On the Edge: (Auto)biography and Pedagogical Theories on Religious Education

For the first time, leading scholars in Religious Education and Citizenship Education reflect upon ‘the making of’ of their theoretical framework, in honour of Siebren Miedema. In this Liber Amicorum, in retrospect these scholars recognize, implicitly or more explicitly, ‘critical incidents’ and they honour ‘critical persons’ for the decisive voice each of them had in the articulation of the theoretical frame of reference the scholars developed in the field of pedagogy of religion(s) and citizenship education. Or, to use the words Siebren Miedema prefers, the field of religious citizenship education.
The ‘eminence grise’ in the field of Pedagogy is brought together in this volume, like John Hull, Bob Jackson and Wolfram Weisse; scholars from the United States of America like Jack Seymour and Mary Elizabeth Moore; scholars from Latin America like Günther Dietz; scholars from the Netherlands like Cok Bakker, Chris Hermans, Henk Kuindersma, Alma Lanser, Wilna Meijer, Bram de Muynck and Doret de Ruyter; scholars from Western Europe like Hans-Günther Heimbrock and Friedrich Schweitzer; scholars from Eastern Europe like Fedor Kozyrev; scholars from up North like Geir Skeie; scholars from down South like Cornelia Roux and Marian De Souza. They all responded to the question of the editor, Ina ter Avest, to reflect upon the relationship between their biography and their developed theoretical framework.
For everybody interested in the field of religious citizenship education, this volume offers a thorough introduction to their theories. We hope this comprehensive book will provoke readers to balance on the edge of different perspectives and to stimulate the development of their own line of thought on religious citizenship education.