scholarly journals Bad Religion as False Religion: An Empirical Study of UK Religious Education Teachers’ Essentialist Religious Discourse

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 361 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Smith ◽  
Graeme Nixon ◽  
Jo Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Cultural Discourse ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Religious Literacy ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World

We argue that there is a well-intentioned—yet mistaken—definitional turn within contemporary cultural discourse in which ‘true’ religion, being essentially loving and peaceful, is distinguished from ‘false’ religion. Concerned with the possibility that this discourse might be prevalent in school Religious Education (RE), we surveyed practicing RE teachers within the United Kingdom (UK) on their beliefs about religion. We wanted to see how far the surveyed teachers evidenced a strand of contemporary cultural discourse which, we argue, conceptualizes bad religion as false religion. Responses from 465 teachers to our online survey indicate that many RE teachers understand religion(s) as essentially benign or pro-social—and present it/them as such in the classroom. We argue that RE can only foster religious literacy if religions are presented as multifarious, complex, social phenomena. This cannot be predicated upon an essentialist conceptualization of harmful religion as false religion, which is inimical to understanding religion in the world today—as in times past. We conclude that this conceptualization is a barrier to UK RE meeting both its extrinsic purpose to educate, and one of its intrinsic purposes to foster tolerance and pro-social attitudes.

scholarly journals Irreligious Educators? An Empirical Study of the Academic Qualifications, (A)theistic Positionality, and Religious Belief of Religious Education Teachers in England and Scotland

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 184
Author(s):  
Graeme Nixon ◽  
David Smith ◽  
Jo Fraser-Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Personal A ◽  
Teaching Religion ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Academic Qualifications

This paper, based on 355 survey responses from secondary Religious Education (RE) teachers in England (n = 238) and Scotland (n = 117), explores the background of these educators in terms of qualifications, personal (a)theistic belief, and religion. This research seeks to establish the degree backgrounds of RE teachers, what religion they belong to (if any), and the range of theistic, agnostic, and atheistic teachers currently within the RE profession. This paper, acknowledging the similar and contrasting natures of England and Scotland in terms of the history, status and purpose(s) of the subject, demonstrates that RE teachers in these countries come from diverse academic backgrounds, and that most RE teachers in England and Scotland do not believe in God(s). Nearly half of RE teachers in England and more than half in Scotland have no religion. The granulation to England and Scotland allows us to make tentative links with national census and social attitudes research, and with literature, which posits nuanced secularisation trajectories. Furthermore, the data allow us to cross-tabulate (for example, between degree background and religious beliefs), as well as with the data in extant research about the risks of sanitised and essentialised approaches to teaching religion in schools.

scholarly journals Mitigating COVID-19 in a Nationally Representative UK Sample: Personal Abilities and Obligation to Obey the Law Shape Compliance with Mitigation Measures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmeke Barbara Kooistra ◽  
Christopher Reinders Folmer ◽  
Malouke Esra Kuiper ◽  
Elke Olthuis ◽  
Megan Brownlee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Representative Sample ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Uk

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly influenced daily life all over the world. The present study assesses what factors influenced inhabitants of the United Kingdom to comply with lockdown and social distancing measures. It analyses data from an online survey, conducted on April 6-8, 2020, amongst a nationally representative sample of 555 participants who currently reside in the UK. The results show that compliance depended mostly on people’s capacity to comply with the rules, and the normative obligation they feel to obey the law. As such, compliance was not associated with deterrence or obedience out of fear, but rather with people’s practical abilities and intrinsic motivation to comply. The paper discusses policy implications for effective mitigation of the virus.

scholarly journals RLE-lærere som bibellesere

Prismet ◽  
1970 ◽  
pp. 5-17
Author(s):  
Ole Kolbjørn Kjørven
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Prodigal Son ◽  
Religious Literacy ◽  
Teachers As Readers

In this article I present and discuss the findings from an empirical study on RE teachers as readers and interpreters of religious narratives, in this particular case, the biblical parable The Prodigal Son. I explore and describe the role of the RE teachers and the role of this particular text, and most importantly, the transaction between the two in the process of meaning-making (Rosenblatt, 1994). The main purpose is to expose the complexity in meaning-making processes and from that basis discuss what could be the implications for engaging in religious narratives, and also subject matters in general, in school and in teacher education.Keywords: Religious education, religious education research, religious literacy, literacy practices, religious education teachersNøkkelord: Religionsdidaktikk, religiøs literacy, tekstolkning, religionslærere

Income or Culture? Examining the Determinants of Subjective Wellbeing in an International Sample

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddharth Garg
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Regression Coefficient ◽  
Marginal Utility ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The World ◽  
Diminishing Marginal Utility ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between income, subjective wellbeing, and culture among people from a higher socio-economic class across the world. Rationale: Ed Diener proposed the law of diminishing marginal utility as an explanation for differences in subjective wellbeing among different income groups across different countries (Diener, Ng, & Tov, Balance in life and declining marginal utility of diverse resources, 2009). Thus, people with higher incomes would experience less subjective wellbeing due to income, and culture should emerge as a significant predictor. Method: Data from this study came from another study (https://siddharthgargblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/14/love-for-money/). I used an online survey to collect data on annual income in US dollars, subjective wellbeing (WHO-5), and country of residence (Indicator of Culture). 96 responses (Indians = 24, Foreigners = 72) were entered in IBM SPSS and a regression analysis was conducted. The raw dataset used in this study can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8869040.v1Results: ANOVA showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between Indians and foreigners on levels of subjective wellbeing. Linear regression shows the regression coefficient of culture to be significant (Beta = -.254, p = .014) but the regression coefficient of income was not found to be significant. The overall model was found to explain 8.2% of the variance in wellbeing.Conclusion: The sample of this study is too small to make any kind of generalization; it does lend a little bit of support to the idea of diminishing marginal utility of income on subjective wellbeing and provides a rationale for further research.

British Council as an Instrument of Public Diplomacy of Great Britain

2017 ◽  
pp. 305-312
Author(s):  
Mykola Trofymenko
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
British Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government

Public diplomacy of Great Britain is one of the most developed in the EU and in the world. The United Kingdom has developed an extremely efficient public diplomacy mechanism which includes BBC World Service (which due to its popularity boosts the reputation and the image of Great Britain), Chevening Scholarships (provides outstanding foreign students with opportunity to study in Great Britain and thus establishes long-lasting relations with public opinion leaders and foreign countries elite) and the British Council, which deals with international diplomatic ties in the field of culture. The British Council is a unique organization. Being technically independent, it actively and efficiently works on consolidating Great Britain’s interests in the world and contributes to the development of public diplomacy in Great Britain.   The author studies the efforts of the British Council as a unique public diplomacy tool of the United Kingdom. Special attention is paid to the role of British Council, which is independent of the governing board and at the same time finds itself under the influence of the latter due to the peculiarities of the appointment of Board’s officials, financing etc. The author concludes that the British Council is a unique organization established in 1934, which is a non-departmental state body, charitable organization and public corporation, technically independent of the government. The British Council, thanks to its commercial activities covers the lack of public funding caused by the policy of economy conducted by the government. It has good practices in this field worth paying attention by other countries. It is also worth mentioning that the increment in profit was getting higher last year, however the issue of increasing the influence of the government on the activities of British Council is still disputable. Although the Foreign Minister officially reports to the parliament on the activities of the British Council, approves the appointment of the leaders of organizations, the British Council preserves its independence of the government, which makes it more popular abroad, and makes positive influence on the world image of Great Britain. The efficiency of the British Council efforts on fulfillment of targets of the United Kingdom public diplomacy is unquestionable, no matter how it calls its activities: whether it is a cultural relations establishment or a cultural diplomacy implementation. Keywords: The British Council, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, cultural relations, Foreign Office, Her Majesty’s Government, official assistance for development

STUDI ANALISIS DAMPAK PADEMI COVID-19 TERHADAP EKSISTENSI PEMBELAJARAN PENDIDIKAN AGAMA ISLAM DI INDONESIA

Edupedia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Ilzam Dhaifi
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Education Services ◽  
Religious Consciousness ◽  
The Core ◽  
Equal Education ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government

The world has been surprised by the emergence of a COVID 19 pandemic, was born in China, and widespread to various countries in the world. In Indonesia, the government issued several policies to break the COVID 19 pandemic chain, which also triggered some pro-cons in the midst of society. One of the policies government takes is the closure of learning access directly at school and moving the learning process from physical class to a virtual classroom or known as online learning. In the economic sector also affects the parents’ financial ability to provide sufficient funds to support the implementation of distance learning applied by the government. The implications of the distance education policy are of course the quality of learning, including the subjects of Islamic religious education, which is essentially aimed at planting knowledge, skills, and religious consciousness to form the character of the students. Online education must certainly be precise, in order to provide equal education services to all students, prepare teachers to master the technology, and seek the core learning of Islamic religious education can still be done well.

scholarly journals Emotional Impact of Dishes versus Wines on Restaurant Diners: From Haute Cuisine Open Innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Ana Mengual-Recuerda ◽  
Victoria Tur-Viñes ◽  
David Juárez-Varón ◽  
Faustino Alarcón-Valero
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Fundamental Importance ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
The World ◽  
Unique Experience ◽  
General Experience ◽  
High Level

Haute cuisine is emblematic in the world of tourism and is of fundamental importance in the economic and social life in most countries worldwide. Haute cuisine gastronomic experiences play with the senses, involving the diner, thus generating a unique experience for the customer. This empirical study aims to analyze the influence on the consumer of the characteristic stimuli of a high-level gastronomic experience in a restaurant with two Michelin stars. Using neuromarketing biometrics, combined with a qualitative research technique, the objective of this research was to determine the emotional impact of the presentation and tasting of dishes compared to wines and to draw conclusions about each variable in the general experience. The results indicate that the dishes have a greater influence on the level of interest than the wines, and both have a different emotional impact at different moments of the experience due to its duration.

The autonomy of international organizations? The analysis of major powers’ influence over the World Bank’s aid policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110248
Author(s):  
Yooneui Kim ◽  
Youngwan Kim
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Official Development Assistance ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

Are international organizations autonomous actors in global politics? This paper investigates whether and how major powers influence the World Bank’s official development assistance policies. Despite the World Bank’s attempts to maintain independence from its member states, we argue that major powers are still influential. Testing this expectation with the data of official development assistance provisions between 1981 and 2017, we find that the World Bank provides a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipient countries that receive a higher amount of such assistance from the major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. In addition, the World Bank is prone to provide a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipients that have a similar preference to the major powers. This study sheds light on the relations between major powers and international organizations.

scholarly journals The Effect of Vaccination Rates on the Infection of COVID-19 under the Vaccination Rate below the Herd Immunity Threshold

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7491
Author(s):  
Yi-Tui Chen
Keyword(s):  
Infection Rate ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vaccination Rate ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Vaccination Rates ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

Although vaccination is carried out worldwide, the vaccination rate varies greatly. As of 24 May 2021, in some countries, the proportion of the population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has exceeded 50%, but in many countries, this proportion is still very low, less than 1%. This article aims to explore the impact of vaccination on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the herd immunity of almost all countries in the world has not been reached, several countries were selected as sample cases by employing the following criteria: more than 60 vaccine doses per 100 people and a population of more than one million people. In the end, a total of eight countries/regions were selected, including Israel, the UAE, Chile, the United Kingdom, the United States, Hungary, and Qatar. The results find that vaccination has a major impact on reducing infection rates in all countries. However, the infection rate after vaccination showed two trends. One is an inverted U-shaped trend, and the other is an L-shaped trend. For those countries with an inverted U-shaped trend, the infection rate begins to decline when the vaccination rate reaches 1.46–50.91 doses per 100 people.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown Measures on Quality of Life among Italian General Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Stella Epifanio ◽  
Federica Andrei ◽  
Giacomo Mancini ◽  
Francesca Agostini ◽  
Marco Andrea Piombo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
World Health Organization Quality ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions.

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