Abstract: Our report on Greek textbooks shows an accurate and respectful approach to Judaism, Jewish tradition and the Holocaust. The study finds that the curriculum reflects Greece’s commitment to international standards for peace and tolerance education.
Judaism is presented with balance and care within Religious Education textbooks, including lessons on the Torah, Jewish festivals, and beliefs. The Holocaust is taught with exceptional depth, most notably in a Grade 12 History textbook that devotes a full chapter to the genocide, includes survivor testimonies, and highlights the courage of Greek citizens and clergy who protected Jewish communities during the war.
The report notes positive curriculum updates, including the removal of antisemitic and unbalanced material from a Junior High School textbook, reflecting a commitment toward fairness and accuracy. However, the study also identifies areas for further development. Antisemitism itself is not directly addressed, and prewar Greek Jewish life, Zionism, and the establishment of Israel receive little attention. Expanding on these themes would further strengthen the Greek curriculu
Abstract: This project seeks to gain an understanding of what spirituality means from a Jewish perspective and how it can be incorporated into the educational provision of Jewish schools in the UK. The literature review explores the relationship between spirituality and religion in general. Two approaches to spirituality are identified, one which promotes the experiential and the other which encourages critical realism. It is suggested that relational consciousness could be used as an educational model to harmonise the two approaches. Sources within Jewish literature are then explored, uncovering similar approaches and concluding with the description of a Jewish model for spiritual learning. The merit of a qualitative study is justified as best suited to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of Jewish studies teachers towards Jewish spiritual education. Using semi-structured interviews, a purposive sample of nine Jewish studies primary school teachers are asked what spirituality means to them, how they attempt to incorporate it into their religious studies lessons and what the impact of teaching spiritually on their students is. The responses are analysed using the inductive approach of IPA to reveal four overarching themes. Three themes frame spiritual education as the development of relationships within pupils, between themselves and others, and themselves and God. The fourth category focuses on the pedagogy deployed by the teachers and the challenges they face in delivering spiritual education. The research highlights two approaches to spiritual education, with one group of teachers preferring an extrinsic approach, imbuing their lessons with meaning and purpose. The other group view spirituality as an intrinsic quality that when nurtured, brings to the fore creativity and individuality. The centrality of a philosophy of God’s immanence as a foundation for spiritual education is emphasised and a model which promotes dialogue, relationships and community is presented as one that could be implemented to deliver Jewish spiritual education.
Abstract: Swedish textbooks take a respectful and structured approach to complex historical subjects, including Jewish identity and the Holocaust, according to IMPACT-se’s Swedish textbook review. The study finds that Swedish textbooks generally align with curriculum guidelines and present Jews in a historically, demographically, and religiously neutral way. The Holocaust is comprehensively covered, with clear recognition of Jewish victimhood and historical events. Judaism is treated on equal footing with other world religions, and Jewish history and culture are described in detail. Stereotypical or prejudicial depictions are avoided.
However, the report also includes recommendations to further improve the curriculum. These include a critical refutation of antisemitic stereotypes and a full exploration of the reasons behind historical and modern antisemitism. Similarly, while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is included with the intent of balance, it is frequently oversimplified, and consequently greater explanation of ideological perspectives and clarity around key terms is recommended.
Abstract: IMPACT‑se’s France Textbook Review—part of our eight‑country Europe research program—examines how Jews, Judaism, Israel and antisemitism are portrayed across the national history curriculum (Grades 4–9) and leading high school textbooks (Grades 10–12), measuring alignment with UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance.
While the report finds solid content on Jewish-related themes including antisemitism, the Holocaust and Israel, it also highlights gaps that obscure the fuller story of Jewish life. In particular, there is room for expansion on Jewish contributions to French society, Napoleon’s Jewish emancipation and Vichy collaboration during the Holocaust. Due to France’s strict separation of state and religion, Jewish content is included only in historical and civic contexts.
France hosts Europe’s largest Jewish community (about 446,000 people), but antisemitic incidents have surged—from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023—and high‑profile attacks such as the 2012 Toulouse school shooting and the 2015 Hypercacher supermarket massacre underscore the importance of accurate education.
Abstract: At the time of writing, one consequence of Israel’s response to the massacre that took place in Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023 is an unprecedented surge in global antisemitism. This massacre was the largest mass murder of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust; its scale, brutality and sadism have led to comparisons with the Holocaust, and to more and deeper sensitivities and controversies in Holocaust Education. In an attempt to address this, the proposed chapter will discuss the relationship between Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Education, and its relevance to Religious Education (RE) in schools.
Holocaust Education comprises learning about and from the Holocaust (Cowan and Maitles, Understanding and teaching Holocaust education. Sage, 2017). The former focuses on the historical narrative; the latter focuses on moral issues related to active citizenship. Research findings in England (Foster, Pettigrew and Pearce et al., What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools. Centre for Holocaust Education, UCL Institute of Education, 2016, p. 1) were that 68% of students (n = 7952 students) were “unaware of what ‘antisemitism’ meant”. Similarly, during a group interview, following their return from a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau organised by the Archdiocese of Glasgow, Scotland, each of the four students indicated that they did not understand the term “antisemitism” (Cowan & Maitles, 2017, p. 139). Further, Short’s discussion of the failings of learning from the Holocaust included the lack of reference to “the key role played by Christian antisemitism in preparing the groundwork for the Holocaust” (Short, Learning from genocide? A study in the failure of Holocaust education. Intercultural Education, 16(4), 367-380, 2005; Failing to learn from the Holocaust. In As the Witnesses Fall Silent: 21st Century Holocaust Education in Curriculum, Policy and Practice (pp. 455–468), 2015). Cowan and Maitles (2017, p. 56) further assert that historical antisemitism contributes to understanding present-day antisemitism.
Abstract: Faith schools remain a topic of debate in contemporary Britain. In 2017, faith schools accounted for 33.7% of state-funded mainstream schools. Faith schools differ from other state-funded mainstream schools in many ways. For example, they have the ability to control the content taught in their Religious Education and Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) syllabuses and have control over their admissions arrangements. This project explores the impact Jewish schools can have on one’s adult beliefs, through a small-scale study. This study analyses online questionnaire responses from 25 participants aged 19-27. All participants in this sample attended the same Jewish secondary school in London, referred to as ‘School A’. The responses show that faith schools can have a significant effect on one’s adult beliefs, due to the ways in which they teach pupils about different religions, political ideologies, and sexuality. This was found to be mainly due to the perceived exclusion of other religious beliefs and opinions. Despite this, most of the participants still felt able to express themselves and their beliefs. Moreover, this study’s participants felt that their adult beliefs were more significantly impacted by their family and community, rather than by their school. The study’s findings highlight a need to improve the inclusivity of SRE teaching in Jewish schools. This project recommends that further research is conducted on the impact of attending a Jewish secondary school on an individual’s beliefs later in life, and whether this is also representative of all UK faith schools.
Abstract: In Bezug auf die christlich-jüdischen Beziehungen wurde eine neue Ära mit der Kon-zilserklärung Nostra aetate des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils eröffnet. Seither vertieft die katholische Kirche das Bewusstsein ihrer Verwurzelung im biblischen Judentum und entdeckt ihre bestehenden Bande: Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede mit dem heutigen und ununterbrochen lebendigen Judentum. Dies geschieht im Rahmen des christlich-jüdischen Dialogs, dessen Aktivität viele Früchte getragen hat. U.a. entstan-den zahlreiche kirchliche Dokumente und päpstliche Botschaften, die anlässlich ver-schiedener Treffen mit Juden ausgesprochen wurden, besonders zur Zeit Johannes Pauls II. Darüber hinaus engagierten sich für den Lernprozeß Christen Juden viele Wissen-schaftler und verschiedene Institutionen, denen dieses Thema bedeutend erschien. Die katholische Kirche betonte und forderte gleichzeitig dazu auf, dass das Thema Ju-dentum seinen angemessenen Platz im Religionsunterricht finden solle. Österreich er-reichte dieses Ziel, weil bezüglich des Judentums in den österreichischen Religionsun-terricht schon länger wissenschaftliche Forschungsergebnisse eingeflossen sind. Polen hat es jedoch noch nicht erreicht. Deswegen kann ein Vergleich des Religionsunterrich-tes in Österreich und in Polen ein fruchtbares Ergebnis bringen. Im ersten Kapitel wird die Entwicklung des christlich-jüdischen Dialogs auf der Ebene der Weltkirche, der polnischen und österreichischen Kirche beschrieben und gleichzei-tig gezeigt, was von kirchlicher Seite bisher in Bezug auf den Religionsunterricht in Hinsicht auf das Judentum unternommen worden ist. Dann, gestützt auf die Lehre Jo-hannes Pauls II., wird eine pastorale Reflexion bezüglich des Judentums im Religions-unterricht durchgeführt. Zwei Prioritäten werden erkennbar: das Kennenlernen und die Reinigung des Gedächtnisses. Die erste, das Kennenlernen der Verwurzelung der Kir-che im biblischen Judentum und des heutigen Judentums, ist mit dem Religionsunter-richt sehr eng verbunden. Die zweite, die Reinigung des Gedächtnisses, nimmt hinge-gen großen Einfluss auf die Denkweise und Prägung der Überzeugungen des Menschen, was sich auch im Religionsunterricht widerspiegelt. Sie hängt mit der Geschichte zu-sammen, die aus christlicher und jüdischer Sicht sehr oft unterschiedlich dargestellt wird. Deswegen behandelt diese Dissertation nur die erste Priorität, das Kennenlernen des Judentums, im österreichischen und polnischen Religionsunterricht. Der zweiten sollte eine andere Arbeit gewidmet werden, worin die Geschichte Polens vielleicht von einer christlich-jüdischen Kommission neu zu erarbeiten wäre. Im zweiten Kapitel befinden sich die Kategorien für die Analyse der Lehrbücher und Lehrpläne für den Religionsunterricht. Zuerst werden sie aus Peter Fiedlers Buch „Das Judentum im katholischen Religionsunterricht. Analysen, Perspektiven, Bewertungen― übernommen und dann zu den fünf Dimensionen – 1. Gemeinsames geistiges Erbe; 2. Jüdische Wurzeln; 3. Bestehende Unterschiede zwischen Christen und Juden; 4. Das lebendige Judentum und 5. Gemeinsame Aufgaben – zugeordnet. Danach, aufgrund der kirchlichen Dokumente und theologischen Bearbeitungen, werden sie alle beschrieben. Gleichzeitig muss betont werden, dass diese zugeordneten und beschriebenen Bewer-tungskategorien nicht nur einen Bezugspunkt für die Analyse der Religionsbücher, son-dern auch eine Grundlage des Unterrichts über das Judentum für ReligionslehrerInnen bilden. Das dritte Kapitel ist der Analyse der derzeit geltenden Lehrbücher (2 österreichischen Serien – 24 Bücher und 2 polnischen Serien – 24 Bücher) und Lehrpläne von der ersten Klasse Volksschule bis zur Reifeprüfung für den Religionsunterricht in Österreich und Polen gewidmet. Die Analyse besteht aus drei Phasen. In der ersten Phase wird eine quantitative Analyse durchgeführt. Dabei handelt es sich darum, dass alle Seiten der Religionsbücher jeder Serie, auf denen das Judentum vorkommt, gezählt und mit allen Seiten der Religionsbücher jeder entsprechenden Serie verglichen werden, um den Pro-zentsatz zu ermitteln. In der zweiten und der dritten Phase erfolgt die qualitative Analy-se. Zuerst werden alle Seiten, auf denen das Judentum betrachtet wird, in „explizit― und „implizit― eingeteilt. Dann werden sie als „zureichend― oder „unzureichend― bewertet. Jene letzte Unterscheidung betrifft nur die polnischen Religionsbücher. Das vierte Kapitel enthält Vorschläge für den polnischen Religionsunterricht, die zwei Gruppen zugeordnet werden. Die erste Gruppe betrifft jene Stellen, die als „unzurei-chend― erkannt werden. Diesen werden die notwendigen Informationen hinzugefügt, um in den aktuell geltenden Religionsbüchern verschiedene zwischen dem Christentum und Judentum bestehende Bande zu zeigen. Die zweite Gruppe besteht aus verschiedenen Themeneinheiten, die die Verwurzelung des Christentums im biblischen Judentum und das heutige Judentum ausführlich darstellen. Zuerst werden alle Themeneinheiten in Anknüpfung an den Tag des Judentums so vorgeschlagen, dass in der 12-jährigen Schulausbildung die gesamte Information zum Thema Judentum und Verwurzelung des Christentums im Judentum gegeben wird. Dann werden Themeneinheiten behandelt, die mit verschiedenen Anlässen wie z.B. die Erinnerung an den heiligen Paulus oder an die heilige Teresia Benedicta vom Kreuz sowie mit kirchlichen Festen verbunden sind.
Abstract: The increasing diversity of societies is one of the most important educational issues of the globalised era. However, while some attention has been paid to the schooling experiences of racial, ethnic and immigrant minorities in Western societies, little research has been conducted with religious adolescents.
This thesis explores the complexities of religious adolescents’ experiences of English secondary schools. As an exploratory study, I employed an emergent research design carrying out loosely-structured, group and single interviews at eleven places of worship to investigate the schooling experiences of 99 adolescent Christians, Jews and Muslims. In order to interpret their reported experiences, I applied a theoretical model based on the Students’ Multiple World Framework in conjunction with concepts of religious identity negotiation and construction.
The interview data show how Christians, Jews and Muslims negotiate their religious identities in the context of the numerous challenges presented by secondary schools in a religiously plural and largely secular society. In classroom worlds participants perceived their religious traditions to be distorted, inaccurately or unfairly represented. In peer worlds participants reported that they could experience prejudice, and criticism of their beliefs. Christians, Jews and Muslims reported two principal management strategies in the face of these challenges, either: declaring their religious identity openly, or by masking it in public.
The findings of this study are highly relevant to debates about the role of religion in education, including those concerning faith and Church schools and the nature and purpose of the curriculum subject Religious Education.
