Ruk asked:

Does religious education have the same philosophical basis as general education? I mean, is there
the philosophy of religious education apart from the philosophy of education (like Essentialism,
Progressivism, Perennialism, etc.)?

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I am not sure about the relevance or relation of the '—isms' here with regard to education. Education
is about the physical, emotional and intellectual upbringing of our children. With maturity one may
make a further effort to gain more expertise in some area or wisdom overall. "If religion is what helps
us experience connectedness between our own particular existence and the universal" (Anthony
Shafton), then religious education is education that takes up the stance of a particular religion or
variant of it. At the basis of this stance are core values that are held sacred and have proved to be (in
the eyes of the beholders at least) invaluable for a properly functioning adulthood.

General education is more theory driven than philosophically informed. Some religious
educationalists will attempt to deny or minimize the connection between education in general and
specific religious education. However, on the above common sense definitions, religious education
does have a basis in general education e.g. in learning the alphabet and to count. Religious
educationalists, however, would say that religious education adds something valuable, or even
invaluable, to that general education.

Matthew Del Nevo

www.sicetnon.com