The Role of Education in Individual and Sustainable Development
The Role of Education in Individual and Sustainable Development
This chapter discusses the importance of raising and educating children on the basis of a set of higher values that contribute to sustained human development. It begins with a description of basic educational outcomes in general and religious education in particular. It then explains the causes of the problems in the education systems, and ends by proposing possible solutions. The analyses focus on religious education curricula (Muslim and Christian) in eight Arab countries. The results show disparities both in terms of the importance given to religious education and the quality of their topics. The curricula emphasize historical facts, the inculcation of rules and prohibitions, and the carrying out of religious rituals, to the detriment of universal values such as tolerance and equality. No effort is made to deepen the understanding of religion by stimulating the higher mental faculties through critical thinking. The chapter ends with a call to establish a new model of education which takes into account the multi-dimensionality of personality and cultural diversity in order to prepare balanced individuals able to live together in an environment free from either threat to identity or any form of fanaticism and violence.
Keywords: human development, religious education, universal values, multi-dimensionality of personality, cultural diversity
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