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The school curriculum subject of Religious Education (RE) is one of the main forms by which religion has a presence in public education today. This chapter aims to show that the professionalization of teachers of RE is a prerequisite for the educational and political legitimacy of teaching RE in public schools. It begins with a theoretical exploration of the concepts of legitimacy and professionalization, and the links between them. This includes distinguishing between professionality and professionalization, and individual and collective professionalization. It then investigates these linkages empirically by tracing the trajectories of the professionalization of teachers of RE in Germany and England in the second half of the twentieth century. These processes of collective professionalization are operationalized and explored historically on three levels: (i) initial and continuing professional development through teacher education; (ii) professional knowledge as evident, for example, in the discourses of academic RE and in textbooks for teacher education; and (iii) professional self-organization and professional politics, including legal regulations and the role of the Churches. The chapter identifies the similarities and differences between these developments from an international comparative perspective, recognizing changes in conceptions of legitimacy and what it means to be a professionalized teacher of RE.

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The Professionalization of Teachers of Religious Education as a Basis for the Legitimacy of Teaching Religious Education in Public Schools in Germany and England

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Rob Freathy,
  • Friedrich Schweitzer,
  • Henrik Simojoki,
  • Stephen G. Parker

摘要

The school curriculum subject of Religious Education (RE) is one of the main forms by which religion has a presence in public education today. This chapter aims to show that the professionalization of teachers of RE is a prerequisite for the educational and political legitimacy of teaching RE in public schools. It begins with a theoretical exploration of the concepts of legitimacy and professionalization, and the links between them. This includes distinguishing between professionality and professionalization, and individual and collective professionalization. It then investigates these linkages empirically by tracing the trajectories of the professionalization of teachers of RE in Germany and England in the second half of the twentieth century. These processes of collective professionalization are operationalized and explored historically on three levels: (i) initial and continuing professional development through teacher education; (ii) professional knowledge as evident, for example, in the discourses of academic RE and in textbooks for teacher education; and (iii) professional self-organization and professional politics, including legal regulations and the role of the Churches. The chapter identifies the similarities and differences between these developments from an international comparative perspective, recognizing changes in conceptions of legitimacy and what it means to be a professionalized teacher of RE.