an undesirable legacy of colonial exploitation and higher-caste manipulation, and as part of the Indian attempt to perpetuate a twotier system, a system which has been criticized by Ramachandran (2016) as being divisive. The Indian education system has to serve the needs of a diverse community, represented by different castes, religions and ethnic groups (Prabhakar, 2006; Thapan, 2014; British Council, 2019). Prabhakar celebrates Indian religiosity’s plural nature as ‘a multifarious web of interlocking layers and strands ….. Indian culture can be said to be a carpet woven from all these threads’ of different ‘shades’ of Christian, Islam and Hindu traditions (2006, 51). So too there are also different Christian denominations in India. Despite being a minority religion, Christianity has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on the Indian education system. For example, Christian missionaries and other philanthropic individuals of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries endeavoured to meet the needs of marginalized children by setting up numerous Christian foundation schools (Jones, 2012; Gilmour, 2018). To be sure, some Christian English educationalists also wanted to introduce their perceived superior education system on the impoverished Indian population, and many elite Indians continue to be educated in Christian foundation schools where Western values are transmitted, consciously or implicitly (Bhandari, 2014). Batra (2016) argues that India’s education system has developed for the better since the RTE. We would agree that RTE (2010) has forced educational practitioners to take account 140

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of issues of equality and betterment, with a desire for teachers to transform the lives of their pupils. Since the RTE Act of 2010, equality and social progress have become more readily accepted as universal values (Mangla, 2018), whereas in the past arguably such moral commitments were found most prominently in Christian foundation schools, where Biblical norms were seen as democratic and progressive. However, the high ideals of the legislation are not always matched in practice, particularly in government schools. Many of India’s Christian foundation schools today continue to promote ethical guidelines rooted in the Bible because they share the vision of the missionaries, who founded Christian schools and who sought to mould, to varying degrees, the child’s character and to nurture Christian virtues (Gilmour, 2018; Webster, 2018). The RTE (2010) guarantees free education to all, irrespective of class and caste, and seeks to fulfil the promise in the Constitution from its foundation to achieve this goal. Free education is now available in theory to all (originally up to the age fourteen, but now also up to sixteen). To achieve this end, private schools are required to offer at least 25 per cent free places to children to enact the Act. Originally, this provision would include minority/faith schools, but rulings by the Supreme Court in 2014 have upheld the right of minority schools not to have to admit the free quota of places on the grounds that it constitutes an interference in their rights of autonomy, as guaranteed by the Constitution. What this means however is that all provisions of the RTE Act do not apply to minority schools (Kothari and Ravi, 2016; Iyer and Counihan, 2018). In such a situation the relationship between the de-colonialization of Christian education and addressing issues of social inequality is made more complex. From the perspective of Christian schools, and especially of those specializing in SEND, the right to education coheres with their long-standing values and is not to be undermined. These sentiments are brought out by our research participants as analysed below (in Section 4); however, it remains to be seen how Christian schools will maintain their commitment to social justice as the RTE Act is further enacted and embedded.

Angle 2: Academic/Cultural Arguments for Decolonizing Christian Education Prabhakar (2006) argues that India should celebrate her diverse religious heritage (including Christianity), while others, including Paranjape (2010), believe that the colonial influence, and especially use of the English language, should be stripped away. Paranjape (2010) calls for the Indian nation to regain its cultural roots in his carefully argued book Altered Destinations: Self, Society and Nation in India. He argues that India as a nation should alter its destination, and head instead towards ‘Hind Swarj’ (2010, xii) redefined (after Gandhi, 1910/2009) throughout the book as ‘a struggle for academic freedom and autonomy, an attempt to free ourselves from both Western and Indian forms of colonisation’ (2010, xiii). Paranjape rails against colonial education as epitomized by Thomas Babington Macaulay, who imposed what Paranjape (2010) describes as the racist imperialist modern Indian education system. Paranjape (2010, 114) claims that this system is rooted in a colonial past ‘being solely mental’, producing ‘diseased minds, unhealthy bodies, corrupted senses and underdeveloped senses’. He claims that the education system is ‘contrary to our cultural traditions, even opposed 141

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to our national culture’. He accuses Macaulay of instilling in the Indian psyche the ideas that the Hindu tradition and Indian ways of learning are ‘false’. Paranjape cites Macaulay’s ‘Minute on Indian Education’ speech, which includes an attack on Indian knowledge systems with his infamous claim that ‘a single shelf of good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia’ (2010, 115). Paranjape goes on to say that Macaulay’s speech contains not just ‘statements of colonial arrogance’, but of ‘civilizational aggression, coupled with a proselytising mission’ (2010, 115). He does admit that the aim to destroy the ‘native culture of India was not the sole prerogative of religious missionaries, but also of modern secular thought’ (Paranjape, 2010, 116). The rationalization legacy of the eighteenth century, coupled with English Christian missionaries, was appealing to the Indian elite, many of whom abandoned their Indian cultural heritage for a modern, secular, British Christian education, following Macaulay’s colonial aim to create ‘a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect’ (Sharp, 1920, X). Paranjape states that British rulers ‘imposed upon us an alien and alienating system of knowledge’, which led to a ‘schizophrenia in the psyche of our elites’ (2010, 117). Paranjape wishes to revisit the pre-imperialistic pre-colonial education system and learn from the native Indian culture to inform an overhaul of the current Indian education system, which (he states) is currently at odds with the Indian values system. He accuses the Abrahamic faiths of being non-santani, or of being exclusive, and intolerant of dissent or plurality (2010, 120). Thus India, and in particular India’s education policymakers, need to forget the traumas of the past and move on to a brighter future. Paranjape proclaims that Indians are at a ‘crucial juncture’ (2010, 121) because they have the necessary political stability and economic resources to ‘begin the process of recovery’ or of decolonizing the curriculum. Paranjape calls for Indian educators to discover what the state of the native knowledge system was on the eve of colonialism by drawing on the ‘Sanskrit Knowledge Systems Project’ led by Sheldon Pollock (2010, 122). Paranjape (2010, 123) highlights the ‘lost’ knowledge of the Sanskrit intellectuals, including astral science and life science. He writes that it is ironic that this search for the ‘lost national knowledge of India’ is being searched for by US scholars, and Paranjape comments that India needs to investigate this from within. While optimistic that India’s nationalism was and is a glorious thing, Paranjape is scathing in his account of the education system, which he writes is crippled, deformed and in severe need of ‘detoxification’ ‘from toxins which include self-hatred, shame, a sense of inferiority’. Thus Paranjape is in no doubt that India’s education system needs to cease being a ‘second-rate copy of the dominant West’ (Paranjape, 2010, 124). Paranjape’s ideas, as will be seen below, have an affinity with the educational policies of Hindutva whilst he himself would not identity as a member of the BJP or of the RSS or of Hindutva. When Modi was re-elected in 2019, Paranjape wrote a short article where he welcomed the victory and talked about ‘an inclusive Hindutva’, perhaps seeing a new stage in cultural politics where a strong Hindu nation, and a strong Indian education system, need not be as exclusive as many have found recent educational policies to be (Paranjape, 2019). From the perspective of a plural education system, with the rights of minorities and minorities protected, the arguments of Prabakhar and Sen would provide a needed corrective to the perceived exclusive Hindutva that has the upper hand in Indian politics at the current time.

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Angle 3: The Educational Policies of Hindutva RSS Schools and the National Education Policy (2020) The kind of educational policies pursued by the RSS and the BJP can be gathered, in the first instance, from the network of private schools run by the RSS, namely, the Vidya Bharati (Education for India) (Sarkar, 1996; Froerer, 2007). These schools, known as Saraswati Shishu Mandirs, inculcate Hindutva. In 2018, it was estimated that there were some 25,000 schools in the network, with 45 million students. As Manjrekar writes, ‘education is central to the creation of a Hindu nationalist consciousness, and through the Vidya Bharati’s large number of schools across India it has been possible for the RSS to spread its ideology through a curriculum that emphasizes the supremacy of Hindu culture and defines citizenship through allegiance to an idea of India that is exclusively Hindu’ (Manjrekar, 2011, 350–1). She continues to relate how through VB literature and school textbooks, there is continuous reference to attacks on such foundational moral values of the imagined Hindu nation by the ‘Sons of Macaulay’ (Macaulayputra) and Muslim invaders (Manjrekar 2011, 352). ‘Marx, Macaulay, Madarsa [Madrassa]’ has been a rallying slogan of the Sangh Parivar against the perceived onslaught of communist, colonialist/Western and Islamic threats to ‘Hinduness’. A booklet published by VB against English language teaching in the first grade in schools is titled ‘What do we want: Macaulayputra (sons of Macaulay) or Maharishiputra (sons of great sages)?’ Christian teachers in Christian foundation schools are clearly viewed as anti-Indian, anti-India and anti-Hindu, since they must be Macaulayutra, sons of Macaulay. In a context of decolonization, any attempt to reduce a curriculum to a single heritage from the wide range of heritages that constitute Indian history, including the Muslim, Sikh and the Christian, is, however by our definitions, to (re-) colonize the curriculum and to silence the voices of minorities. The publication of The National Educational Policy (2020) lies outside the timeframe when we were conducting our interviews. However, the ideas that are found within it show a continuity with other policies, including the National Curriculum Framework of 2005, and can be taken as representative of the ways in which, for example, Hindutva presents history and heritage (Lall, 2005; Flaten, 2017; Kim, 2017). Only a few examples can be provided. In the Introduction to the NEP 2020, it says, The rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought has been a guiding light for this Policy. The pursuit of knowledge (Jnan), wisdom (Pragyaa), and truth (Satya) was always considered in Indian thought and philosophy as the highest human goal. (4) After this a list of ‘great scholars’ produced by the ‘Indian education system’ is provided, followed by a list of the ‘seminal contributions to world knowledge’ that have been made by Indian culture and philosophy. It argues for the continued relevance and practical application of these ideas, many of which go back to the first and second centuries of the Common Era and include ‘diverse fields’ including astronomy and yoga (4). In this ‘rich heritage’ there is little or no acknowledgement of the contributions of Islam to the history, culture and knowledge of India, and no reference to the long history of Christianity in the country, including the educational institutions, at all levels, that were founded by either Christians or Muslims. The political aim is

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to make India great and for it to be able to compete as a global superpower. The areas of ethics and values education are not forgotten (16, paragraph 4.28). What is striking is that alongside a list of values that are of universal understanding (e.g. tolerance, diversity, gender sensitivity) and capable of being supported by all faiths, the list begins with a number of values given in their Sanskrit forms, which clearly take their meaning from the Hindu tradition, namely, ‘seva, ahimsa, swachchhata, satya, nishkam karma, and shanti’ (sacrifice, tolerance, diversity, pluralism, righteous conduct, gender sensitivity). Such values education would be appropriate that it is to say, in the light of the Indian constitution, in a faith school, but not as a national curriculum that all pupils study for examinations in all schools, whether public or private.

Angle 4: Decolonizing the Education System: Cases of ‘Attacks’ on Christian Schools It would be quite a task to monitor all the reported cases of where schools have been vandalized and school staff intimated. A few examples must thus suffice. Asia News reported on 17 December 2018 that Mount Carmel School, one of the most important Christian schools in Delhi which had 3,000 pupils, was to have its recognition overturned and hence would be forced to close and its pupils placed in government schools (Asia News, 2018). The School board and Asia News suggested that this move to close the school was motivated by anti-Christian sentiment since the case rested on the fact that the school had apparently raised school fees without due notice or consultation with the regulatory body, whereas in fact the school has completely autonomy to raise fees. This right of self-government they felt was guaranteed by the constitution. What is significant here is the perception on the part of the school board that the State wanted to close the School and was finding an excuse to do so. Asia News also reported on 26 April 2019 how a Catholic school in Manipur, St Joseph’s Higher Secondary School in Sugnu, was set on fire and how another school, Christ Primary School in Palgar, in Maharashtra was ‘attacked by Hindu radicals’, namely by members of the AHP (Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad), who are affiliated with the VHP. Asia News reported, ‘The attackers smashed the windows of classrooms and unfolded a banner that urged parents not to send their children to school. Their anger was triggered by false accusations against 14 teachers of trying to convert pupils to Christianity’ (Asia News, 2018). The Anti-Conversion laws, incidentally, are not State law in Maharashtra. From the point of view of the Christian teacher perhaps no other evidence is required that there is move afoot in India, sanctioned, promoted and channelled by Hindutva, to decolonize and deChristianize not only the education system but society itself (Masih, 2020).

Section 3: Research Methodology Context of the Empirical Data The examination of Christian Values (CV) education in the Indian educational context draws on data collected during two funded projects. Both authors spent two summers over

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two consecutive years in various locations in India at the time of the coming to power of Modi (2014–15). Ethical approval was gained from both authors’ institutions, and ethical procedures were adhered to throughout the research process, including informed consent and permission for observations. Given that we used an opportunistic sampling strategy (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013) and were limited by cultural and logistical constraints, it was challenging at times to ensure that gatekeepers and principals were allowed the obtaining of written consent from all teachers, parents and children; however, verbal consent was gained from all participants. Observations were undertaken at all schools, apart from School D in Karnataka, and the mainstream school in Mizoram (owing to logistical challenges). The lead author’s project investigated the impact of faith, values and culture on both the organization of schools and the day-to-day lives of teachers, parents and children, with supplementary data from educationalists, university professors and intending pastors to build up a picture of the nature and function of CV education in the Indian context. The interplay of Indian identity with adherence to the Christian faith, on the one hand, and the Hindutva context in the secular education system, on the other, was a recurrent theme. Whilst not claiming to be a systematic objective and comprehensive list, the ‘snap shot’ observational data provided sufficient evidence to contextualize the interviews and focus groups undertaken and inform the findings (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013). The project adopted a qualitative research design and interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith and Osborn, 2003) was used to analyse interviews with over seventy people, including schoolteachers, parents, pastors, university professors, educational workers, former and current students. Table 7.1 lists the schools, contexts and states where interviews and observations took place to demonstrate the range of participants and educational contexts in the opportunistic sampling strategy. This current chapter draws on some of the data from thirty-four adults and forty-two children (aged nine years to seventeen years) who spoke about Christian values in Christian foundation schools, and their own identity and religion, all within the context of their own geographical setting. We use the data to investigate the interplay between Hindutva, the secular education system and its policies, and the participants’ Christian context in order to understand the colonial missionary legacies and the ‘institutional body language’ (Dadzie, 2000) of the Christian foundation schools. Through their connections in the Theological Colleges, Christian gatekeepers provided access to participants and schools as identified in Table 7.1. Research visits were made to a sample of Christian foundation special and mainstream schools, and two village government schools in the five Indian states which are very different politically, culturally and economically (British Council, 2014). Our study explores, through listening to participants’ narratives, how Christian values are played out in Christian foundation schools, where the majority of children, in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Andhra Pradesh, are Hindu with some Muslims and Sikh pupils, whilst most of the teachers and nearly all the head teachers at these schools are Christian. However, in the North Eastern state of Mizoram, Christianity is the majority religion with only a small percentage of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh children. We held focus groups and interviews with a range of teachers and children both Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh. This project adds to the insights of a range of scholars, some of whom adopt a critical realist stance such as Webster (2018) while others, for example, a Christian Indian researcher such 145

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Table 7.1  Data collection settings and participants School/participants

Context

Indian states

School A SEND (very well resourced)

Christian foundation special needs school, Bangalore

Karnataka

School B SEND (poorly resourced)

Christian foundation special needs school, Bangalore

Karnataka

School C mainstream (medium resourced)

Christian foundation mainstream school with resource unit, Bangalore

Karnataka

School D mainstream (medium resourced)

Christian foundation mainstream school with resource unit, Bangalore

Karnataka

University Professor of Education Studies M Bangalore University

Karnataka

Theology Professor N

Pastor training theological college in Hyderabad

Telangana

Chennai school E

Christian foundation mainstream school

Tamil Nadu

Village school X (very poorly resourced)

Government school in Guntur district

Andhra Pradesh

Village school Z (poorly resourced)

Government school in Guntur district

Andhra Pradesh

Assam Catholic School F (medium resourced)

Christian foundation Catholic mainstream school

Assam

Assam Nursery G (medium resourced)

Christian foundation Baptist nursery school

Assam

Mizoram Tribal Christian teacher H

Mainstream school

Mizoram

Intending Pastor J

Bishop’s college Theological seminary

West Bengal

Kolkata University Professor of English L

Kolkata University

West Bengal

as Longkumer (2014), adopt a more ‘insider’ stance. Longkumer (2014) argues that teachers enact their beliefs and embody Biblical virtues to show the love of God to the children in their care and nurture. She claims that although Christian teachers are not allowed to proselytize in schools, nevertheless they can show by example that the teachers espouse Christian values through behaviour. Thus, Longkumer seems to align herself with a post-structuralist approach and encourages a particular practice. On the other hand, Thapan’s edited book, Ethnographies of Schooling in Contemporary India (2014), presents a set of ethnographic case studies, some of which are based in Indian Christian foundation schools. While some chapters adopt a critical realist approach, others are more phenomenological, such as Bhandari’s chapter, which unravels the dynamics between the Christian identity of the school and its attempt to impart citizenship education. Here she notes a ‘muted’ secular citizenship education, in contrast with the ‘loud’ citizenship education which was Christian based (2014). This brief overview of other scholars’ positionalities contextualizes the phenomenological approach adopted, where the lead researcher acted as ‘self-aware translator’. This is explained more fully below in first person style (SavinBaden and Major, 2013, 65).

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Lead Researcher’s Account of the Data Collection and Analysis As the lead researcher I collected the data and adopted a ‘self-aware translator’ stance, and hence this section is written in the first person to more accurately capture positionality and reflexivity (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013, 65). Firstly, I discuss how I located myself in relation to the subject of Christian values education in India. Secondly, I discuss my role in relation to the participants. Finally, I discuss my role in relation to the research context in diverse India. I acknowledge that as a white, British, non-Christian, female teacher educator and former Religious Education specialist teacher of four to fourteen year olds, my particular expertise and interest in social justice defined the boundaries of the investigation (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013). Initially, I wanted to explore how a range of participants narrated their experiences in mainstream and special needs Christian foundation and also government schools to evaluate how social justice is played out in practice. However, through snowballing sampling (SavinBaden and Major, 2013) I was able to interview a range of principals, teachers, parents, children other educationists (for example a speech therapist), intending pastors and university professors over the course of the two summers in five Indian states. This resulted thus far in two publications (Elton-Chalcraft, Cammack and Harrison, 2016; Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The project facilitated a wider interest in how Christian values education is negotiated, leading to the formulation of this chapter’s second research question: What is the nature of the Christian-based values-led education in a sample of Indian states? And how do a sample of Christian foundation schools navigate the tensions of Hindutva, the secular education system and their Christian context? However, endeavouring to answer this question, given my identity, is not simple. So I acknowledge that my identity impacted on the way my Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu participants viewed and interacted with me. I got to know a series of gatekeepers in each Indian state. I discussed with each gatekeeper how best to undertake the interviews and focus groups and how my identity as a white Western, female teacher educator and mother might impact on the recruitment and openness of the participants. In Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack (2019), I describe how an interview with the Assam Catholic Priest and headteacher was shaped by his relationship with my gatekeeper who was a father of one child and his attitude towards me as a mother of three. I would argue that being accompanied by my children during some of the data collection was advantageous because in many interviews the parents, teachers and children related to me as a mother and ‘insider’, rather than a detached and objective ‘outsider’ researcher as discussed by McNess, Arthur and Crossley (2016). I gathered richer data when the child participants in particular viewed me as a familiar ‘auntie’, rather than formal researcher. I would argue that the interview with Cheshta at the special educational needs school was frank because of the presence of the gatekeeper, who she trusted, and my elder daughter, who had spent time chatting to her during observations at the school. I sought to gain a rapport and empathize with the participants, considering the extent to which I was an ‘outsider’ and attempting to draw closer to their ‘insider’ context (Elton-Chalcraft, 2011; McNess, Arthur and Crossley, 2016). The display of Christian texts, quality and quantity of school resources, the attire of both pupils and

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teachers, and the interaction between them provided evidence of the ‘institutional body language’ (Dadzie, 2000) of the Christian foundation schools. The research context and process are impacted by my interest in how the data inform an understanding of the bigger picture of Indian education. Our answers to the three research questions we set for ourselves are thus informed by the way we interpret the larger picture of Indian educational policy and practice. So our stance is that of white British ‘self-aware translators’ (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013) who aim to sympathetically present a variety of standpoints and suggest beneficial solutions to preserve variety and diversity within a secular education system, in which minority/faith schools have a degree of relative autonomy. Therefore, we are not acting as colonial judges nor indigenous sympathizers, but rather acting to maintain a middle ground as ‘self-aware translators’ (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013). I adopted an IPA (Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis) approach (Smith and Osborn, 2003). As argued above, the aim was not to produce an objective statement about Christian foundation schools’ ethos, but rather each participant’s perspective of how the Christian foundation and their own faith impacted practice, whether they be Christian, Muslim or Sikh (see Table 7.1). I asked teachers and principals about how the Christian values impacted on their professional practice, and I asked the children how the Christian values impacted on their learning and day-to-day life. I asked all participants including the intending pastors and university professors about negative and positive experiences of Indian education, particularly in meeting the needs of marginalized children (such as lower castes and SEND learners). Given time and logistical constraints and the age and interest of the participants, some interviews took fifteen minutes (for example, with the SEND learners in school B), while some lasted eighty minutes (for example, Cheshta’s at the SEND school A in Karnataka). There was an examination of the participant’s ‘life world’ (Smith and Osborn, 2003, 51) with a ‘Double hermeneutic’, following Osborn and Smith (2003) description; the participants are trying to make sense of their world; the researcher is trying to make sense of the participants trying to make sense of their world (2003, 51). ‘Empathetic hermeneutics’, namely, what it is like to be in participants’ shoes, whether adult or child (and to a certain degree taking their side), was combined with a ‘questioning hermeneutics’, or a critical questioning of the data, whether they were a university professor, a SEND learner, a tribal Christian teacher or an intending pastor (see Table 7.1). Throughout the data analysis, I tried to uncover what the participant was trying to achieve by saying what they said; that is, I attempted to gauge whether something was ‘leaking out that wasn’t intended’ (Osborn and Smith, 2003, 51). In my stance as ‘self-aware translator’, I tried to assess whether there were things said by the participants of which maybe the participants themselves were not aware (Savin-Baden and Major, 2013). So the data analysis tried to incorporate both aspects – Seeing the world both from the participant’s perspective and yet also being critical (Smith and Osborn, 2003, 52). IPA emphasizes sense making by both participant and researcher, where cognition is a central analytical concern, and I tried to work out the mental processes of the participants. I took Osborn and Smith’s advice and adapted IPA to suit my own research design (2003). Such an approach necessarily resulted in diverse accounts, but this echoed the stance we held of India being a diverse nation with not only diverse religious groups, but also competing philosophical educational contexts. In the following section, we endeavour to capture this diversity in the presentation of the findings.

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Section 4: Christianity and Indian Education in a Pluralist Context In this section we answer the second research question. Through an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the data described in the previous section, two positions on a continuum were identified, which encapsulated the varying nature of CV education. At one extreme of the continuum, a ‘Distinctive Christianity’ stance, as advocated by Karnataka SEND school A (see Table 7.1), identified an exclusive attitude towards Christian belief and action, with a rejection of Hindutva. At the other end of the continuum is a ‘Pluralism’ stance, as expressed by several principals and teachers from the Chennai school E, the Karnataka SEND school B and the Assam nursery G, in terms of inclusive practice, which tolerated or sometimes celebrated for example Hindu nationalism, and yogic or tribal culture alongside Christian belief and action. While schools and teachers’ attitudes could be plotted on this continuum, the majority of teachers acquiesced that adherence to the secular education system and its stipulations concerning minority/faith schools and religious instruction had to be observed, while in practice this was followed to varying degrees of strictness. The discussion reveals that faith-based education in India’s schools is not supposed to be overtly confessional to those who are not of the faith of the school itself. However, in practice in some Christian foundation schools the values and ethos of the school appeared to explicitly promote Christian ideals and a Christian mindset at all times. In some cases, these espoused Christian values seem to promote Western, and sometimes colonial attitudes, and arguably staff epitomize stances reminiscent of the missionaries who first founded the schools. In other Christian foundation schools, the staff hold a more pluralistic or indigenously Indian stance (for example, Tribal Christianity), often redolent of their geographic context, and teachers seem comfortable synthesizing Christian and non-Christian values, such as Hindu values and practices. In the sections which follow, examples from a select number of schools and interviews are provided (see Table 7.1). The examples show various points along the continuum, and illustrate the complexities of faith-based education in Christian foundation schools in several Indian states.

Distinctive Christianity This first stance was exemplified in data collected in school A, a well-resourced SEND school in Bangalore, Karnataka. Here, many of the teachers appeared to subscribe to a ‘distinctive’ Christianity stance which was Biblically based and contrasted with the pluralism stance to be discussed in the next section. (a) Biblically Inspired ‘Institutional Body Language’ in Bangalore Well-resourced SEND School A Through observations of displays, texts on walls, and the way teachers interacted with each other, their learners, parents and visitors, I was able to assess the ‘institutional body language’ (Dadzie, 2000) of each school. The Bangalore well-resourced school was full of

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large beautiful well-mounted and laminated posters displaying Biblical texts. Examples of such texts included: Jesus gives new life? Children obey your parents in the Lord Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God? We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works However, non-religious inspirational and informative texts were also displayed, such as a poster saying ‘Knock the “T” off the CAN’T’ and additional posters explaining the meaning of terms such as ‘Autism’, ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder’, as well as Maps of India. The Principal (Ai) was a formidable woman (so described by her vice principal and supported by my own observations), whose conversion from the Hindu tradition to Christianity informed her every decision. She explained that she had been brought up as a Hindu, but rejected this when she converted to Christianity. She underwent this conversion while studying at a Christian foundation school founded by two English missionaries whose message had been ‘Gospel first then education’. The principal seemed to be promoting such a distinctively Biblical message in her own school, despite the fact that ‘not all the staff and students are Christian’. She explained that because her school was financially independent, it did not have to adhere so strongly to government directives and yet it also benefitted from government ‘stamps of approval’. So despite legal requirements to ‘not proselytise’, this SEND school was ‘permitted to communicate its strong Biblical message’, and the principal impressed upon me during the interview that this was non-negotiable: Here children can be refused. Parents come and read the testimonial [about Biblically inspired education] and if they question ‘why do you teach the Bible?’ and if they say ‘No India’s a democratic country’ then they can leave. (Principal school Ai) The principal was also strict about not allowing Hindu or Muslim scriptures in the school: They can teach that at home but not bring into school, otherwise they must leave. The children whose parents were willing to tolerate Biblically inspired education were ‘allowed to stay’ and parents ‘could’ teach those scriptures at home. She was keen to explain, quite forcefully: [This is] what we do and why we do it. We teach with the heart. We don’t want Hindu and Muslim teaching. The Bible is the life book. (Principal school Ai) On a visit to England to raise funds for her school, the principal said she was shocked to see Ganesh (a Hindu deity statue) on display in a Church of England Christian school in England. (In Church of England schools in England, it is not uncommon to have displays of artefacts from a variety of Religions which supports children learning about other faiths and is not seen as undermining the Anglican character of the school.) The principal was vociferous in her rejection of Hindu religion, which she described as being totally ritualistic, in comparison to Biblical faith which, according to her, sprang from the heart. The principal seems to be 150

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echoing the sentiments of Raghunathan and Eswaran (2012), who are scathing about educated modern Indians who they claim are ‘unscientific’ in their daily lives, believing for example that by having a Ganesha on the dashboard (the title of their book) somehow removes the need to wear seatbelts. Thus, the principal is not willing to tolerate any image of Ganesh because it undermines the Biblical ethos of her school. So despite governmental secular education policy to not proselytize, she managed to retain her strong Biblical ethos in the school because she gained governmental validation while retaining her autonomy to explicitly demonstrate the Christian foundation of the school. The principal of this school was described as a very intelligent and powerful woman (vice principal interview school Aii). The authoritative principal was respected, revered and arguably slightly feared by the teachers, parents and learners. Yet the data from children parents and teachers evidenced that the school provided not only a safe haven for the ‘rejects’ of Indian society, but went further in equipping them with a Biblically informed education (vice principal Aii). Data also evidenced an emphasis on equality and the rights of SEND children to a place in society on equal terms with their peers (see Elton-Chalcraft, Cammack and Harrison, 2016; Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The SEND school A had a unit for school leavers staffed by volunteer parents who worked with these late teens and early twenties young people to gain suitable employment. So the Biblically based education at this SEND school is distinctively Biblical, with no hint of pluralism allowed, in contrast to the schools described in the second section of this chapter. The principal constantly used the word ‘Biblical’ to describe her school’s raison d’etre, ethos and message, avoiding the word ‘Christian’, which she explained is considered derogatory in Indian culture: When they [Indians] hear the word ‘Christian’, they think of a vulgar society – women wearing short dresses – Western society. We want people [to understand] we know the Bible, follow the Bible and the teachings of Christ. (Principal school Ai) Throughout the interview, the principal distanced herself from Hindu tradition while emphasizing the traditional Biblical ethos of the school which she hoped her SEND learners would imbibe, as she had done when she rejected her Hindu upbringing. She described feeling ‘uncomfortable in my own [Hindu parents] home’, which was full of Hindu shrines and artefacts ‘while still loving my family’ who remained Hindu. She was constantly on guard to root out any simulation to ritualistic Hindu practice. When the morning prayers which had begun in response to one challenging pupil became a daily feature, she suddenly halted the practice after two years fearing the staff were adopting a Hindu ritualistic practice. However, this strong-minded woman did listen to her staff, who felt the morning Biblically based prayers really helped prepare them for the challenges of the day ahead. And so the morning prayers were reinstated. Similarly, students gathered together with staff to listen to Biblically based assembles twice a week, where either the principal or an invited group would tell a Biblical story, bring out the Christian meaning, and invite all the children and teachers (regardless of whether they were Christian, Hindu, Muslim or other) to pray to Jesus to follow the imparted guidance. An assembly I observed involved a group of young lively Christian workers employed by the Church of South India (CSI) to inspire young people at Christian foundation schools to draw on the Bible for moral guidance. They told via drama the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and 151

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how Jesus selected a poor boy to perform this miracle and thus each child in the hall should feel valued and special and worthy to fulfil their place in the world. This contrasted with what I was told was the view of the majority of Indian schools, which appear to display a less meritocratic philosophy, arguably a legacy of the caste system which kept everyone in their place and did not allow for social mobility. Thus, the Biblical education at this SEND school A in Karnataka can be seen to reject the stigma of disability which Varma (2004) writes is inherent in Hindu culture, with its emphasis on the intellectually and physically ‘perfect’ man and woman who are rich and powerful. Rather this school’s institutional body language and Christian ethos aims to validate, liberate and inspire the SEND and poor children as Iliaih called for in his rejection of Hindutva and desire to recognize the marginalized and rejected (Iliaih, 2012). The six young people (school A, Karnataka) we spoke with all attested to this picture of staff at A school being ‘kind, not angry and no fighting’, all of which contrasted with their experiences of mainstream schools which seemed less meritocratic and not inclusive. One seventeen-year-old boy (school A 17, Karnataka) said, ‘Other children snatch food off my little brother at mainstream school.’ While she did ‘Hindu things at home’, a fourteen-year-old Hindu girl (school A 14, Karnataka) did not seem adversely or positively affected by the Christian ethos of the school. Thus she did not see a conflict between her Hindu home rituals and the Biblical ethos in school. A sixteen-year-old boy Christian (school A 16, Karnataka) was very appreciative of the Biblical teaching and despite having severe learning difficulties felt he would nevertheless be able to successfully assist his Church pastor father in his ministry on completing his education at the Bangalore SEND School. He appreciated the ‘no beating or hitting by teachers or pupils’ at the SEND school because bullying and corporal punishment seem to be commonplace in many schools in India. A Muslim parent (school A mp, Karnataka) informed me that the school was supportive of her daughter who had learning difficulties and ‘she didn’t like the other [mainstream] school but she is happy here’. Despite being Muslim, reciting the Qur’an and praying five times a day, this mother’s outlook very much aligned with the school’s Biblical ethos of valuing everyone; ‘I felt blessed to have a special child ….[but] Indian people gaze at her’, thus distancing herself from the Hindu majority who traditionally malign those with a disability. The school (school A, Karnataka) also had a boarding wing, where boys from families who lived further afield could benefit from a Biblically based education which was not available near where they lived. I spoke with a nine-year-old boy (school A, Karnataka) who lived in the boarding wing of the school, returning home for the weekend once a month. This Christian boy spoke to me about his love for school because the teachers were kind: We learn about God, pray to God when we are in trouble. ….. [God] gives us food to eat and friends to play with. (Nine-year-old boy school A 9, Karnataka) He suggested that the school’s faith-based education not only met his needs, where a local school would not, but raised his aspirations to see a real possibility of achieving an office job like his father despite his learning difficulties (nine-year-old boy school A, Karnataka). He was one of the few children who said they read the wall displays and felt inspired by the Biblical messages. This contrasted with my observations and interviews at the government-funded village school Z in Andhra Pradesh. Here a girl of a similar age who appeared to have similar learning 152

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difficulties to the nine-year-old boy at school A was left lying on the floor outside a poorly resourced classroom in a door-less governmental school with little attempt to meet her needs during my visit and interviews with the Senior leaders at school Z. Obviously more detailed and comprehensive empirical research is needed to justify these reactions, but I deduced that SEND school A provided a Biblically inspired supportive education which enabled this nine-year-old boy to flourish and aspire to play a full role in society, which contrasted with the nine-year-old girl at school Z who seemed to have been forgotten. Research is abundant which demonstrates that despite the Indian education system’s policy RTE Act 2010 there are still many SEND children who are not served well by a predominantly non-meritocratic system (Das, Sharma and Singh, 2012; Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). Despite the fact that the majority of evidence I gained painted a positive picture of the marginalized being supported and inspired by the Biblically based ethos of the Bangalore SEND school, one story I investigated with a pupil at school A contradicted this image. A sixteen-year-old boy (school A, Karnataka) described how he had been bullied at his mainstream school, and, while enjoying the benefits of the inclusive ethos of the Bangalore SEND school, nevertheless, told me the principal had shouted at his parents, demanding they make him attend every day even though he was expected to work in his father’s business. The principal had strict rules and would not tolerate any deviance. This non-negotiable stance turned the boy against the school, despite my gatekeeper’s keen defence of the principal’s action. From ten interviews with teachers, a speech therapist and Autism support teacher who both visited the school, there was agreement that the faith-based learning was an advantage for these societally marginalized learners. The speech therapist who visited the school regularly to support various learners said: I am Christian and I like the devotional times which happen before class begins. This doesn’t happen at other places where I visit children. I feel part of this community – other places [schools] are just work and the discussions are just professional …[The devotions] help me overcome difficult times [give me] inner strength. There are no Bible passages [on the walls] in other schools, but Hindu statues at the entrance and parents bow down as they enter even though it is a secular education system. (Speech therapist School Aiii Karnataka) Thus the speech therapist is acknowledging the lip service paid to the secular education policy directive of non-proselytizing. Religion is such a part of Indian life that it cannot help but seep into educational establishments.

Cheshta the SEND Teacher Aiv Cheshta (pseudonym), a twelve to sixteen years teacher at the distinctively Biblically based SEND school A, narrated her conversion and the impact this had on her life and subsequent teaching career. In order to understand the complexities of how teachers navigate the complexities of Hindutva, Christian ethos and the secular education system in their teaching it is important to understand how a teacher’s life experiences impact their beliefs and inform their actions (EltonChalcraft and Cammack, 2019). Cheshta is a teacher in her early thirties whose lessons and 153

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interactions with the young SEND people in her care I judged to be very open and supportive, and yet clear boundaries were adhered to. Cheshta was brought up a Hindu and was very devout. Her father ‘was lovely but had a drinking problem’ and she was the eldest of eight children and found life increasingly challenging. One of her friends tried to tell her about Jesus, and she rejected this even though she was very depressed. But after a suicide attempt, she converted to Christianity and worked in Calcutta with slum children before taking up a position in the Bangalore SEND school: I think that’s the only one reason why I am here; it’s cos of God, yeah. And I feel God’s presence here, very much … And I know it’s not easy; it is challenging, you know, it’s really challenging to understand these children sometimes … and the parents … and their expectation umm but though we do all other things but behind the scene it’s just God- who helps us to keep moving forward every day. (Cheshta SEN teacher school Aiv Karnataka) All interviewed staff at the school explained that they act as role models contributing to the Biblical ethos of the SEND school. Cheshta explained how her constant saying of prayers had rubbed off on the children: I want everybody to know who God is. And because they are special people and God loves them. And impact: definitely yes. Err, some of their lives I have seen. You know, like even making a prayer, you know, it’s sometimes really touching because some of them- when we teach them how to pray- I think they are the one who keeps reminding us: okay pray. Like before a snack; if I forget to pray you know one of them will be reminding me to pray. (Cheshta SEN teacher school A iv Karnataka)

Pluralism In contrast to the narratives above, which reveal a distinctively Christian, Biblically based ethos, this section exemplifies narratives from Chennai, Mizoram, Kolkata and Assam (see Table 7.1) which all have a pluralistic outlook.

Citizenship – The Chennai Principal E The Chennai principal (see Table 7.1) talked a great deal about policies and initiatives which encouraged children to prioritize their education and thus increase their life chances. The school’s website stated that the school is ‘like a society built around ethics and human values’, but there was little mention of explicit Christian or Biblically based values, in contrast to the well-resourced SEND Bangalore school’s website which was liberally punctuated by Bible texts and Christian values. In the interview he described ten virtues which are taken in turn as a focus for a month through the values education programme: This month is a virtue about cleanliness, how to keep the classroom clean. Last month it was discipline. So for example we told the staff keep the classroom clean,

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and children [are encouraged to keep it clean] that is one way we do it [Christian values]. (Chennai school Ei principal) In the National Educational Policy of 2020 cleanliness is one of the moral virtues to be taught, but the Sanskrit word for cleanliness is utilized, perhaps showing how the policy reflects the educational thinking of Hindutva. The Chennai principal felt that these values, whilst rooted in Christian doctrine, were relevant for all his learners. He admitted that while the majority of the teachers were Christian, the student population was not: 95% of the teachers are Christian but …. The students, about 20% are Christian and 80% are Hindu and other religions …..Caring for the children is a big thing, [and] commitment to the call of God. The third thing is serving the community at large at different levels looking at the personal needs of children, emotionally, physically – all that becomes a part of all that is what Christ wants is to do the concept of love. (Chennai school Ei principal) The Chennai principal school E emphasized how his faith motivated a relentless commitment to furthering the life chances of the learners in his care. Everything he said and showed to us demonstrated a focus on the individual and meeting their needs, whether they were Christian or from another faith. Ethics were prioritized: We have a moral science class we allow the non-Christians to attend …. how to be a responsible citizen … and many of them like to come to the Christian values education …. we make the children know that the values of this Christian school are more important. (Chennai school Ei principal) The Chennai principal told us how his policies were played out in school: We have scripture union classes for the students. We teach them the scripture, we have an hour of teaching scripture also. The teachers have Christian devotion. In the last Friday we have fellowship and every year we organise a Christian retreat for teachers held in our school auditorium. And the boys are taken on a retreat and to scripture union camps. (Chennai school Ei principal) The Chennai principal outlined that his drive for communicating Christian values was not limited to the school but he played a leading role in his local church community also. His espoused vision for his school promoted inclusionary practice, and his staff provided a nurturing but also disciplined context for effective learning to take place which was underpinned by Christian values. Of course I was only a visitor for a limited time in each school and only gained a snapshot of espoused vision as articulated by each principal. Nevertheless, as an educationalist my interpretation was that the Chennai principal’s pluralist vision was more focused on providing life chances for each learner, underpinned by Christian principles, compared with the Bangalore SEND school principal’s vision to further the Christian lifestyle and distinctively Christian values through her

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Christian teachers as role models. A male teacher at the Chennai School Eii however seemed to straddle both a pluralist and distinctively Christian stance: I was really happy when I got appointed here firstly because it is a Christian institution. I prefer this to the Hindu institutions because they have their own practices and I don’t want to partake … The whole atmosphere is different in a Christian school. There are a lot of festivals in the Hindu religion especially in Tamil Nadu, every month you have something special. And my [Christian teacher] friend very reluctantly takes part in these [Hindu school] celebrations they are forced to take part in that worship and they don’t really want to. In the Christian foundation school E he said most children attend the scripture union classes after lunch; the whole school, 70 per cent of the students, is there. While he said the children did not convert to Christianity, he felt the children were sympathetic to the values espoused in the school. However, he was unsure about the extent of the impact on them. But he felt that the Scottish missionary who founded the school intended the education to be accessible to all – high caste, low caste, rich, and poor, Hindu, Muslim or Christian: We are open to all – for all castes all creeds, all religion, all economic class, all castes. Education for all. (Male teacher Chennai school E)

Mizoram Tribal Christian Teacher H Mizoram is one of the North Eastern states of India which is predominantly Presbyterian Christian and whose inhabitants wear Western clothes, short haircuts and, stemming from their tribal culture, are meat eating, all in contrast to the Southern states (Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The Mizoram teacher (tribal Christian H) explained that all children in her school ‘attend morning devotion, even Hindu children who are in the minority’. She also spoke of the former tribal practice of hunting animals, which was banned by the government because India is predominantly Hindu and vegetarian (H). This echoes Ilaiah’s (2012) argument that Brahmin Hindutva have a disregard for culture which is not their own, especially the meat-eating tribal Indians. Mizo-Christians eat meat because of both their tribal heritage and their distancing from Brahmin vegetarianism with its strict laws on pollution and purity (Ilaiah, 2012) (see above on Hindutva support of ‘Cow Protection’).

Pluralist Stance of Intending Pastors Visiting Schools As another example of a Pluralist stance in addition to the three above, my discussion with intending pastors revealed a pluralist stance. At a Kolkata theological seminary, one particular intending pastor was from a tribal/Adivasi background similar to the teacher from Mizoram in the narrative above. This intending pastor explained that in preparation for teaching in Christian foundation schools they were taught to be inclusive and pluralist when they visited schools in order to gain rapport with all the children at the school, many of whom would be Hindu, with some Muslim and Sikh children as well. He said:

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We are told to avoid saying Hindu tradition is wrong and Christian is right, rather there are different ways to God. All religions are right. The pastor’s work in schools [should be] non prejudicial. At our College [in Kolkata] there are lots of intending pastors from [a variety of] religious traditions – Baptist, tribal, environmental – close to nature, caring for the world. There is lots of diversity within India. A lecturer from a Theological college in Hyderabad for training pastors told me that when Christian missionaries came to India they tended to convert whole communities to their denomination, resulting in villages/towns or suburbs converting en masse. Often lower castes converted to the Baptist religion, whereas the Catholic missionaries tended to convert the higher castes. However, at the pastor-training Theological colleges, particularly the ones in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Assam and Bangalore which we visited, there was a mix of denominations which may have led to this more pluralistic outlook. However, the Kolkata intending pastor did admit that despite the pluralistic stance there was an ‘unspoken hierarchy’, where his own tribal Christianity was definitely at the bottom.

Assam Pluralist Early Years Another in depth interview with the principal of an early year’s unit affiliated to the Theological College in the North East state of Assam also revealed a pluralist stance (Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The principal told me that the Baptist foundation nursery was very popular, not only amongst the theological college staff and students, but also among Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Jain parents from the wider city, as well as rural communities (Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The principal (Assam nursery G i) was proud of her nursery’s history narrating during her interview, and that it had been founded in 1986 by the Baptist missionary. My observational evidence showed close resemblance to many British early year’s settings in terms of the structure of the learning, resources, teacher philosophy and practice. The teachers were mostly Christian, and the songs were a mixture of traditional British nursery rhymes and Christian songs and prayers, and traditional English public school style uniform providing the ‘institutional body language’ of a preparatory school in England. The early year’s principal was keen to demonstrate her pluralist philosophy, which I saw enacted in practice in my observations in several classrooms in the school (Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019): If they know about the love of God, they will know about Good and Bad. Everyone has a different religion, I cannot say Hindu is bad. We all worship the same God …. We don’t want to force them [to convert to Christianity]. (The Principal Assam nursery G i) This stance (which arguably enacts what the Constitution had in mind with regard to the manner in which faith schools are to treat pupils that are not from the minority faith) contrasts considerably to that of the Bangalore SEND school A, which in a similar vein to Ilaiah (2012) are keen to reject and subvert the Hindu Nationalist ethos and religion (Elton-Chalcraft and Cammack, 2019). The early year’s principal (G i), like the Chennai principal (Ei), seemed to consider education and

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imparting Christian values as of equal importance. Hence the principal’s aim in the early year’s nursery (Gi) was to provide the best foundation for learning, built on a disciplined approach that was pluralistic rather than exclusively Christian.

Section 5: Stripping Away Christian Values in the Decolonized Indian Curriculum: Benefits and Drawbacks To address the third question posed at the outset of our discussion: While acknowledging that we are drawing on an opportunistic sample of qualitative narratives, the data drawn on in this chapter identifies that some Christian foundation schools, in spite of government directives to not proselytize, nevertheless encourage their school community to imbibe a distinctive Christian ethos, whether they be Hindu, Muslim or other religion. In one case, there is a further direct rejection of Hindu doctrine and ritual considered dangerous in the context of the Biblically based ethos. However, the four schools discussed above advocated a more pluralistic stance, thus adhering to the secular education system’s directives for the running of minority faith schools as per the Constitution of non-proselytizing, and seeing all religions as different pathways to the same set of truths, beliefs and values. In fact, SEND school B encouraged yoga, of Hindu origin, to support the children’s well-being. So, in discussing the benefits of Christian values-led education in Indian schools we would agree with Prabhakar (2006) that India should celebrate her diversity, which would include a Christian heritage as well as a Muslim and Hindu one. In four cases, those which exhibited a pluralist perspective (SEND school B, Chennai E, Assam Nursery G and the tribal teacher H), this diversity seemed to be celebrated. However in the distinctively Biblically Christian SEND school A there seemed to be less tolerance of diversity, but this did not necessarily mean the school was adopting the type of colonial ethos as derided by Paranjape (2010). However while distancing ourselves from any colonial superiority, which Paranjape (2010) rightly criticizes, we do however believe that a decolonizing of the curriculum via a thorough stripping away of Christian-based values-led Indian education would result in more being lost than can be gained. Reflection on our findings suggests that the Christian foundation schools we visited provide a safe, learning environment for many marginalized children – particularly those with special educational needs or from poorer, lower-caste and Dalit backgrounds and those from marginalized religious backgrounds – i.e. Christians, who are able to attend the schools. For all these children, the Christian-based and values-led curriculum provides opportunities for social and economic advancement. Many interviewees in our research spoke of the advantages a good education afforded to disadvantaged, particularly lower-caste children in terms of social mobility. Findings reveal how some teachers staunchly reject Hindutva in favour of a Christian ethos, paying lip service to the non-proselytizing legislation, whilst some other teachers promote a more pluralistic outlook, while still other teachers, mainly in the North Eastern states, synthesize Christian values (Baptist or Presbyterian) with their tribal heritage. The analysis and discussion

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add to an understanding of how Christian ethos and values are communicated by Christian teachers, and experienced by a sample of children and adults in one single, but vast and diverse, country in the Global South. In addition to the argument that more would be lost than gained by ‘stripping away’ Christianbased education through a ‘programme’ of decolonization, the argument that Christian foundation schools should remain as part of the secular education system which allows for minority/faith schools also needs to be reiterated. The grounds for the argument emerge from the analysis of the secular constitution, the existence of faith schools and analysis of recent educational policies influenced by Hindutva. In an effort to maintain the pluralism of Indian society, and to respect minority faiths and traditions, it is necessary to resist the re-colonizing tendencies of the educational and cultural policies pursued by Hindutva.

Conclusion With reference to the literature and our findings, we have tried to answer our three questions throughout this chapter. We would argue that there has been a move in post-colonial India to decolonize the curriculum by stripping away Christian-based values-led education so as to replace it with a Hindutva ethos within a secular education system. This has been the case particularly since the rise of the BJP party in the late 1990s and again in 2014 and 2019, and the political, educational and legislative changes described in Section 1. We have discussed the nature of the Christian-based values-led education in a sample of Indian states ranging from distinctively Biblical to pluralistic in their outlook. While adopting an ‘outsider’ or possibly ‘inbetweener’ stance, we have presented our interpretation of how a sample of Christian foundation schools navigates the tensions of Hindutva, the secular education system, social inequality and their Christian context (McNess, Arthur and Crossley, 2016; Milligan, 2016). And, from our stance as white, British, non-Christian researchers who are committed to education for social justice we have evaluated the benefits and drawbacks, for Indian children (particularly in special educational needs schools), of decolonizing the curriculum in terms of stripping away Christian values. From the perspective of the good of the secular education system overall, it is important for there to be continued support of all minority faith schools, including Christian foundation schools. If anything it is the Hindutva ethos of developments in curriculum and policy that seeks to colonize the past, present and future of Indian education. The recolonizing of the curriculum is from the perspective of an ideology that seeks for a unity above diversity that values India, but an India that does not have space for faith minorities like the Muslims and the Christians and hence does not value diversity itself.

Acknowledgements Thanks to the British Academy, St Christopher’s Trust and the University of Cumbria for funding the data collection in India.

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Marginalization of African Traditional Religion in Kenyan Religious Education Matthew M. Karangi

Introduction As in other parts of the Global South (GS), particularly sub-Saharan Africa, Christianity has the highest number of adherents in Kenya. The country’s religious demography indicates Christians as the majority (84.5 per cent) and then Islam (10.5 per cent), Folk Religions (1.5 per cent), a collection of small religious communities (