This journal of Education about Religions and Beliefs aims to be a useful resource to policy-makers, academics, teachers and the interested public for discussions and evaluations on teaching about religions and beliefs. In its initial phase, we will focus on teaching about religions and beliefs at the school stage. The major area of interest to this journal is not so much learning from/about/into one religion or belief but more about learning about multiple religions and beliefs.
The journal will feature the following kind of contents:
- Scholarly articles may include rationales for teaching about religions and belief, theoretical articles, and empirical assessments in the area of learning about religions and beliefs. Of particular interest to the journal will be comparative assessments of education about religions and beliefs across countries or cultures united by common themes. Articles may discuss education about multiple religions, the approaches of teaching about religions through subjects like history or geography, and the potential and pitfalls of teaching about religions in multireligious societies. Articles on values education, ethics education, and civic education would also be welcome. All articles will be subject to peer review.
- Short Notes will be shorter articles that aim to provide useful information on the state of the field. For instance, they provide the community with an opportunity to map the state of education about religions in the world. These kinds of short notes will answer the following six questions to facilitate a comparative mapping:
- Are there national and/or local guidelines on "education about religions" at the elementary and secondary level in a country?
- What are the subjects/disciplines within a country that teach about religions and beliefs?
- Who teaches about religions within the country- ministers/clergymen or state/private teachers?
- Do syllabi in the country feature mainly one religion or other religions?
- Is education about religions compulsory or optional in the country?
- Are textbooks and other educational resources in the area of education about religions developed by academic experts only, or with the input of religious communities/experts also in the country?
In addition, this section will also feature reports from conferences, and excerpts from speeches related to education about religions and beliefs delivered by dignitaries.
- Reviews of Books: We welcome reviews of books, resources, and other material relevant to teaching about religions and beliefs. Reviews are subject to editing.
- Letters to the Editor may comment on articles published in the journal or other relevant matters. Letters to the editor are subject to editing.
All articles are subject to review by a relevant UNAOC Staffer and at least two other anonymous referees from the editorial board or a panel of international scholars with linguistic and subject competency in the area of the article.