Bibliography: leaves 92-102. / The premise throughout this thesis is that religious education at state schools has hopelessly failed. Teachers are generally apathetic and pupils disinterested and bored by a repetitive content which, for the most part, is a duplication of what happens in Sunday school. Christian National education, the dominant ethos and philosophy underlying educational methodology, denies the plurality of the South African society and the plurality within Christianity itself. Calvinism is blithely promoted as normative Christianity while the existence of religions such as African Traditional Religion is denied. The challenge of pluralism in religion education is underlined, in this work, by a feminist analysis which derives from a personal experience. Any black woman of faith experiences a triple oppression it is held. To this end, the effects of racism, sexism and patriarchy is addressed with the view to contribute towards the transformation of the state of both education and religion in the South African context. The argument throughout is that a religion education in schools, which is going to reflect the diversity of our society, has to include in its definition of pluralism, the category of gender. An overview of the state of religion in education serves as an introduction while plurality and the role of the state is defined in chapter one. The point that gender, as a category of plurality, must be consciously included in its definition, if it aims to restore the full humanity of those who have been dispossessed, is promoted. Chapter two focuses on the position of women within religion which has hitherto been a negative one and chapter three shortly attempts to clarify the inherent definitional problem of Religion Education and argues for a recognition and position of African Traditional Religion in the school syllabus. Chapter four focuses on the very important question of language since it is language that constructs our heritage. The symbolic appeals language evokes is further considered and critiqued. The point that masculine language and imagery has to be revised in any pursuit of a just and acceptable religion education is further argued and the implications thereof, set out. Religious texts are appropriated from a feminist perspective in chapter five and traditional theology challenged. Examples as to how to read into the text and to read behind the text, in order to rediscover women's lost history, are given. Texts which are common to the Abrahamic religions are chosen for its accessibility and immediate relevance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/14345 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Potgieter, Sharon Jane |
| Contributors | Chidester, David |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Religious Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | application/pdf |
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