Approaches to Multicultural Religious Education

The course will examine different approaches to multicultural religious education in churches, faith-based schools and other pastoral contexts. It will also consider the implications and challenges of different public policies in Canada on multiculturalism and equity in diverse ministerial settings especially in separate school boards. One of the important goals of this course is to help students to acquire cultural proficiency and cultural intelligence and other skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic society. Students will be led to a deeper appreciation of diversity and acquire tools to interact, and communicate with people from diverse backgrounds. The course will creatively identify healthy and hopeful approaches for teaching and ministry in a multicultural context in which cultures, races, genders and religions are embraced as potentially powerful and transformative variables in the process of evangelization. Teaching method: Weekly lectures and tutorials; quantitative and qualitative approaches in cross-cultural learning, assigned weekly reading, focused group discussion, and seminars. Means of evaluation:Class participation: 10%; Book Review: 20%; Reflection Paper: 20%; Seminar Presentation: 20%; Final Integration Paper: 30%