Religious education in two secular multicultural societies. The Turkish and Dutch case compared

In this paper we present in the first section the historical antecedents of the Turkish and Dutch educational system regarding religion(s) in education. In the second section we will outline the different approaches in religious education in both countries. In the third section the focus is on the relationship between state and church. In the fourth section the issue is how in both countries curricula and textbooks for religious education are constructed, checked and approved. Finally, we will summarize the most remarkable points of comparison between the Dutch and the Turkish case regarding religion(s) in education. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd

A plea for inclusive worldview education in all schools

Taking personhood education (‘Bildung’) of students as the aim of schools, the author argues that worldview education should form an integral part of this education in all schools. It is shown that such a conceptualisation of worldview education is adequately combinable with citizenship education. In worldview-citizenship education the emphasis is first of all on students’ appropriation and (continuous) development of their own worldview. A second important aim of this modus of education is that students should learn to live together in the context of the school as an embryonic society which represents different worldviews. With this two−fold aim the individual or personal and the social or communal side of the pedagogical coin are kept together. In the final part a concrete example of an inclusive practice of worldview citizenship education is described in a partnership of a Christian, a state, and an Islamic elementary school in the area of Amsterdam South−East

Criticality in Dynamic Arrest: Correspondence between Glasses and Traffic

Dynamic arrest is a general phenomenon across a wide range of dynamic systems, but the universality of dynamic arrest phenomena remains unclear. We relate the emergence of traffic jams in a simple traffic flow model to the dynamic slow down in kinetically constrained models for glasses. In kinetically constrained models, the formation of glass becomes a true (singular) phase transition in the limit $T\to 0$. Similarly, using the Nagel-Schreckenberg model to simulate traffic flow, we show that the emergence of jammed traffic acquires the signature of a sharp transition in the deterministic limit \pp\to 1, corresponding to overcautious driving. We identify a true dynamical critical point marking the onset of coexistence between free flowing and jammed traffic, and demonstrate its analogy to the kinetically constrained glass models. We find diverging correlations analogous to those at a critical point of thermodynamic phase transitions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Het peilen van de diepte:de relatie tussen werkloosheid en delinquentie bij jongvolwassen mannen

Introduction The Netherlands, like all western countries, has to face substantial unemployment figures. Opinion polls as well as policy speeches indicate that unemployment is considered to be a major problem. This has also been reflected in studies on unemployment and the unemployed. Within the group of unemployed people statistics regarding the so-called hard-core' unemployed — also known as the long-term unemployed or nonemployable people — tell us that over 200.000 people are jobless for over a year, some 80.000 even over three years. Another well-known effect is that the longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to find a job, especially a regular job in the primary segments of the labour market. After three months of unemployment the prospects of finding a job diminishes; after being unemployed for two years the chance in getting a job is slightly over 5%. Some 60% of the hardcore unemployed possesses insufficient labour market qualifications and their future perspectives are indeed dim. Within the group of longterm one out of five is younger than 25 years of age. Being long-term unemployed implies at the same time a prolonged dependency on welfare benefits, mostly accompanied by economic problems. Another problem is that unemployment is unevenly spread over the country and some regions and inner-cities find themselves clearly above the national average. This particular study concerning young unemployed, white adults has been executed, at the end of the ’80’s in Drachten (Smallingerland), a medium-sized municipality (slightly over 50.000 inhabitants) in the province of Friesland. The unemployment figures (1989) of the dependent labour force for males are: The Netherlands: 11,2%; Friesland: 14,2%; Region of Drachten 12,3%. In the regional labour market of Friesland young people below 25 years of age are hit disproportionally by unemployment; they account for some 40% of the total unemployment in Friesland (Verhaar, 1990). The question I am interested in is: how do long-term unemployed young men, from different backgrounds, cope with unemployment and living on welfare within the confinements of a local labour market? Do they comply with their position as unemployed and living on welfare or do they resist? What kinds of solutions are acceptable and what kinds of alternatives do they see to alleviate their plight? In this way I can also look into the more illegal solutions from a criminological point of view. Although not all motives will be of an economic nature, there is credence to contend that being unemployed, marginally employed or underemployed are important criminogenic factors (Allan and Steffensmeier, 1989). In reviewing the economics-crime link' literature (Belknap, 1989), however, one can easily become bewildered by contradicting outcomes. Although there seem to be valid grounds to assume a relationship, the implications of different research methods make unequivocal statements regarding the economics-crime link tenuous. In part I of this study the theoretical and methodological foundations are under scrutiny. In part II the results of the study - a typology of lifestyles - are presented. Part III discusses these findings in regard with the central question: the economics-crime link. Thereafter I compare these findings against the backgrounds of some mainstream theories in criminology: strain, social control, subcultural and new subcultural perspectives. The final chapter discusses the merits of the life course method and the sociological implications for employment policy

Public, Social and Individual Perspectives on Religious Education. Voices from the Past and the Present

Inspired by Charles Taylor's recent quest for the meaning of religion today, this article concentrates on the question of the meaning of religious education (RE) today. The focus is not so much on the 'what' but instead more on the 'where' (the locus) and the 'how' (the function) of RE. The view on what is held to be a pedagogically tenable position regarding RE is build up by methodologically using a differentiated practical-theological three-course model that distinguishes between the public, the social and the private domain. Developments and tendencies within the three domains are shown in respect with religion as such and RE in particular. It is made clear what this may mean for religious educators and philosophers of religious education today, who conceptualize religious education as an impossible possibility. © Springer 2006