Where does God live?

In an interview conducted by Stefan Orth for the August number of Herder Korrespondenz, FRIEDRICH SCHWEITZER , since 1995 Professor of Practical Theology/Pedagogy of Religion at the faculty of evangelical theology of the University of Tübingen and chairman of the educational council of the EKD-German Evangelical Church, describes the current situation of religious education in Germany and points out the role of the Christian Churches in this field. Irene Vogt summarises the interview below. CHILDREN’S QUESTIONS. “Education is a process that lasts throughout life” and, as studies on the brain have shown, already in the first years of life the learning process is rapid and extremely intensive. “It is therefore a logical consequence – in Schweitzer’s judgement – that educational plans for nursery schools should have been developed for the first time in Germany, based on the accord reached at the conference of Ministers of Education of the Länder in 2004 in which religion and ethical values were given their rightful place. Even if what was agreed at the conference is only a basic understanding, most of the Länder make reference to religion in the aforementioned plans and this goes for all nursery schools, irrespective of what institutions – whether state, lay or ecclesiastical – run them. “Children – emphasises Schweitzer – are receptive to experiences from the very beginning of their life, including the prenatal phase”. So it follows that “religious development too begins in earliest childhood”. “It’s important to foster the participation of children in rituals, for example prayers” and to encourage their reading of the Bible. Towards the age of four begins the period in which children pose questions, and the questions may be quite specific also in the religious field (Where does God live? What does God do when we are sleeping?). Adults must reply to these questions: “Children – explains Schweitzer – want to hear from adults what ideas they have and to ascertain whether their own notions are really so wrong”. THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS. “Often religion is seen simply as a question of values and norms”, but “from the Christian point of view it is faith and the question of truth that must always take first place. Values are born from faith and therefore only take second place”. To the question what realistically can be expected from nursery school teachers today, Schweizer underlines the fact that girls trained in institutions run by the Christian Churches are better prepared to respond to the questions posed by children than those trained in secular teacher training colleges, but, if they find themselves having to teach children of different religions, their preparation too is lacking. The State, in spite of the well-known and varied problems of integration, unfortunately continues not to tackle the issue of the teaching of religion. In some Länder provision is made for better training, at the baccalaureate level, at least for the headmistresses of nursery schools; but even here there’s a need to give greater emphasis to intercultural education, including obviously the religious aspect. KNOWING EACH OTHER. “It’s important – says Schweitzer – that children in nursery schools should meet representatives of different religions” and it would be desirable if teaching staff in Germany were to include representatives at least of the Catholic and Evangelical Churches and of Islam. “In some nursery schools attempts have been made to celebrate all the main religious festivities during the year, but we Christians don’t succeed in participating with any enthusiasm in the [Muslim] feast of sugar, just as vice versa Muslims cannot participate with any conviction in Easter or Christmas. But that all children in Germany today should be familiar with the religious festivities that are celebrated here and their significance is an ever more important task of general education for social integration”. The hitherto widespread pedagogical tradition of Christian stamp was abandoned in Germany in 1968, and it is only now in the educational world that “people are beginning to perceive religion anew as a challenge of the present time”. NO TO DELEGATION. Often parents, due to lack of interest or incapacity, are happy to delegate religious education – which in general they understand as education in good values – to nursery schools and, even if recently the State is intervening in the attempt to satisfy the growing demand for places in nursery schools, “a growth of involvement of the State in this field is undesirable”. “Dedication to children is one of the peculiar tasks of the Church. Already in the Gospel of Mark it is affirmed: service to the child is service to God”. It is intrinsic to a democratic society that the State “should not wish to do everything alone; the institutions supported by the Church must however be up to the task”. Lastly, insists Schweitzer, “it should be obvious that with children one should visit not just the bakery or the post office, but also churches, mosques and, if possible, synagogues”.