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University of Giessen: IMPACCT

The internationalisation of teaching religion and ethics

International Mobility with Partners Abroad for Culturally Competent Teachers

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Objective

According to the Hesse core curriculum for Islamic religious education, ‘A further priority of religious education is the ongoing practice of peaceful coexistence in society. To this end, other religions and philosophies are explored with the aim of fostering openness towards them. The foundation of successful inter-religious dialogue is knowing about your own religion while understanding other religions.’

Inter-religious, intercultural and international experiences make a significant contribution to achieving these goals as they encourage openness and self-reflection, amongst other things.

Prof. Dr. Yaşar Sarıkaya; Professur für Islamische Theologie und Ihre Didaktik, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
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In an age of great political and social upheaval, the choice of subject for the IMPACCT project in Giessen affords participating students a unique opportunity to draw on the resources of this subject in international exchange and to develop themselves personally and professionally by enhancing their intercultural and inter-religious competencies.
Prof. Yaşar Sarıkaya; Professor of Islamic Theology and its Didactics, Justus Liebig University, Giessen

International mobility improves inter-religious competencies

When compared with the value of an international and inter-religious outlook, teacher education students in this subject area are among the less mobile groups of students. Between the establishment of the Chair of Islamic Theology and its Didactics in 2011 and the 2019/20 winter semester, only two students completed semesters abroad. For this reason, the IMPACCT project at Giessen (International Mobility with Partners Abroad for Culturally Competent Teachers) chose to focus in the initial 2019-2022 funding phase on teacher education students for primary education whose third subject is Islamic Religion. Across six partner universities in four countries (Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye), the project offered the students a range of opportunities. These included experiencing what Islam ‘is’ in a majority society, comparing Muslim life in Germany with Muslim life in Switzerland or Austria, and encountering a different concept of religious education in Sweden. As a means of strengthening inter-religious dialogue at a structural level, the project expanded its subject portfolio in the second 2023-2024 funding phase to include Protestant and Catholic Christianity.

Encounters are opportunities

Discussions over the course of the years have shown the potential for learning to be found in inter-religious encounters. At the same time, it emerged that intensive discourse within each confession on conceptions of religion, religiosity, religious education and inter-religious dialogue are essential in order to conduct international inter-religious dialogue.

Networking and exchange

We would like to acknowledge the contribution of TU Darmstadt. This article includes a diagram of the Lehramt.International network in Hesse between the universities of Giessen, Marburg and Darmstadt.

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