Gottfried, Adam

The Hungarian Educational Research Journal

University of Debrecen Electronic Archive

87 
Book Review 
 
  
Hungarian Educational Research Journal 
2013, Vol. 3(4) 87–89 
© The Author(s) 2013 
http://herj.lib.unideb.hu 
Debrecen University Press 
 
DOI: 10.14413/herj.2013.04.08.  
Martin Jäggle, Martin Rothgangel, Thomas 
Schlag (Eds.): Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in 
Europa. Teil 1: Mitteleuropa. Unter Mitarbeit 
von Philipp Klutz und Mónika Solymár. V & R 
Unipress/Vienna University Press. 2013. 
(Wiener Forum für Theologie und 
Religionswissenschaft, Band 5,1). pp. 265. 
Reviewed by Gottfried Adam  
 
In the Introduction the three editors state, that it is time to take a closer look to the topic 
of Religious Education in the schools of all 48 European countries: What are the 
structures of organisation, the legal frameworks and the aims and objectives? They 
believe, this endeavor is necessary because of the impact of Education on societal and 
political issues and because the situation and state of religious communities/churches is 
in a process of rapid change. At present in the majority of the European countries 
Religious Education is established as a subject at public schools (p. 7f.).  
The publication „Religious Education at Schools in Europe. Part I. Central Europe“ is the 
first volume of a joint research project of the Protestant and the Catholic Departments of 
Religious Education at the University of Vienna. It is called “Religious Education in 
Schools in Europe“ (REL-EDU). The project team consists of Univ.Prof. DDr. Martin 
Rothgangel and Dr. Mónika Solymár (Faculty of Protestant Theology), Univ.Prof. Dr. 
Martin Jäggle and Dr. Philipp Klutz (Faculty of Catholic Theology). 
The central purpose of the research project is to make possible an international 
comparison of the different forms of Religious Education in all of Europe. There are six 
volumes in the planning covering the following regions: Vol. 1 Central Europe, Vol. 2 
Northern Europe, Vol. 3 Western Europe, Vol. 4 Southern Europe, Vol. 5 Southeast 
Europe, and Vol. 6 Eastern Europe. No doubt, this is a timely and ambitious project. That 
it is designed as a cooperative protestant-catholic, i.e. ecumenical venture shows that 
the two editors Martin Rothgangel and Martin Jäggle are men of vision. 
Let´s take a closer look at Vol. 1 dealing with Religious Education in Central Europe. 
Friedrich Schweitzer (Tübingen) informs in the first article about „Comparing Religious 
Education in Schools in European Countries - Challenges for International Comparative 
Research“. He introduces into the matter of comparative research. He explicates, why it 
HERJ - Hungarian Educational Research Journal 2013, Vol. 3(4)  
 
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is being done and what results can be exspected. He reports about the studies that have 
been published to date and gives a peliminary typology of international studies. The fact 
that the respective Hungarian studies (being published in English) are missing in this 
article, makes aware that the communication in Europa needs to be improved. The 
author closes with proposals for a methodology of comparative research – from the 
perspective of Religious Pedagogy.  
The following eight articles deal with Religious Education (in a broad understanding) in 
the different countries. They are arranged according to the following thirteen topics: 
1. Socio-religious background (of the country, especially in relation to important 
changes, resulting from migration, for example)  
2. Legal Frameworks of RE and the relationship between religious communities and 
the state 
3. Developments in the country’s education policies 
4. Role of schools in denominational sponsorship 
5. Conceptions and tasks of RE 
6. Practice of RE  
7. Observations on alternative subjects like ethics, philosophy etc. 
8. Ecumenical and interreligious cooperation, Dealing with religious diversity, 
Ethnic groups, areas of conflict and open questions 
9. Religion in schools outside of RE 
10.  Training of teachers of RE: institutes, structures, core areas 
11.  Desiderate and challenges for RE in a European context 
12.  Further information.  
This pattern proves to be helpful in arranging the information about Religious Education 
and build a basis for comparative studies. The editors were successful in finding 
competent contributors for each of the eight countries. All articles are informative and 
well written. This volume will be a basic text for future international comparative 
studies, and presumably the forthcoming five volumes of the project likewise.  
There is not enough space to review each contribution. For the theme of this issue of this 
Journal dealing with church related schools especially the topic 4 “Role of schools in 
denominational sponsorship” is relevant. All articles contain information about the 
position of these schools and their relevance in society, the legal framework, the impact 
of churches and religious communities in the educational system and the conceptions 
and tasks of religiously oriented schools. Here one can find primal overall information 
and reference to relevant literature. The countries covered and the respective authors 
are the following ones: Germany (M. Rothgangel / H.- G. Ziebertz - Univ. of Vienna and 
Wuerzburg), Austria (M. Jäggle / Ph. Klutz - Univ. of Vienna), Poland (C. Rogowsky - 
Univ. of Olsztyn), Swiss (Th. Schlag - Univ. of Zuerich), Slovakia (T. Reimer - Univ. of 
Bratislava), Slovenia (St. Gerjolj / A.A. Saje - Univ. of Lubljana), Czech Republic (L. 
Muchová - Univ. of České Budějovice), Hungary (M. Solymár - Univ. of Vienna). 
HERJ - Hungarian Educational Research Journal 2013, Vol. 3(4)  
 
89 
 
In our context the article about Hungary is of special interest. The author M. Solymár is a 
native of Hungary and has been teaching at Berzsenyi Dániel Evangelikus Gimnázium in 
Sopron. Her article reflects her thorough knowledge of the Hungarian school system as 
well as the situation of a church related school. On p. 241-245 she deals with the aspects 
of pluralisation of the educational system in Hungary, the sponsorship of school by 
churches, the special profile of these schools and their funding. Topic 6 (p. 246–251) 
deals with the school subject of Religious Education in public schools as well as in 
church related schools. This chapter informs about the rules of participation, curricula, 
school books and questions of teacher training and teacher competencies. These two 
chapters impart foundational knowledge about the church related schools in Hungary. I 
understand, this article will be updated and revised in the forthcoming English edition, 
taking into consideration the changes of the new educational reform. 
The review presented, what this volume on Religious Education in Central Europe has to 
offer on the question of confessional schools in Hungary as well as in other countries in 
the central European region. Further on it showed what a rich source this publication is 
for international comparative research. According to the preface (p. 12) an English 
version of the text is going to appear in 2014. It will be published on www.rel-edu.eu. 
 


Martin Jäggle, Martin Rothgangel, Thomas Schlag (eds.): Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Europa. Teil 1: Mitteleuropa. Unter Mitarbeit Von Philipp Klutz Und Mónika Solymár. V & R Unipress/vienna University Press. 2013. (wiener Forum Für Theologie Und Religionswissenschaft, Band 5,1). Pp. 265.

Martin Jäggle, Martin Rothgangel, Thomas Schlag (eds.): Religiöse Bildung an Schulen in Europa. Teil 1: Mitteleuropa. Unter Mitarbeit Von Philipp Klutz Und Mónika Solymár. V & R Unipress/vienna University Press. 2013. (wiener Forum Für Theologie Und Religionswissenschaft, Band 5,1). Pp. 265.

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