Professionalization of Islamic Religious Education Teachers

Islamic religious education was introduced across Austria in the 1982/83 school year. However, necessary prerequisites for high-quality Islamic religious education, such as the establishment of training and further education institutions for teacher training or the development of teaching materials, were initially overlooked. Consequently, due to the resulting shortage of qualified teachers, individuals from various disciplines were recruited, irrespective of their professional and religious pedagogical qualifications. In 1998, the Islamic Religious Pedagogical Academy (IRPA) was founded as the first training institution for Islamic religious education teachers. This establishment was followed by a masterʼs program at the University of Vienna in 2008, and, in the academic year 2013/14, a bachelorʼs program at the University of Innsbruck. Current practices reveal that in Islamic religious education (as is the case in many other subjects), when there is a demand, individuals without the requisite professional qualifications are still employed, including students yet to graduate (Polaschek, 2022). Given this background, Islamic religious education and its teachers faced both media and academic scrutiny. Much of these debates specifically revolved around the professional qualifications of the teachers and their recruitment (Khorchide, 2009a, b), as well as the teaching resources and textbooks utilized in Islamic religious education. The high number of opt-outs from Islamic religious education also garnered some attention (Tuna, 2016). A pivotal moment for Islamic religious education and its teachers was the publication of Khorchideʼs study in 2009, along with the subsequent public reactions. In response, several measures were formulated and executed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IRCA; German: IGGÖ), which included revisions to the curricula and textbooks (Khorchide, 2009a). Considering this context, this article explores the significance of performative competence demonstration for the professionalization of Islamic religious education teachers. The discussion is grounded in evidence from a qualitative study conducted as part of the project titled Islamic Religious Educators on the Path to Professionalization (Tuna, 2019). The first section addresses the framework conditions of Islamic religious education in Austria. The second section elucidates the concept of professionalization that underpins the article. The study design is introduced in the third section. In the fourth section, the findings are detailed. Finally, the article wraps up with a comprehensive discussion of the results in the fifth section.