Original Research - Special Collection: HTS 75th Anniversary Maake Masango Dedication

International knowledge transfer in religious education? The example of Germany and South Africa as test case

Friedrich Schweitzer
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 75, No 4 | a5518 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i4.5518 | © 2019 Friedrich Schweitzer | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 29 April 2019 | Published: 14 August 2019

About the author(s)

Friedrich Schweitzer, Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; and, Department of Practical Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

The focus of this article is on international knowledge transfer in religious education as it has been proposed by a recent Manifesto in Europe. Readers are introduced to this Manifesto which also is the starting point of the article. The example of Germany and South Africa is used as a test case for the understanding of international knowledge transfer. The author analyses this understanding on the background of general considerations, among others, concerning unilateral and bilateral forms of transfer, but also the meaning of empirical research in this context before he discusses three examples for German religious education learning from South Africa: human dignity, justice and reconciliation. In the final section of this article, the results of these discussions are connected with the question of what they imply for the understanding of international knowledge transfer in religious education. The author argues for a complex approach which entails a careful balance between the idea of sharing knowledge and doing justice to the contextual nature of research results in the field of religious education.

Keywords

Knowledge transfer; Religious education; Internationalisation; Research; International cooperation

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Crossref Citations

1. Internationalisation and the validity of knowledge in religious education as a field of research
Benjamin Ahme
British Journal of Religious Education  vol: 43  issue: 1  first page: 23  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1080/01416200.2020.1810632