Lesson planning is one of the central professional practices in religious education. It not only structures teaching and learning processes but also mediates between theological content, learners’ subjective interpretations, curricular requirements, institutional frameworks and societal expectations regarding religious education. Lesson planning shapes and opens up educational spaces and plays a key role in determining their educational direction. Despite its fundamental importance and notwithstanding contributions – such as correlation didactics or the concept of elementarisation – lesson planning has rarely been the subject of systematic research in religious education. It is encountered primarily as a field of practice or as a practical skill in school settings, as part of teacher training, or as implicit practical knowledge – but less so as an independent subject of academic reflection.

This special issue therefore focuses on lesson planning as a research topic in religious education and subjectspecific didactics. We welcome contributions that offer theoretical, empirical, conceptual or practicereflective perspectives and that address religious education across all school levels. We are also interested in contributions that examine processes of professionalisation in initial education, induction phase, and continuing professional development of religious educators, including teacher education at universities and teacher training colleges.

Possible research questions include, among others:

• Which models and theories of lesson planning offer valuable insights for planning religious education?
• How do religious education approaches – such as correlation, elementarisation, performative, aesthetic, inclusive, or competence-oriented didactics – inform concrete lesson planning practices?
• How is religious education professionally planned under competence-oriented curricula?
• How is religious education professionally planned within denominationally cooperative models or interreligious learning settings?
• To what extent does digital technology (e.g., AI-supported learning environments, hybrid learning spaces, online religious practices, digital planning software) change lesson planning, and what impact does it have on the planning process itself?
• What aspects of religious education can be planned? How can unpredictability, experiences of contingency and dialogical openness be incorporated didactically – and what ultimately resists planning?
• How can the planning of religious educational processes be conceptualised in early childhood education?
• Which competencies do religious educators need for professional lesson planning, and how can these competencies be developed in university education, induction phases and continuing professional development?
• Which implicit theories guide religious educators when planning lessons?
• What insights and implications for lesson planning emerge from classroom research, videography, lesson analysis or design-based research?
• What insights for religious lesson planning can be drawn from related disciplines such as general didactics, other subject-specific didactics, curriculum research, educational science, theology, psychology, sociology, media education or school pedagogy?
• What role does subject-specific disciplinary knowledge play in planning decisions – can it be seen as a starting point, corrective or boundary of didactic transformation?
• What role do students play in lesson planning (e.g., prior learning conditions, heterogeneity, developmental appropriateness)?
• How does religious education change when lesson planning is understood not merely as preparation but as an independent space for professional reflection?
• Which theoretical perspectives are useful for analysing models or practices of lesson planning?
• What role do digital and non-digital media play in the theory and practice of lesson planning?
• What explains the gap between theoretical planning models and the actual planning practices of teachers?
• What quality criteria can be applied to lesson planning?
• How do lesson planning models function as normative benchmarks in teacher training, school supervision and school practice – and what opportunities and limitations do they present for professional development and instructional improvement?
• How do institutional frameworks (curricula, school organization, denominational-cooperative models, school supervision) influence the planning of religious education?

We cordially invite you to write contributions on the topic and submit them for the issue of the ÖRF, which will be published in spring 2027.

We kindly ask you to send announcements of your contribution (abstracts) related to the topic of the issue, as well as texts that go beyond the topic (to be published under “further academic contributions”), to the following email address: oerf.redaktion@uni-graz.at. After an initial formal and content review, you will receive feedback from us. If you receive positive feedback and your contribution has been completed, please upload it independently to our website to initiate the peer-review process: http://oerf-journal.eu/.

We also ask you to inform us of publications that have recently appeared and should be reviewed, as well as to submit short descriptions of outstanding academic qualification works in religious education at various institutions (Master’s or diploma theses, etc.).

The ÖRF publishes exclusively original contributions. The main contributions undergo a peer-review process. Details on the submission procedure and all relevant formal requirements can be found on our homepage: http://oerf-journal.eu/.

We kindly request that you strictly adhere to the manuscript guidelines!

Responsible for the content of this issue

Vice Rector Prof. MMag. Dr. Renate Wieser, PPH Augustinum 

Senior Lecturer Mag. Anna Bachofner-Mayr, BA, KU Linz

University Professor Dr. Martin Rothgangel, Universität Wien

Proposals for contributions should be submitted by: 16 November 2026 

Deadline for submission of all contributions for the peer-review process: 18 January 2027 

Deadline for reviews and qualification papers: 15 February 2027  Publication date: Spring 2027