Religious Education in Belgie: Belgium
RE in the Flemish education system
1. The complexity of the Flemish education system
Most schools in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) belong to one of the three main groups of education authorities:
Each education authority (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Islamic) has its own Advisory and Support Service which revises the curricula, organises in-service training for teachers and supports the schools.
The agreement between religious and humanistic authorities on the one side and the department of education on the other side specifies that the inspectors of religious and moral studies are chosen by the confessional and non -confessional authorities and that they will be added to the official inspector staff. Therefore they have the right to evaluate the practice of the teacher in function of a long term permission and guarantee.
2. The implementation of the new curriculum
Since the beginning of the new schoolyear in September 2005 the curriculum for Roman Catholic Religion (rooms – katholieke godsdienst) is compulsory in Catholic, Community and Official schools. The curriculum made by a team of teachers, inspectors, lecturers of teacher training colleges and the faculty of religious studies of the Catholic University of Louvain received the bless of the council of bishops of Belgium after four years work. We wrote 9.9.1999.
The subject for the diary of the teacher is no longer ‘catechese’ but ‘godsdienst’. This changing of a concept has to do with the diversity of the target groups in the class. ‘Catechese’ is also more linked with the church activities to give more ‘spiritual food’ to the believers. For some children with a Christian tradition the approach can be a surplus to or a support for their personal belief.
3. The framework for religion at school
At the moment there are 3 hours of 50 minutes in primary catholic schools and 2 hours of 50 minutes in community and official schools. Since 2003 the Minister of Education has decided that it is no longer allowed that the regular teacher of the class gives the religion course. Only a person with a special certificate in teaching religion may teach religion. The problem is that the inspection has difficulties to find qualified teachers and that some of them have several schools to realise a full time job. Against this ministerial decision there was no strong protest from the ‘ confessional authorities’ however.
4. The topics of the curriculum (1999)
The new curriculum focuses on communication and participation. The in- service course for teachers promotes new communication media (ICT) and how to use art and story books for children in combination with bibliodrama or philosophy for children.
There are three stages in primary education based on key words: security (geborgenheid),
solidarity or connection (verbondenheid) and growing in strength ( groeien in kracht) . Even the relationship between the pupils is divided into three steps:
More than ever you find the component ‘diversity’ linked with world religion in every textbook. We find not only facts, terms but also relations and in some books the ‘ inside perspective’ ( versus outside perspective) so that people ( and in some cases children) of the own confession introduce the users of the book in their own tradition.
5. The new conditions of using textbooks
Individual school directors and in some cases school communities (sometimes contained more than 10 schools) must implement this curriculum by choosing a textbook for their school or for their region. Three - in the beginning four- publishers brought primary teachers and academic staff together to work out a series of handbooks. At that point there was no intervention of the catholic authorities. The only condition to use a new textbook was that the edition contains a label after an evaluation of two commissions. One commission was responsible for the content conforming the catholic doctrine and the another looked for the validity and the innovation of the methodology. The reason for the installation of these two commissions was an incident in the middle of the nineties where a politician discovered that in one handbook a series of pictures about the relation of parenthood to the development of sexuality was no longer possible in times of sexual abuse (post –Dutroux period) and she asked the archbishop to take a decision .
The difference between primary and secondary is that teachers allow themselves to make their own course book based on the curriculum, their target group and the local context. This a real challenge!
6. A new initiative by the Legal Authorities (2013)
The Legal Authorities refer to the official religious and non -confessional bodies that are in contact with the Flemish Ministry of Education. During the last two years they gathered in several meetings to develop a document that has been recognised by the Flemish Government. The inspectors and experts illustrated the (interreligious) dialogue and the awareness of plurality in schools by means of examples. It is the first step in the cooperation between the several school networks and the Legal Authorities. The title of the document contains the term ‘interlevensbeschouwelijke competenties’. The word “interreligious” cannot be used due to the fact that the non – confessional moral is one of the partners in this alliance. 24 competences were selected and covered knowledge, skills and attitudes. They can be realised in school projects or study trips. For publisher houses it was an occasion to start with a series of new textbooks and to integrate these competences. The curriculum of 1999 is supposed to be maintained for at least a couple of years.
An Adapted curriculum for RE (Secondary education) in Flanders (BE)
From September 2019 the adapted curriculum for Roman Catholic Religion (rooms – katholieke godsdienst) will be compulsory in Catholic, community and official schools. The curriculum made by a team of teachers, inspectors, lecturers of teacher training colleges and the faculty of Religious Studies of the Catholic University of Louvain received the bless of the council of bishops after several years of intensive work. This adaptation was necessary after 20 years. In 1999 a fundamantal text (visietekst) about catholic RE was published by the bishops and was the starting point of the former curriculum. The adapted curriculum is also based on a memorandum accepted by the Flemish bishops council and published in an online brochure.
https://www.kerknet.be/sites/default/files/rkgodsdienst_tekst.pdf
Central concept in the new memorandum is the dialogue. The Roman Catholic course, based on Christian inspiration and the Catholic tradition, wants to train pupils to all forms of dialogue that have to do with their growth into an adult personality. Through this approach, RE contributes to the formation of responsible and committed citizens and that makes RE socially relevant.
The subject for the teacher’s diary is no longer ‘catechese’ but ‘godsdienst’. This changing of a concept has to do with the diversity of the target groups in the class. ‘Catechese’ is also more linked with the church activities to give more ‘spiritual food’ to the believers. For some pupils with a Christian tradition the approach can be a surplus to or a support for their personal belief.
Promoting religious literacy
The updating of the curriculum Roman Catholic religion for secondary education is a response to the call of the bishops to strengthen the religious literacy of pupils, linked with the growth process they are going through.
The course is not taught from a so-called (because non-existent) "neutral" world view, but explicitly involves the biblical-Christian tradition in the conversation. This is not without obligation or exchangeable. A systematic representation of this helps young people to understand what tradition says about themselves, the world in which they live and the transcendent so that they can enter into a dialogue with that rich tradition and gradually make a choice themselves.
The key-concepts: ingredients and fields
A remark in advance: it’s quite to translate the specific key concepts from Dutch into English. To this end, the updated ingredients and issue-orientated objectives are included per fields (‘terreinen’) in a well-arranged template, which enhances clarity and workability. The list of ingredients has since been harmonized and is the same for all levels of education. The ingredients related to pluralism and identities were presented to experts with the request to see which ingredients are still missing.
The findings of the above groups were presented to the working groups of teachers of RE in the school communities all over Flanders. The inspectors were responsible for these sessions (February 2019 – June 2019). The adapted curriculum and the digital tool were launched during a seminar at the Catholic University of Leuven and was visualized by a clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofHsM-N-uu0
In the meantime, the Flemish Parliament accepted the final outcome targets of the first degree of secondary school. These official final targets (‘eindtermen’) are the ultimate test of the RE ingredients and are based on Bloom's revised taxonomy. Consultation by the Educational Inspectors made clear that schools can make use of the contribution of the new curriculum.
An integrated approach to stimulate the dialogue.
Consultation with the Catholic Council (Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen) about the new curriculum concept for all subjects ensures that religion is structurally embedded in a more integrated approach and is available in the digital tool. In this context, cross connections have already been made with Social education (Mavo and "People and Society").
The result of the update of the curriculum is a powerful and clear framework that takes the student's identity, the context and the plurality and the Christian and Catholic tradition seriously and brings them into an authentic dialogue.
A small detail. The announcement of the adapted curriculum was an issue for our public TV channel.
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/01/14/het-vernieuwde-leerplan-rooms-katholieke-godsdienst-de-10-gebo/
Official tools for the teachers: the annual progress plan and the year grid
The annual progress plan indicates to what extent the goals are being achieved. To give the teachers some perspective on the path to be followed, there is a second document. In the year grid (jaarraster), a teacher can indicate which series of lessons, ingredients, multimedia, biblical stories, and specific fields (‘terreinen’) will be coped with.
The teachers have their year grid ready by the end of September. It is the task of the RE group in a specific school to coordinate this with each other in order to avoid overlapping. The teacher and his learning group follow a course based on the annual grid. Regular evaluations and questioning of the students' questions about the topics is highly recommended.
There is a digital tool for making an annual progress plan. Such a plan is a kind of rapportage and can be controlled by the inspector of RE. A registration is necessary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofHsM-N-uu0
Under the pressure of current events (from society - from the classroom - from the school - from the Church), a course can be changed each time on condition that the field (terrein) and the ingredients are taken into account by the RE teacher. So a new RE menu can always be served. Bon appetit!
1. The complexity of the Flemish education system
Most schools in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) belong to one of the three main groups of education authorities:
- Private or voluntary schools (vrij onderwijs) which can be denominational or non-denominational; the education authorities are the local bishop, congregations or private organisations (Steiner schools, Freinet or Montesorri –movement); most of these are Catholic schools: ± 70 % of the pupils.
- Official schools, which can be denominational or non-denominational; the education authorities are provinces or cities: ± 15 % of the pupils
- Flemish Community schools (gemeenschapsonderwijs), multi-denominational and non-selective; the education authority is called ARGO: ± 15 % of the pupils.
Each education authority (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Islamic) has its own Advisory and Support Service which revises the curricula, organises in-service training for teachers and supports the schools.
The agreement between religious and humanistic authorities on the one side and the department of education on the other side specifies that the inspectors of religious and moral studies are chosen by the confessional and non -confessional authorities and that they will be added to the official inspector staff. Therefore they have the right to evaluate the practice of the teacher in function of a long term permission and guarantee.
2. The implementation of the new curriculum
Since the beginning of the new schoolyear in September 2005 the curriculum for Roman Catholic Religion (rooms – katholieke godsdienst) is compulsory in Catholic, Community and Official schools. The curriculum made by a team of teachers, inspectors, lecturers of teacher training colleges and the faculty of religious studies of the Catholic University of Louvain received the bless of the council of bishops of Belgium after four years work. We wrote 9.9.1999.
The subject for the diary of the teacher is no longer ‘catechese’ but ‘godsdienst’. This changing of a concept has to do with the diversity of the target groups in the class. ‘Catechese’ is also more linked with the church activities to give more ‘spiritual food’ to the believers. For some children with a Christian tradition the approach can be a surplus to or a support for their personal belief.
3. The framework for religion at school
At the moment there are 3 hours of 50 minutes in primary catholic schools and 2 hours of 50 minutes in community and official schools. Since 2003 the Minister of Education has decided that it is no longer allowed that the regular teacher of the class gives the religion course. Only a person with a special certificate in teaching religion may teach religion. The problem is that the inspection has difficulties to find qualified teachers and that some of them have several schools to realise a full time job. Against this ministerial decision there was no strong protest from the ‘ confessional authorities’ however.
4. The topics of the curriculum (1999)
The new curriculum focuses on communication and participation. The in- service course for teachers promotes new communication media (ICT) and how to use art and story books for children in combination with bibliodrama or philosophy for children.
There are three stages in primary education based on key words: security (geborgenheid),
solidarity or connection (verbondenheid) and growing in strength ( groeien in kracht) . Even the relationship between the pupils is divided into three steps:
- I – We (first stage 6-8 years): the formation of a class
- I – You ( 2nd stage 8 – 10 years): the short term- relations with friendship and conflicts
- I – They ( 3rd stage 10- 12 years): the long term- relations with attention to the welfare of the Third and Fourth World.
- Jesus ( 1st stage)
- Joseph and Moses ( 2nd stage )
- Elijah and Saint Paul (3rd stage).
More than ever you find the component ‘diversity’ linked with world religion in every textbook. We find not only facts, terms but also relations and in some books the ‘ inside perspective’ ( versus outside perspective) so that people ( and in some cases children) of the own confession introduce the users of the book in their own tradition.
5. The new conditions of using textbooks
Individual school directors and in some cases school communities (sometimes contained more than 10 schools) must implement this curriculum by choosing a textbook for their school or for their region. Three - in the beginning four- publishers brought primary teachers and academic staff together to work out a series of handbooks. At that point there was no intervention of the catholic authorities. The only condition to use a new textbook was that the edition contains a label after an evaluation of two commissions. One commission was responsible for the content conforming the catholic doctrine and the another looked for the validity and the innovation of the methodology. The reason for the installation of these two commissions was an incident in the middle of the nineties where a politician discovered that in one handbook a series of pictures about the relation of parenthood to the development of sexuality was no longer possible in times of sexual abuse (post –Dutroux period) and she asked the archbishop to take a decision .
The difference between primary and secondary is that teachers allow themselves to make their own course book based on the curriculum, their target group and the local context. This a real challenge!
6. A new initiative by the Legal Authorities (2013)
The Legal Authorities refer to the official religious and non -confessional bodies that are in contact with the Flemish Ministry of Education. During the last two years they gathered in several meetings to develop a document that has been recognised by the Flemish Government. The inspectors and experts illustrated the (interreligious) dialogue and the awareness of plurality in schools by means of examples. It is the first step in the cooperation between the several school networks and the Legal Authorities. The title of the document contains the term ‘interlevensbeschouwelijke competenties’. The word “interreligious” cannot be used due to the fact that the non – confessional moral is one of the partners in this alliance. 24 competences were selected and covered knowledge, skills and attitudes. They can be realised in school projects or study trips. For publisher houses it was an occasion to start with a series of new textbooks and to integrate these competences. The curriculum of 1999 is supposed to be maintained for at least a couple of years.
An Adapted curriculum for RE (Secondary education) in Flanders (BE)
From September 2019 the adapted curriculum for Roman Catholic Religion (rooms – katholieke godsdienst) will be compulsory in Catholic, community and official schools. The curriculum made by a team of teachers, inspectors, lecturers of teacher training colleges and the faculty of Religious Studies of the Catholic University of Louvain received the bless of the council of bishops after several years of intensive work. This adaptation was necessary after 20 years. In 1999 a fundamantal text (visietekst) about catholic RE was published by the bishops and was the starting point of the former curriculum. The adapted curriculum is also based on a memorandum accepted by the Flemish bishops council and published in an online brochure.
https://www.kerknet.be/sites/default/files/rkgodsdienst_tekst.pdf
Central concept in the new memorandum is the dialogue. The Roman Catholic course, based on Christian inspiration and the Catholic tradition, wants to train pupils to all forms of dialogue that have to do with their growth into an adult personality. Through this approach, RE contributes to the formation of responsible and committed citizens and that makes RE socially relevant.
The subject for the teacher’s diary is no longer ‘catechese’ but ‘godsdienst’. This changing of a concept has to do with the diversity of the target groups in the class. ‘Catechese’ is also more linked with the church activities to give more ‘spiritual food’ to the believers. For some pupils with a Christian tradition the approach can be a surplus to or a support for their personal belief.
Promoting religious literacy
The updating of the curriculum Roman Catholic religion for secondary education is a response to the call of the bishops to strengthen the religious literacy of pupils, linked with the growth process they are going through.
The course is not taught from a so-called (because non-existent) "neutral" world view, but explicitly involves the biblical-Christian tradition in the conversation. This is not without obligation or exchangeable. A systematic representation of this helps young people to understand what tradition says about themselves, the world in which they live and the transcendent so that they can enter into a dialogue with that rich tradition and gradually make a choice themselves.
The key-concepts: ingredients and fields
A remark in advance: it’s quite to translate the specific key concepts from Dutch into English. To this end, the updated ingredients and issue-orientated objectives are included per fields (‘terreinen’) in a well-arranged template, which enhances clarity and workability. The list of ingredients has since been harmonized and is the same for all levels of education. The ingredients related to pluralism and identities were presented to experts with the request to see which ingredients are still missing.
The findings of the above groups were presented to the working groups of teachers of RE in the school communities all over Flanders. The inspectors were responsible for these sessions (February 2019 – June 2019). The adapted curriculum and the digital tool were launched during a seminar at the Catholic University of Leuven and was visualized by a clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofHsM-N-uu0
In the meantime, the Flemish Parliament accepted the final outcome targets of the first degree of secondary school. These official final targets (‘eindtermen’) are the ultimate test of the RE ingredients and are based on Bloom's revised taxonomy. Consultation by the Educational Inspectors made clear that schools can make use of the contribution of the new curriculum.
An integrated approach to stimulate the dialogue.
Consultation with the Catholic Council (Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen) about the new curriculum concept for all subjects ensures that religion is structurally embedded in a more integrated approach and is available in the digital tool. In this context, cross connections have already been made with Social education (Mavo and "People and Society").
The result of the update of the curriculum is a powerful and clear framework that takes the student's identity, the context and the plurality and the Christian and Catholic tradition seriously and brings them into an authentic dialogue.
A small detail. The announcement of the adapted curriculum was an issue for our public TV channel.
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/01/14/het-vernieuwde-leerplan-rooms-katholieke-godsdienst-de-10-gebo/
Official tools for the teachers: the annual progress plan and the year grid
The annual progress plan indicates to what extent the goals are being achieved. To give the teachers some perspective on the path to be followed, there is a second document. In the year grid (jaarraster), a teacher can indicate which series of lessons, ingredients, multimedia, biblical stories, and specific fields (‘terreinen’) will be coped with.
The teachers have their year grid ready by the end of September. It is the task of the RE group in a specific school to coordinate this with each other in order to avoid overlapping. The teacher and his learning group follow a course based on the annual grid. Regular evaluations and questioning of the students' questions about the topics is highly recommended.
There is a digital tool for making an annual progress plan. Such a plan is a kind of rapportage and can be controlled by the inspector of RE. A registration is necessary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofHsM-N-uu0
Under the pressure of current events (from society - from the classroom - from the school - from the Church), a course can be changed each time on condition that the field (terrein) and the ingredients are taken into account by the RE teacher. So a new RE menu can always be served. Bon appetit!
