New Pathway to Adolescent Wellbeing: The Case for Online Special Religious Education in Public Schools

Special Religious Education (SRE) provides an opportunity for students of faith backgrounds to foster their religious identity and spiritual health. However, many students currently have no access to weekly onsite SRE. This research plans on introducing and evaluating a weekly online SRE intervention in public high schools for a minority cohort—Muslim SRE. The theory of practice architectures (TPA) frames the study. This chapter makes a case for online SRE by presenting the study’s underpinnings using relevant literature on adolescent wellbeing, religion, and education. This study intends to inform policymakers and practitioners arguing for contemporary ways to improve and widen access to SRE. Online SRE could reveal a large-scale, cost-effective, and practical educational measure for enhancing the wellbeing of adolescents of faith backgrounds in public schools, even for those considered at-risk (In this chapter, SRE is also referred to as religious education. This is not to be confused with General Religious Education—the inclusive teaching about different religions.).