The Future of Education

In this work we address three interrelated issues: immigration, religious pluralism and education system. In the last forty years, the religious field in Spain, in parallel with other social spheres, has been transforming notably. Religious pluralism has become more visible, largely linked to the migratory phenomenon. So that Catholicism stopped being the only reference in the religious field. Islam and Pentecostal evangelism are the religious forms that stand out the most in the Spanish context. However, doubtless, Islam is the great counterpoint in the religious diversity [1]. In the school institution context, we know that the relations between religion and school have been conflictive for at least a century, especially regarding the religion presence in this type of education [2]. With regard to the management of the teaching of religions, in Europe there are two predominant models. The first is the multiconfessional (that is the case of Spain), according to which the school offers the teaching of several religions whose program and teaching staff depends on the religious authorities. The second is the cultural one, according to which the teaching of religion is integrated as another area under the direction and supervision of educational authorities [3]. The teaching of religion has been not only the heart of an intense political and social debate, but has also appeared in "religious" symbols and costumes, festivities, and adaptation of menus. This work addresses how the religious field has been built, as well as the presence and absence of religious diversity in the education system. About the latter, their tensions have been grouped by Belderrain (2003) into structural or political, institutional, of the actors and of the content [4]. We conclude by highlighting that, in response to the recognition of diversity, we are forced to rethink the management of religions in the Spanish education system. Likewise, we must develop strategies that contribute to eliminating the structural conditions and situations that allow the domination of some cultures over others. Such domination is proved by the invisibility and curricular injustice suffered by religious minorities in the education system [5].

Keywords: Religion, Diversity, Immigration and Education.

References:
[1] Briones, R. (2018). Religiones e inmigración en la España actual. Análisis de los cambios en el campo religioso. Gazeta de Antropología, 34 (2), s.p.
[2] Esteban, C. (2010). Protagonistas de la clase de religión. Aproximación sociológica. Madrid: Fundación SM.
[3] García, C. (2015). Enseñanzas de la religión en Europa. Iglesia Viva, nº 261, enero-marzo, pp. 117-126.
[4] Belderrain (2003). Una lectura de las tendencias mundiales desde las sociedades multiculturales latinoamericanas. Perspectivas. Dossier, nº 126, s.p.
[5] Martínez, J. C., Sácristán, J. G., Gutiérrez Pérez, F., Simón, M., & Torres, J. (2003). Ciudadanía, poder y educación, Vol. 188. Barcelona: Graó.