Volume 66, Issue 2

Since its inception in 1999, all the efforts of the Bologna Process have been targeted at creating a common European Higher Education Area (“Europäischer Bildungsraum”). The main objective of this process was meant to ensure more comparable and compatible systems of higher education. Has it succeeded? This comparative case study will attempt to answer this question related to the theological education of teachers in Marburg und Frankfurt am Main. For that purpose, the author introduces the theory of ‘Bildungsräume’ as a means of analyzing the theological education of these universities from a historical, empirical, systematic and didactic point of view. Borrowing this format used by historians, the paper describes important aspects of theological education in its contribution to the training of teachers in Germany.

The authors describe recent changes within syllabuses for the formation of RE teachers at Goettingen University. Comparing the data given here with those given by a former report from 2007, readers will be able to reconstruct major changes in the course of study due to the so-called Bologna reform. Like seven years before, the article additionally offers some deepening insights into an opinion poll amongst students regarding their own academic years. Finally, some critical remarks regarding the impact of “Bologna” can be found.

This article describes the process of modularization at the Martin-Luther-University of Halle, with a special view not only on formal requirements but also on the challenges posed by the increasing number of unchurched students. The modular structure of the course of studies is described and students’ evaluations of this structure are reported. Problems of the Bologna Process (switching universities, number of exams, increase of bureaucratic work, changing culture of studying) as well as advantages (cumulative examinations, electives) are shown.

This article examines the situation of the training of religion teachers in two German Länder (states) that have not introduced the BA-/MA-model (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Baden-Württemberg). While the traditional state exam at the end of the training still is in use there, the training has nevertheless been modularized. The authors describe the respective situation in the two Länder, offering preliminary evaluations based on their teaching experience and students’ views.

This article describes the different institution, structures, and courses of study for the training of religion teachers in Austria. It makes reference to the lively debates there and analyses open questions and unresolved problems that are connected to the most recent reform efforts. Special attention is given to the meaning of BA-/MA-models. Moreover, the author draws attention to important differences between models for teacher training based on the Bologna agreements in Austria and Germany.

Training for teachers of religion in Switzerland has so far shown a broad variety and plurality of different aims and models, due to the plurality of cantonal frameworks and different political understanding of Religion Education in school. The article describes that due to the process of Bologna and the political initiative of a nationwide common curriculum for all school subjects (Lehrplan 21) the development of standardized models of Religious Education as well as teacher training is underway. It also shows that faculties and colleges of education have already developed specific training models, which in this article are presented exemplarily. But these developments so far lack a clear understanding of which competences teachers should acquire through these educational measures and which role theology and religious education could play in this context of academic and professional education.

Based on a comparison between the general educational and the subject-specific discussion on the training of (religion) teachers this article describes potentials and limitations of a subject-specific perspective on teacher training. The discussion on subject-related content and didactics depends on the culture of the subject. It should be more open for the educational discussion in the future. The subject-related discourse should not fall behind the general discourse, for example, in respect of using empirical evidence.

This article offers a review of the seven other articles in this issue, observing a manifold and multilayered, even disparate and uncoordinated and therefore professionally disquieting mixture of approaches, models, possible implementations and realized settings for the training of (religion) teachers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Against this backdrop, the author suggests a model of his own concerning the relationship between different locations, shapes and contents in the training of future (religion) teachers, thus hoping to attain more coherence and a stronger focus on core issues of professional development.