Exploring University Students' Perceptions and Experiences of Religious Education in Multicultural Contexts
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Abstract
Religious education plays a key role in shaping students' values and beliefs, especially in multicultural societies where diverse religious traditions coexist. While much research has examined religious education in diverse environments, there is limited understanding of how students experience and interpret these teachings within their own cultural contexts. Specifically, how students’ personal and cultural backgrounds influence their understanding of religious education remains underexplored. In this study, we employed a phenomenological approach to explore how students perceive and make sense of religious education in multicultural settings. Through in-depth interviews with 15 university students from various religious and cultural backgrounds, we identified how their multicultural experiences influenced their religious understanding. The results revealed that students’ perceptions of religious education were shaped by their diverse cultural contexts, leading to more open-minded and tolerant views of other religions. Phenomenological analysis identified three key themes: (1) the negotiation of religious identity within culturally diverse environments, (2) the development of interreligious understanding through everyday interactions, and (3) the emergence of reflective and inclusive religious perspectives shaped by multicultural experiences. These themes illustrate how students actively reinterpret religious teachings in ways that promote mutual respect, empathy, and appreciation of diversity.This study highlights the importance of considering students' individual backgrounds in religious education and suggests that educational frameworks should be more inclusive of diverse perspectives. These findings contribute to our understanding of religious education in multicultural contexts and provide a foundation for future research on the role of culture in shaping students’ religious beliefs and values.
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